Oocyclus pittieri Short & García, 2010

Short, Andrew E. Z. & García, Mauricio, 2010, A review of the Oocyclus Sharp of Venezuela with description of twelve new species (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Laccobiini), Zootaxa 2635, pp. 1-31 : 21-22

Oocyclus pittieri Short & García sp. n.

( Figs. 1 A, 5A, 7, 8A)

Type material. Holotype: VENEZUELA: Aragua State: male, “ VENEZUELA: Aragua State/ Henri Pittier National Park/ Rio Curucuruma, waterfall/seep/ 10°21.070'N, 67°34.920'W / AS-06-023, leg. A.E.Z. Short”, “ HOLOTYPE / OOCYCLUS / pittieri sp.n. / des. Short & García 2010 ” ( MIZA). Paratypes (48 exs.): VENEZUELA: Aragua State: El Limon, “Pozo del Diablo”, 450 m, 7.x.1980, leg. F. Fernandez Y. & A. Chacon, wet rock (4 exs., MIZA); same data as holotype (42 exs.); Henri Pittier National Park, 10°21.018'N, 67°36.991'W, leg. A. Short & P. Torres, AS-06-024 (2 exs.).

Diagnosis. Larger species ( Fig. 1 A). Posterolateral corners of pronotum angulate but not spinose. Procoxae spinose. Elytra with rows of larger systematic punctures; systematic punctures not bearing setae. Elytral suture not raised. Elytral margins not explanate, and without a fringe of long setae.

Among the larger Venezuelan Oocyclus , this species is very similar to O. substillus from which it can be distinguished by the angulate but not spinose pronotal angles. It can be separated from O. galbus by the darkly colored abdominal ventrites. To date, no other species larger than 4.0 mm has been found in the Coastal Mountains.

Description. Size and form. Body length = 4.0– 4.7 mm. TL/GW = 1.55. Body broadly oval, slightly convex.

Color. Dorsum of head, pronotum, and elytra black, usually with faint iridescent reflections. Anterolateral margins of pronotum with white patch. Elytra with very faint iridescent green maculae which often appear faint and with defuse borders. Maxillary and labial palps yellow. Mentum and stipes dark brown, similar in color to the venter of the head. Legs, epipleura, lateral margins of prosternum and lateral margins of abdominal ventrites 2–4 medium to yellowish brown, with remainder of thoracic venter dark brown. Abdominal ventrites medium brown with the margins of each ventrite dark brown.

Head. Ground punctation on labrum, clypeus and frons moderately fine, distance between punctures 1.5– 3.0× the width of one puncture. Systematic punctures on labrum consisting of several indistinct punctures, sometimes bearing short setae. Frons with irregular row of systematic punctures mesad of each eye, bearing fine erect setae. Clypeus with a few very indistinct systematic punctures along anterolateral margins, slightly larger than surrounding punctation. Maxillary palps short, about as long as width of labrum; segment 2 slightly bulbous, apical segment slightly longer than penultimate. Labial palps three-fourths as long as width of mentum. Mentum quadrate, anterior margin slightly convex and depressed, bearing scattered coarse punctures.

Thorax. Ground punctation on pronotum and elytra composed of moderate coarse, evenly distributed punctures. Pronotal systematic punctures with short fine setae, distinctly larger than ground punctures, anterior and posterior series each forming irregular field. Lateral margins of pronotum with a few sparsely distributed setiferous punctures; with punctures almost appearing absent. Posterolateral corners of pronotum angulate, but not spinose. Sutural punctation on elytra absent or unmodified from ground punctation; sutural interval distinct raised in posterior half. Elytra with five rows of systematic punctures: row 1 represented as grove with dense row of erect setae on anterior two-thirds, giving a “Mohawk”-like appearance; rows 2–5 represented by irregular series of coarse punctures usually bearing small recumbent setae. Prosternum with clearly defined median carina; slightly elevated anteromedially, the elevation set with two short spine-like setae. Elevated process of mesoventrite narrow and elongate, more than twice as long as wide; surface nearly flat; set with 5–6 thickened, coarse spine-like setae. Metaventrite with oval glabrous area posteromedially, ca. slightly longer than wide, length of glabrous area slightly more than one-half length of metaventrite. Procoxae with dense, fine short pubescence; in mesal half with short spine-like setae, spine-like setae not longer than setae and may be overlooked if not viewed carefully. Protibiae each with 10 spine-like setae on dorsal face.

Abdomen. Ventrites covered with dense, short setae, the longest setae not longer than the longest setae surrounding mesosternal glabrous area. Aedeagus as in Figure 5 A.

Etymology. Named after Swiss botanist Henri Pittier and the park that bears his name, in which the species is found.

Distribution. Known only from two closely situated localities in the Coastal Mountains (Aragua State) ( Fig. 7 ).

Remarks. Collected from two waterfall associated rock seepage areas ( Fig. 8 A). It was co-collected with O. pico and O. sapphirus .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal and lateral habitus of Oocyclus species found in the Coastal Mountains. A) O. pittieri sp. n.; B) O. sapphirus sp. n. Scale bar = 2.0 mm.

FIGURE 5. Aedeagi of Oocyclus species. A) O. pittieri sp. n., B) O. maculatus Sharp; C) O. s ubstillus Short & Perkins; D) O. floccus sp. n.; E) O. trujillo sp. n.; F) O. andinus sp. n.; G) O. meridensis sp. n.; H) O. sapphirus sp. n. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Oocyclus species in Venezuela.

FIGURE 8. Habitat of Oocyclus species. A) Aragua State, collecting event AS- 06 - 023; type locality for O. pico and O. pittieri, locality for O. sapphirus. B) Zulia State, near Toromo, collecting event AS- 07 - 022, type locality for O. galbus and locality for O. substillus.