Copelatus montivagus Young, 1942

Megna, Yoandri S. & Epler, John H., 2012, A review of Copelatus from Cuba, with the description of two new species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52 (2), pp. 383-410 : 398-400

Copelatus montivagus Young, 1942

( Fig. 7 , 15, 19 , 32 )

Copelatus montivagus Young, 1942: 89 . Copelatus montivagus: SPANGLER (1981: 167) , NILSSON (2001: 66), PECK (2005: 44).

Type locality. Cuba, Guantánamo Province, Maisí, springs head of river Ovando.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE J ( MCZ): ‘ Upper Ovando R, eastern Oriente, July 17–20, 1936, 1000–2000 ft. [printed] / Cuba, 1936, Darlington, Collector [printed] / M.C.Z. Type 25904 [printed] / Holotype Copelatus montivagus Young [handwritten label, ink] / Feb–July 2002. MCZ Image Database [printed]’. PARATYPE: 2 JJ ( MCZ, FSCA): same locality data as holotype [printed] / ‘ Paratype Copelatus montivagus Young [handwritten label, ink].’ Additional material examined: CUBA: GRANMA: ♀ ( MCZ): ‘ Pico Turquino, S. side 1500 ft., June 25, 1936 / Cuba, Darlington Collector [printed] /? montivagus , not a type [handwritten, pencil] ’; ♀ ( MCZ): ‘ Pico Turquino, S. side 3000 ft., June 25, 1936 / Cuba, Darlington, Collector / [printed] /? montivagus , not a type [handwritten, pencil] ’; 9 exs. ( CZCTR): Bartolomé Massó , La Platica 27.iii.2012, A. Deler-Hernández leg. ; 7 exs. ( CZCTR, NMPC): same locality, 26.vi.2012, A. Deler-Hernández & M. Fikáček leg.

Diagnosis. TL 5.6–5.9 mm; EW 2.8–3.0 mm; other measurements and ratios in Table 1. Reddish-brown with testaceous basal and apical fasciae ( Fig. 7 ). Male elytra non-striate, female unlike male, with elytral striae undulating/anastomosing.

Copelatus montivagus is very similar to C. barbouri , but differs by its slightly smaller size, wider basal elytral fascia with a more even posterior border, and males with more strongly bowed protibia ( Fig. 19 ) and slightly thinner median lobe ( Figs. 15a,b ).

Ecology. Copelatus montivagus was reported from backwaters of a small stream in highlands (from 1000 to 2000 feet elevation).

Distribution. Copelatus montivagus had previously been recorded from eastern Cuba only ( Fig. 32 ).

Remarks. YOUNG (1942: 90) stated that a slide of the genitalia of the holotype was made and listed the holotype as “type no. 25,904”. However the specimen in the MCZ labeled as the holotype was undissected. The junior author has since dissected the genitalia from the specimen labeled as the holotype – they are now in a microvial on the specimen’s pin. The single slide of male genitalia (the median lobe and one paramere) found in the MCZ and labeled (in pencil) as C. montivagus has no type number attached; the collection data (as on the pinned specimens) are hand written in ink, along with the number “#1024”. These genitalia appear identical to those dissected from the holotype. However, they may not be those illustrated by YOUNG (1942: Plate XIII: Fig. 2 ) because one of the parameres is missing from the slide (Young figured both parameres).

The male paratype deposited in FSCA (with the same locality data as the holotype) is dissected in a similar manner as the paratype of C. barbouri (with abdomen removed and point mounted with rest of specimen). This is probably the paratype from Young’s own collection (a large amount of which was donated to the FSCA). No slide is directly associated with this dissected specimen.

YOUNG (1942: 90) tentatively included two additional female specimens in this species, but did not designate them as type material. The junior author examined these specimens, from the MCZ collection. Young stated that these two specimens “were collected by Dr. Darlington in a pool with muddy bottom, cut off only by a gravel bar from a swift mountain brook at 1500 feet elevation, in June, 1936”. However, locality labels read 1500 feet for one specimen, 3000 feet for the other. The measurements in Table 1 are from these two specimens and another five specimens examined. See also C. barbouri above.

Figures

Figs.1–8. Habitus and color patterns of Copelatus species from Cuba.1 – C.barbouri Young, 1942; 2 – C. caelatipennis angustatus Chevrolat, 1863; 3 – C. cordovai sp. nov.; 4 – C. cubaensis Schaeffer, 1908; 5 – Copelatus darlingtoni Young, 1942; 6 – C. insolitus Chevrolat, 1863; 7 – C. montivagus Young, 1942; 8 – C. posticatus (Fabricius, 1801).

Figs. 12–19. Male genitalia (12–15) and left protibia (16–19) of Cuban species of Copelatus. 12, 16 – C. barbouri Young, 1942; 13, 17 – C. darlingtoni Young, 1942; 14, 18 – C. insolitus Chevrolat, 1863; 15, 19 – C. montivagus Young, 1942. Parts of male genitalia: a – median lobe of the aedeagus in left lateral view, b – same in ventral lateral view, c – left paramere in lateral view.

Figs. 32–33. Known distribution of Copelatus species in Cuba. 32 – C. montivagus Young, 1942; 33 – C. posticatus (Fabricius, 1801). See Appendix 1 for additional information on the localities reported in each map.