Operclipygus nicodemus, Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Operclipygus Marseul (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 271, pp. 1-401 : 271-273

Operclipygus nicodemus sp. n. Figs 71 C–D 72D, IMap 25

Type locality.

BELIZE: Cayo:Las Cuevas Research Station [16°44'N, 88°60'W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "Las Cuevas Belize"/ "FIT 12 5.08.94" / "Caterino/Tishechkin Exosternini Voucher EXO-00317" (BMNH). Paratypes (15): 3: same data as type (BMNH, FMNH); 7: same data as type, except as noted: 6: Las Cuevas Research Station, 16°44'N, 88°60'W, 550m, v.1997, FIT, D. Inward (BMNH, MSCC, AKTC), 1: 500-700m, i-ii.1998, D. Inward (BMNH); 1: Gran de Oro, 5-8.vi.1995, FIT, King/Howe/Rosado (BMNH); 1: Chiquibul Forest Reserve, San Pastor, 27.x.1994, FIT (BMNH), 1: 16.ix.1994, FIT (BMNH); Orange Walk: 1: Rio Bravo Cons. Area, trail to well, 17°50'38"N, 89°01'0.4"W, 25. iv– 5.v.1996, FIT, C.E. Carlton (SEMC); 1: Rio Bravo Cons. Area, rd. to Archaelogical site, 17°50'56"N, 89°02'34"W, 25. iv– 5.v.1996, FIT, C.E. Carlton (LSAM).

Other material.

HONDURAS: Atlantida: 1: 13km. E La Ceiba, 150m, vii.1996, FIT, cocoa plantation, R. Lehman (TAMU), 8: 15-19.vi.1996, FIT, tropical rainforest, R. Lehman (TAMU), 2: 20. vi– 20.vii.1996, Malaise trap, tropical rainforest, R. Lehman (TAMU), 6: 175m, 9-30.vii.1996, Malaise trap, tropical rainforest, R. Lehman (TAMU). MEXICO: Chiapas: 1: El Aguacero, 16km W Ocozocoautla, 680m, 5-13.vi.1990, FIT, H. & A. Howden (CMNC); 1: Leguna Belgica 16km NW Ocozocoautla, 970m, 31.v.1990, H. & A. Howden (CHSM). NICARAGUA: Rio San Juan: 1: El Castillo loc. Bartola, iii.2000, I.G. Trezzi (CHFP).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.56-1.72 mm, width: 1.28-1.44 mm; body rufobrunneus, elongate oval; frons shallowly depressed at middle, with fine, sparse ground punctation; frontal stria rounded at sides, generally complete across middle; pronotal disk lacking prescutellar impression, with fine, sparse ground punctation, ~16 moderate punctures sparsely scattered at sides; marginal pronotal stria complete behind head and along sides; submarginal stria continuous across front, ending at or before middle of lateral margin; elytra with outer and inner subhumeral striae absent, stria 1 well impressed in basal half only, obsolete or only very weakly impressed in apical half, striae 2-4 complete, 5th stria present in apical half, sutural stria present in apical two-thirds; elytral disk with very few, small apical punctures; prosternal keel weakly impressed at base, carinal striae complete, parallel in apical half, united in narrow anterior arch; mesoventral margin weakly projecting, marginal stria complete or narrowly interrupted; mesometaventral stria broadly arched forward to near anterior mesoventral margin; lateral metaventral stria extending to middle of metacoxa; 1st abdominal ventrite with two abbreviated lateral striae, outer bent abruptly behind metacoxa, fragmented; small postcoxal fovea present near inner corner of metacoxa; propygidium and pygidium with fine, sparse ground punctures; propygidium with medium, ocellate punctures separated by about their diameters in basal third, distinctly smaller and sparser in apical half; pygidium with small punctures uniformly interspersed with ground punctation, separated by 3 –4× their diameters; marginal pygidial stria fine, present along about apical third of pygidial margin. Male genitalia (Figs 72D, I): accessory sclerites present; T8 parallel-sided in basal two-thirds, angulate to apex, apical emargination narrow, acute, basal emargination rather narrow, rounded, basal membrane attachment line distad apex of emargination by about one-third its depth; S8 with sides weakly convergent to near apex, then slightly divergent, apical guides narrow, widened weakly at apex; T9 parallel-sided in basal half, convergent to apex; T10 with halves separate; S9 narrow near apex, weakly widened to rounded base, apex without median emargination, apical flange entire, basolateral corners not prolonged proximad; tegmen widest basad middle, apical half narrow, curving evenly ventrad, medioventral process weak, ‘U’ -shaped, projecting beneath about one-fourth from base; basal piece just over one-third tegmen length; median lobe about one-half tegmen length, proximal apodemes not strongly differentiated.

Remarks.

The pattern of elytral striae (Fig. 71C), with the 1st stria strongly abbreviated from the base and striae 2-4 complete is almost unique. In combination with the basally obsolete lateral submarginal pronotal stria and the basally densely punctate propygidium, this is sufficient to distinguish it from all others in the group. We limit the type series to specimens from Belize, as specimens from other areas show some variation in the density of propygidial punctation.

Etymology.

This species is named in memory of Mr. Nicodemus ‘Chapal’ Bol, former caretaker of the Las Cuevas Field Station, the type locality of this species, in recognition for his assistance during a 2000 visit by the first author.