Lithocharodes boliviana, Irmler, 2021

Irmler, Ulrich, 2021, The Neotropical species of the genus Lithocharodes SHARP, 1876 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae: Xantholinini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 71 (1), pp. 29-85 : 36-37

Lithocharodes boliviana spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:352DDE6B-383B-45B8-90B1-1D1689422F37

Figs 8 a-d,44 I, 48 D

Type material: male, holotype: Bolivia, Cochabamba Prov., Cochabamba, 109 km E Yungas (Cochabamba – Villa Tunari Rd. ) (65°42'29"W, 17°8'50"S), 1480 m elev., flight intercept trap, 1.- 6.2.1999, leg. Génier #BOL1G99027 ( KNHM) . Paratypes: Bolivia, female with same data as holotype ( KNHM) ; 1 male with same data as holotype, but 8.- 12.2.1999, #BOL1G99060 ( UIC) ; same region, but 105 km E Yungas, nr. Rio Carmen Mayu (Cochabamba – Villa Tunari Rd. ) (65°43'50", 17°8'51"S), 1750 m elev., flight intercept trap, 5 females, 1.- 6.2.1999, 6.- 8.2.1999, 8.- 12.2.1999, leg. R. Hanley, # BOL1H99071 ( KNHM) .

Diagnosis: Lithocharodes boliviana is one of the medium sized (between 5 mm and 6 mm), dark coloured species with dense punctation on the head. Females can be hardly differentiated from the similar L. ecuadoriensis and L. katharinae . The aedeagus of L. boliviana is more oval than those of the other two species and, in particular, the paramere is extremely slender and elongate, whereas parameres of L. ecuadoriensis and L. katharinae are more curved or broader and straight. In addition, males can be separated from L. ecuadoriensis by the straight posterior margin of sternite VII.

Description: Length: 5.2 mm. Colouration: Black; pronotum slightly lighter; dark brown; posterior angles of elytra with light yellow spot; legs and antennae brown.

Head: 0.88 mm long, 0.71 mm wide; eyes large, slightly prominent; postocular sides twice as long as eyes; slightly divergent; posterior angles widely rounded to neck; posterior margin convex; interantennal furrows deep; reaching mid-length of eyes; setiferous punctation deep and dense; anteriorly nearly coriaceous; at neck, interstices between punctures half as wide as diameter of punctures; narrow midline impunctate; space between interantennal furrows impunctate; forming oval shiny spot; surface without microsculpture; shiny. Antennae with first antennomere slightly longer than half-length of head; second and third antennomere longer than wide, conical; subsequent antennomeres wider than long and increasing in width; fourth antennomere 1.5 times as wide as long; tenth antennomere twice as wide as long; antennomeres four to eleven densely pubescent. Pronotum: 0.97 mm long, 0.63 mm wide; widest in anterior third; anteriorly, distinctly convergent toward neck; posteriorly, slightly convergent toward middle; posterior half approximately parallel; posterior angles shortly rounded; posterior margin slightly convex; setiferous punctation as deep, but less dense than on head; on average, interstices between punctures half as wide to as wide as diameter of punctures; wide midline impunctate; impunctate midline distinctly wider than on head; adjacent to midline with row of 17-18 punctures; surface without microsculpture; shiny. Elytra: 1.00 mm long, 0.81 mm wide; humeral angles sub-rectangular; sides distinctly divergent to posterior angles; posterior angles nearly rectangular; posterior margin nearly straight with short incision at suture; setiferous punctation distinctly weaker than on head and pronotum, but as dense as on pronotum; surface with weak isodiametric microsculpture; less shiny than pronotum. Abdomen with weaker but as dense setiferous punctation as on elytra; isodiametric microsculpture distinctly deeper than on elytra; surface less shiny than elytra; posterior margin of sternite VII of male straight; posterior margin of tergite VII of male with central pair of short triangular prominences. Meso- and metatiba with 3 subapical ctenidia each. Aedeagus small; oval; sack-like endophallus short; covered by small teeth; with one torsion; at apex triangularly narrowed; paramere slender; elongate; slightly curved; with two to three irregular rows of setae in longitudinal direction.

Etymology: The species is named after the country where it was found.

Figures

Fig. 8–12: L.-hanagarthi-group and L.-sordida-group:Lithocharodes boliviana (8), L. hanagarthi (9), L. obscura (10), L. bicornis (11), L. sordida (12); aedeagus (a), paramere (b), sternite VII of male (c), tergite VII of male (d); scale bare: A – D: 0.2 mm; B: 0.1 mm.