Archiconnus limonensis, Jałoszyński, 2018

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, First records of Archiconnus and Obesoconnus in Costa Rica (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4382 (2), pp. 292-298 : 295-297

Archiconnus limonensis sp. n.

( Figs 5–8 )

Material studied. Holotype: male ( COSTA RICA, LIMÓN PROVINCE): two labels: " COSTA RICA [CR2013-09] / Limón Province: Rd. Manganillo> / Punta Uva, 9°37'30''-38'16''N, / 82°39'41''-41'39''W, 0-10 m, degraded / coastal rain forest, car net, 1.XII.2013, / leg. M. Schülke & B. Grünberg" [white, printed], " ARCHICONNUS / limonensis m. / Jałoszyński, 2017 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed) (cMS).

Diagnosis. Frons and vertex with elongate median elevated area; head darker than rest of body; tempora shorter than half length of eyes; pronotum with distinct transverse antebasal groove; elytra very short, EI only 1.15; aedeagus with rounded base and apex strongly curved dorsally; each paramere with four setae.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 5 ) moderately slender, strongly convex, with moderately long appendages, BL 0.74 mm; cuticle glossy, pigmentation moderately dark brown with distinctly darkened head, appendages (especially maxillary palps) slightly lighter, vestiture of setae and bristles light brown.

Head short, broadest at eyes, HL 0.12 mm, HW 0.17 mm; tempora in dorsal view shorter than half length of eyes; vertex and frons confluent and their median portion developed as a strongly elevated, elongate convexity; supraantennal tubercles feebly marked. Eyes large, bean-shaped, coarsely faceted and strongly convex. Punctures on vertex and frons fine and inconspicuous; setae short and sparse, suberect. Antennae slender, distinctly thickened distally, AnL 0.40 mm; scape and pedicel strongly elongate, antennomeres III–X each slightly to strongly transverse, XI much shorter than IX–X combined, about 1.2 × as long as broad, slightly asymmetrical, with blunt apex.

Pronotum bell-shaped, broadest between middle and anterior third, PL 0.24 mm, PW 0.21 mm; anterior and posterior margins weakly arcuate, lateral margins strongly sinuate; base with distinct transverse groove; pronotal disc covered with fine, inconspicuous punctures and sparse, short, suberect setae; sides with very long bristles.

Elytra oval, evenly convex, broadest at middle, EL 0.37 mm, EW 0.32 mm, EI 1.15; humeral calli small, elongate, apices separately rounded; punctures as inconspicuous as those on pronotal disc; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 6–7 ) lightly sclerotized, AeL 0.15 mm; slender, in ventral view broadest near base and narrowing distally, apex strongly curved dorsally; endophallus with submedian subtriangular structure and asymmetrical, elongated sub-basal sclerites; parameres short, moderately slender, each with four apical and subapical setae, each inserted on a small protuberance.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 8 ). North-eastern part of Costa Rica.

Etymology. Locotypical, after the Limón Province of Costa Rica.

Remarks. Archiconnus limonensis differs from A. huallaganus in the head darker than the remaining body parts (body uniformly light brown in A. huallaganus ), the bulging anterior portion of head (head unmodified in A. huallaganus ), larger eyes, the pronotum with a transverse groove (with a pair of submedian pits in A. huallaganus ), clearly different proportions of body parts (e.g., EI only 1.15 vs. 1.33 in A. huallaganus ), and aedeagal structures (the shape of median lobe and endophallic sclerites). Despite the difference in antebasal pronotal structures (a groove vs. pits) and antennae (with an indistinct club in A. huallaganus and gradually thickened in A. limonensis ), these two species are similar in ventral structures and their aedeagi share a similar set of endophallic sclerites and a similar general shape of the median lobe; minor differences do not justify placing the new species in a separate genus or subgenus.

Figures

FIGURES 5–8. Archiconnus limonensis sp. n., male holotype in dorsal view (5); aedeagus in ventral (6) and lateral (7) views; distribution (8; a—A. huallaganus; b—A. limonensis).