Rhantus andinus Balke, 1998

Balke, M., Garcia, M. & Hendrich, L., 2019, Two new species of diving beetles from the Duida-Marahuaca Tepui in Venezuela (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Colymbetinae), Russian Entomological Journal 28 (3), pp. 258-262 : 262

Rhantus andinus Balke, 1998

Figs 4–5 .

Rhantus andinus Balke, 1998: 73 ; Nilsson, Hajek 2019: 41.

TYPE LOCALITY Colombia, Bogotá [?] .

MATERIAL. 1 ♂ ( Fig. 5 ), Venezuela: Estado Merida, Azulita (Universidad de los Andes agricultural research station), 13.vii.1979, B. Bechyne ( MIZA) ; 1 ♂, Merida, El Joque , 18.viii.1976, I. Jaspe ( MIZA) ; 1 ♂, Estado Lara, Sanare , 8.ix.1968, J. & B. Bechyne ( MIZA) .

NOTES. This is the first record for Venezuela. Balke [1998] observed: “ One female may also belong to this species: ‘ Merida, Venezuela’ / ‘ Rhantus n.sp. ’ [hand writing M. Régimbart] ( MNHN). This specimen differs from the type by: 1) Elytra rather dark due to fusion of most of the black speckles; 2) dorsal surface, especially elytra, matt because the meshes are deeply impressed; 3) base of pronotum distinctly narrower than base of elytra; 4) metasternal wings slightly narrower. This individual may represent a high altitude form of R. andinus , or a closely related species.” The three males are also of slightly darker coloration than specimens from Bogota ( Fig. 4 , from La Florida, in ZSM), with slightly more impressed surface sculpture, habitus slightly stouter, posterior fore claw a bit wider and the median lobe slightly straighter along anteri- or 1/3. Due to the great overall similarity of specimens, we suggest that this case deserves further investigation based on more material from the area in between Bogota and Merida.

Acknowledgements. Michael Balke was supported by the The Linnean Society of London / Systematics Association Small Grants Scheme and a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship under contract number HPMF-CT-2001- 01365 of the European Commission. We thank Harald Schillhammer (Vienna) for the habitus fotographs of the tepui species, and Max Barclay, curator of the Coleoptera of the Natural History Museum in London, for kind assistance in the examination of Neotropical Rhantus . We thank José Clavijo, John Lattke and Luis Joly for giving us a warm welcome at MIZA during our visit in 2003.

Figures

Figs 1–5. Habitus of Rhantus spp.: 1 — R. lattkei sp.n.; 2 — R. marahuaca sp.n.; 3 — R. elegans; 4 — R. andinus (Colombia, Bogota, La Florida); 5 — R. andinus (Venezuela, Merida, Azulita). Рис. 1–5. Rhantus spp., внешний вид: 1 — R. lattkei sp.n.; 2 — R. marahuaca sp.n.; 3 — R. elegans; 4 — R. andinus (Colombia, Bogota, La Florida); 5 — R. andinus (Venezuela, Merida, Azulita).