Neocylloepus sandersoni Brown, 1970

Polizei, Thiago T. S. & Barclay, Maxwell V. L., 2019, First records of the genera Neocylloepus and Pilielmis (Coleoptera: Elmidae Elminae) from Venezuela, with the description of Pilielmis shepardi sp. nov., Zootaxa 4688 (2), pp. 282-288 : 283

Neocylloepus sandersoni Brown, 1970

( Figs 1-2 )

Type locality: Puntarenas State, Costa Rica .

Diagnosis: Body elongate. Dark brown in colour. Head with the antero-lateral margin of the front strongly prominent. Pronotum with a sinuous sublateral longitudinal carina on each side, reaching the anterior and posterior margins, and a transversal impression on anterior two-fifths; disc covered by tomentum; lateral margin with a few long, thin golden setae. Elytra striate, eighth interval carinate from base to the apex. Legs with femora strongly punctate and covered by tomentum; tibiae with a dense row of golden fringe of tomentum. Abdomen with concavity of first sternite continuous with depression of metasternum and extending across second sternite; carinae of first sternite relatively feeble, slightly more prominent and noticeably convergent apically. Male genitalia with penis narrowed abruptly beyond the middle and parameres slender and elongate. Maximum length: 2.25mm. Maximum width: 1.1mm.

Material examined: Label: f# // 10km Tocuyito / Venezuela 20.07.71 / H. E. Hinton / J. A. Nunez // H. E. Hinton / collection. B.M. 1977-566 . // Neocylloepus sandersoni - Brown, 1970 / T.T.S.Polizei det. 2018 .

Distribution: Costa Rica, Panamá ( Brown, 1970); Colombia ( Jäch et al. 2016); Venezuela * NEW RECORD.

Comments: This specimen represents the first record of Neocylloepus for Venezuela. Until now, the genus was known from ten countries, of which, only Colombia ( N. sandersoni ) and Bolivia ( N. chaparensis ) are in South America. The greatest diversity of the genus occurs in Mexico, where five of the eight described species have been recorded. The species Neocylloepus sandersoni represents one of the most widespread species of the genus, having been recorded from four countries; Costa Rica, Panamá and Colombia, ( Jäch et al. 2016), and now Venezuela.

According to Brown (1970), this species is very similar to Neocylloepus sculptipennis ( Sharp, 1882) , but can be easily distinguished by the morphology of the male genitalia, with the parameres narrowing abruptly towards the apex in N. sandersoni and apically narrowed in N. sculptipennis . Concerning body size, N. sandersoni is the smallest species of the genus, with a length less than 2.5 mm.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Habitus Neocylloepus sandersoni female. (1) Dorsal view. (2) Ventral view. Scale bars = 0.5mm.