Baconia aulaea, Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Baconia Lewis (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 343, pp. 1-297 : 154-156

Baconia aulaea sp. n. Figs 42 E–F, H, J, M–N43C–DMap 13

Type locality.

ECUADOR: Orellana:Res. Ethnica Waorani [0.67°N, 76.43°W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "ECUADOR: Depto. Orellana:Res. Ethnica Waorani, 1km S Onkone Gare Camp, Trans. Ent., 0°39'10"S, 76°26'W, 220m, 4 October 1995, T.L. Erwin et al. collectors" / "Insecticidal fogging of mostly bare green leaves, some with covering of lichenous or bryophytic plants in terra firme forest. Project MAXUS Lot 1171 Trans. 1 Sta. 1" / "Caterino/Tishechkin Exosternini Voucher EXO-00508" (USNM). Paratype (1): same locality as type, 26.vi.1996, Lot 1587 Trans. 7 Sta. 7 (USNM).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.2-1.3mm, width: 1.0-1.1mm; body broadly elongate oval, weakly depressed, glabrous; color rufobrunneus, shining; head with frons flat, ground punctation fine, rather dense, secondary punctures moderately coarser, interspersed dorsad, frontal stria absent; antennal scape short, club approximately circular; epistoma faintly emarginate apically; labrum about 4 ×wider than long, apical margin shallowly emarginate; mandibles short; pronotum with sides convergent, rounded to apex, lateral marginal stria continuous with complete anterior marginal stria, lateral submarginal stria nearly complete, may join marginal near anterior corner, pronotal disk weakly depressed in anterolateral corners, ground punctation fine, very sparse, with slightly coarser secondary punctures uniformly interspersed, slightly larger toward prescutellar area; elytra with two epipleural striae, outer subhumeral stria absent, fine fragment of inner subhumeral stria present at base, dorsal striae 1-4 complete to base, the inner striae strongly abbreviated from apex, base of 4th stria arched mediad to near scutellum, 5th stria slightly abbreviated basally, sutural stria more strongly abbreviated, stria broadened anterad, elytral disk with scattered secondary punctures in much of apical half, extending further anterad toward middle; prosternal keel weakly convex, shallowly emarginate at base, carinal striae converging slightly anterad; prosternal lobe about two-thirds keel length, api cal margin rounded, with marginal stria present only at middle; mesoventrite produced at middle, with marginal stria narrowly interrupted; mesometaventral stria arched slightly forward, detached from inner lateral metaventral stria which extends posterad toward inner corner of metacoxa, curving mediad slightly at apex, outer lateral metaventral stria short, subparallel to inner stria in basal half; metaventral disk moderately coarsely punctate at sides, impunctate at middle; abdominal ventrite 1 with single, complete inner lateral stria, with small secondary punctures sparsely distributed on middle portion of disk, ventrites 2-5 with fine but rather deep punctures across entire width; protibia tridentate, the outer margin serrulate between denticles; mesotibia with two very weak marginal spines; outer metatibial margin smooth; propygidium lacking basal stria, with fine ground punctation and coarser, ocellate secondary punctures uniformly separated by slightly less than their diameters, propygidial gland openings inconspicuous; pygidium with sparse ground punctation becoming slightly denser apically, with secondary punctation denser toward base. Male genitalia (Figs 42 E–F, H, J, M–N): T8 with basal emargination rather deep, narrow, ventrolateral apodemes with inner apices separated by about two-thirds T8 width, projecting beneath to about ventral midpoint, obsolete apically, apical margin narrowly emarginate; S8 with halves fused along midline, basal emargination deeply sinuate, basal apodemes obliquely subtruncate, sides narrowed toward apex, apices narrowly, obliquely truncate, with a few apical setae, apical emargination broad, arcuate; T9 with short, broadly rounded basal apodemes, halves separated dorsally, ventrolateral apodemes tapering, narrowly rounded, slightly recurved proximad beneath, apices of T9 obliquely truncate, with single subapical seta on each side; T10 poorly sclerotized, with weak apical emargination; S9 with long, narrow stem, lacking median keel, head abruptly widened, with narrowly desclerotized margins, sides weakly rounded to apex, narrowed slightly, apices acute, apical emargination broad, shallow, sinuate; tegmen with sides subparallel in about basal two-thirds, abruptly narrowed to apex, apices narrowly rounded, tegmen very weakly curved in lateral aspect, apex more strongly deflexed; median lobe about one-fourth tegmen length, with apical denticulate plates; basal piece about one-third tegmen length.

Remarks.

This species’ closest relatives, based on a similarly shaped male 8th sternite that has narrow apices and a distinct ‘V’ -shaped apicoventral concavity, are Baconia diminua and Baconia punctiventer , the latter of which is sympatric. Baconia aulaea can be distinguished from either of these by the relatively conspicuous ground punctation of the frons and epistoma (Fig. 43C), the anteriorly convergent prosternal striae (Fig. 43D), the long but incomplete outer lateral metaventral stria, and the small, irregularly sparse punctures of abdominal ventrite 1. The abruptly narrowed aedeagal apex is also distinct from these other species.

Etymology.

The name of this species refers to the canopy from which it was collected.