Ebonius politus Lewis, 1885

Degallier, Nicolas, Leivas, Fernando W. T. & Moura, Daniel P., 2011, Histerid beetles of French Guiana. V. Revision of the genus Ebonius Lewis (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Omalodini), Zootaxa 2824, pp. 44-52 : 47

Ebonius politus Lewis, 1885

( Figs. 2 A–3B)

Ebonius politus Lewis, 1885: 209 (description); 1893: 417 (illustration); Mazur, 1997: 89 (catalogue).

Diagnosis. Body elongated and subparallel; pronotum with an ample smooth area in the middle of the posterior region, 4th–5th dorsal striae never complete; mesosternum finely punctuated.

Redescription. Length (pronotum+elytra): 6.6–7.49 mm; width: 2.2–4.4 mm.Pronotum with an ample smooth area in the middle of the posterior region ( Fig. 3 A). Elytra with marginal stria reaching posterior margin; internal subhumeral stria indicated by a line of points near posterior margin; dorsal striae often interrupted, shortened or indicated by lines of points, 4th and 5th never complete ( Fig. 3 A); sutural stria not present on anterior margin. Pro-, meso-, metasternum and 1st abdominal sternum respectively 0.37, 0.06, 0.34 and 0.23 times as long as total length of these sterna (6.08 mm). Prosternum with carinal stria separated in middle by more than half the distance between procoxae ( Fig. 3 B); mesosternum finely punctuated. Protibiae with the space between the teeth increasing from the base to the apex; mesotibiae with 5 teeth with spines on the external margin. Propygidium 1.9 times as wide as long, almost completely smooth on the disc; pygidium 1.24 times as wide as long ( Fig. 2 B). Male and female genitalia as in generic description.

Remarks. E. politus differs from E. lineiger (Marseul) ( Figs. 3 C, D) by the shorter fourth dorsal stria of the elytra, the larger smooth surface of the pronotum disc and the more separated carinal stria. These differences might be considered as variations between populations, but the available material is insufficient to consider the possibility of synonymy between the two taxa. E. politus differs from E. aequatorius Lewis ( Figs. 2 E, F) by not being as long and parallel-sided, the fourth and fifth dorsal striae being incomplete, and the mesosternum finely punctuated.

Type material. The female specimen illustrated by the figures 3A and 3B (labels), is herein designed as the LECTOTYPE of the species ( BMNH). “Para / Ebonius politus ; Lewis; Type / 244 / Type ”.

Additional material examined. BRAZIL. Pará, without date and collector ( BMNH); FRENCH GUIANA. Montagne des Chevaux “au vol”, 21/IV/1976, Michel Maylín leg. 1 ex.; Montagne des Chevaux (N 4°43'; W 52°24'), 26/IX/08, 1 ex.; 28/XII/08, 1 ex.; 10/I/09, 1 ex.; 25/I/09, 1 ex. ( PCND), 3 ex. ( DZUP); 11/IV/09, 2 ex.; 18/ IV/09, 2 ex.; 2/V/09, 1 ex.; 31/V/09, 1 ex.; 6/VI/09, 2 ex.; 13/VI/09, 1 ex.; 23/V/09, 1 ex.; 27/VI/09, 1 ex.; 21/II/10, 1 ex. ( PCND), SEAG leg.; 9/V/09, 2 ex., SEAG leg. ( SBMNH); Bélizon, Montagne Tortue (Km 15 + 17), IX/2005, 1 ex, Pierre-Henri Dalens leg.; Réserve des Nouragues (N 4° 02' 16"; W 52° 40' 21"), 25/VII/09, 1 ex.; 11/VIII/09, 1 ex.; 28/I/10 1 ex.; 5/II/10, 2 ex.; 19/II/10, 2 ex.; 27/III/10, 1 ex.; 9/IV/10, 2 ex., SEAG leg.; Itoupé, alt. 570 m (N 3°01’23’’ W 53°05’44’’), 17/III/10, 3 ex.; 24/III/10, 4 ex.; 31/III/10, 11 ex.; alt. 600 m (N 3°1’20’’ W 53°5’41’’), 24/III/10, 1 ex.; alt. 800 m (N 03°01’19’’ W 053°05’03’’), 17/III/10, 1 ex.; 24/III/10, 8 ex.; 30/III/10, 2 ex., ( PCND), 3 ex. ( SBMNH) SEAG leg.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ebonius politus Lewis, 1885 photographs A. Frontal view; B. Pygidium.

FIGURE 3. Dorsal and ventral habitus photographs of type material and type labels. A-B. Ebonius politus Lewis, 1885; C-D. Ebonius lineiger (Marseul, 1870); E-F. Ebonius aequatorius Lewis, 1910.