Laccophilus ovatus zapotecus Zimmerman, 1970

Scheers, Kevin, Thomaes, Arno, Hájek, Zimmerman, Michat & Reynoso-Velasco, 2017, The Laccophilinae Gistel, 1848 of Belize (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 65, pp. 1-18 : 1-18

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.13272590

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/381B1216-2C35-FFDD-F6E0-DB9EBF33FE9A

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Laccophilus ovatus zapotecus Zimmerman, 1970
status

 

Laccophilus ovatus zapotecus Zimmerman, 1970 View in CoL

( Figs 1G View Fig , 2F View Fig , 3F View Fig , 4G View Fig )

MATERIAL STUDIED. BELIZE DISTRICT: La Democracia , shallow exposed pool, 17°21'23,5"N, 88°33'1,8"W, 09.V.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex) STANN CREEK: Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, pool with leaf litter next to stream, 16°46'49,3"N, 88°28'7,1"W, 06.V.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex); Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Wari Lagoon, 16°46'46,1"N, 88°28'2,4"W, 07.V.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (79ex) TOLEDO: BFree, Agami lagoon, 16°33'27,7"N, 88°42'14,8"W, 17.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (2ex) GoogleMaps .

DIAGNOSIS. TL: 3.3–3.8 mm; MW: 1.7–1.9 mm. Head and pronotum pale testaceous. Elytra pale testaceous marmorated with pitchy-brown, with pale markings along the base, lateral sides and near the apex originating from the absence of the dark marmorated pattern ( Fig. 1G View Fig ). The area between the base of the elytra and the basal fascia is distinctly paler than the rest of the elytra. Ventral parts testaceous to testaceous rufous ( Fig. 2F View Fig ). Male genitalia with median lobe very distinct ( Fig. 3F View Fig ).

SIMILAR SPECIES. The elytral pattern of Laccophilus gentilis suavis resembles that of L. ovatus zapotecus , but differs from it by the much darker pigmented elytra sharply contrasting with the pale markings. Furthermore the aedeagus of these two species is completely different ( Fig. 3D, 3F View Fig ).

DISTRIBUTION. Belize (first records), Costa Rica, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz), Nicaragua, Panama.

ECOLOGY. ZIMMERMAN (1970) mentions that L. ovatus zapotecus is mainly found in pasture ponds and in roadside ditches with mud bottoms and that all localities are under 500 feet (about 150 meter) elevation. This species was found at only four sites, in three of which only

13 one or two specimens were found. The only site where it was abundant was in an old oxbow pond in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. At this site specimens were collected in high numbers in the mats of vegetation at the edge of the pond together with many other species of Hydradephaga.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Dytiscidae

Genus

Laccophilus

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