Operclipygus punctatissimus, 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 : 350-351

Operclipygus punctatissimus sp. n. Figs 95 F–G96I–MMap 33

Type locality.

PANAMA: Chiriquí: La Fortuna Station [08°46'N, 82°12'W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "PANAMA: Chiriquí Prov. La Fortuna, "Cont. Divide Trail", 08°46'N, 82°12'W, 1100m, 23 V-9 VI 1995 J. Ashe,R. Brooks #157, ex: flight intercept trap" / “SEMC0903623” (SEMC). Paratypes (2): COSTA RICA: Alajuela: 1: Est.Biol. San Ramon, Reserva Biol. San Ramon, 27km. N. & 8km. W. San Ramon, 10°13'4"N, 84°35'46"W, 810m, 8.vii.2000, FIT, J. Ashe, R. Brooks, Z. Falin (SEMC); 1: Peñas Blancas, 970m, 20.v.1989, FIT, J. Ashe, R. Leschen, R. Brooks (INBIO).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 2.03-2.18 mm, width: 1.81-1.90 mm; body rufo-piceous, sides rounded, widest near middle of elytra, strongly convex; frons rather narrow, weakly depressed at middle, frontal stria with sides rounded, diverging slightly between eyes, anterior portion evenly and strongly outwardly arcuate; supraorbital stria represented by a few detached fragments; epistoma convex; labrum about two-thirds as long as wide, weakly emarginate apically; left mandible untoothed, right with acute basal tooth; pronotal disk with fine, indistinct punctiform prescutellar impression, disk with fine, sparse ground punctures only, lacking coarser punctures to sides; marginal stria interrupted behind head; lateral submarginal stria curved inward along anterior margin, ending very close to recurved end of anterior submarginal stria; median pronotal gland openings posterad recurved ends of anterior stria, about one-fourth pronotal length from anterior margin; elytron with one complete epipleural stria markedly crenulate in basal half, outer subhumeral stria present in apical half only, inner subhumeral stria absent, striae 1-3 complete, 4th and 5th striae subequal, short, present only in apical fourth, sutural stria present in apical three-fourths; prosternum broad, base of keel very faintly emarginate, carinal striae sinuate, barely converging, united in broad anterior arch; prosternal lobe with complete marginal stria; mesoventral margin sinuate but not distinctly projecting at middle, marginal stria interrupted for width of keel; mesometaventral stria strongly, broadly arched forward, displacing marginal mesoventral at middle, continuous at sides with lateral metaventral stria which extends toward outer third of metacoxa; metaventral disk impunctate, convex; 1st abdominal ventrite with single lateral stria, which is complete, arcuate, curving mediad toward posterior margin; propygidium with small but deep punctures, separated by about 1.5 × their diameters, concentrated in a central cluster, with narrow impunc tate borders along all edges; pygidium rather flat, with fine, moderately dense ground punctures only, no coarser punctures; apical marginal stria completely absent. Male genitalia (Figs 96 I–M): accessory sclerites present; T8 elongate, narrow, with sides evenly, arcuately converging to narrow apices, basal apodemes narrowly rounded, basal emargination deep and broad, basal membrane attachment line distad emargination by about one-fourth its depth, apical emargination narrow, ventrolateral apodemes of T8 most strongly developed near base, divergent to apex; S8 narrow, with sides convergent, apical guides narrow throughout, narrowly rounded apically, ventral halves fused in basal third, divergent to apex; T9 parallel-sided in basal half, convergent to relatively thick, rounded apices; T10 halves fused along midline; S9 with stem narrowest at middle, widened to rounded base, apex with small median emargination, with weak, separate apical flanges; tegmen with sides weakly rounded, widest just distad midpoint, apices rounded, medioventral process rather narrowly sclerotized, but strong, with subacute apex projecting prominently beneath near midpoint of tegmen; basal piece just over one-third tegmen length; median lobe about one-half tegmen length, proximal apodemes with filamentous parts conspicuous, nearly as long as thicker parts.

Remarks.

This small species is quite distinctive in its combination of fine, dense pygidial punctation (which nonetheless appears relatively smooth) and complete lack of marginal pygidial stria (Fig. 95G). The small propygidal punctures which are removed from its margins are also unusual, and helpful in identification.

Etymology.

The name of this species refers to the very fine, dense punctation of the pygidium.