Operclipygus conquisitus (Lewis, 1902)

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Operclipygus Marseul (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 271, pp. 1-401 : 53-56

Operclipygus conquisitus (Lewis, 1902) Figs 13A14 A–DMap 4

Phelister conquisitus Lewis, 1902: 235; Operclipygus conquisitus : Wenzel (1976: 257).

Phelisteroides ruptistrius Wenzel, 1944: 141; synonymized by Wenzel (1976: 257).

Type locality.

BRAZIL: Pará: Santarém [2°26'S, 54°42'W].

Type material.

Phelister conquisitus : Type missing. Published type locality: "Ulster Co. N.Y." [in error!]; Neotype male, here designated: “Santarem” (BMNH). This specimen was determined by Hinton, himself having apparently studied Lewis's type before its loss ( Hinton 1935a: 588). Phelisteroides ruptistrius : Holotype: (CMNH), not examined. Paratype: "Santarem Brazil, Acc. No. 2966" / Dec. (FMNH), examined, 2010.

Other material.

BRAZIL: Mato Grosso: 1: Claudia, 11°24.5'S, 55°19.5'W, 17-27.x.2010, FIT, A.F. Oliveira (CEMT). ECUADOR: Orellana: 1:Res. Ethnica Waorani, 1km S Onkone Gare Camp, Trans. Ent., 0°39'10"S, 76°26'W, 220m, 6.vii.1995, fogging, T.L. Erwin (USNM). PERU: Loreto: 1: Iquitos - Nauta rd., km 58, Rio Itaya, 4°15.738'S, 73°28.052'W, 120m, 5-9.v.2009, Window trap, next to entrance, Eciton burchelli statary bivouac in hollow treee, A.V. Petrov (AKTC). 3: 68km SW Iquitos to Nauta, Rio Itaya, 4°11'S, 73°26'W, 110m, 1-3.iii.2008, A.V. Petrov (AKTC). 3: 26-30.ii.2008, A.V. Petrov (AKTC). 4: 18-19.i.2008, A.V. Petrov (AKTC, FMNH). 1: 9.ii.2007, A.V. Petrov (MUSM). 2: 1-5.iii.2008, A.V. Petrov (MUSM). 1: Left bank of Rio Amazonas 70km SSW Iquitos to Nauta, 140m, 25.ii.2008, A.V. Petrov (AKTC). 3: km 63, rd. Iquitos - Nauta, Rio Itaya, 4°15.205'S, 73°26.074'W, 140m, 9-13.i.2011, A.V. Petrov (AKTC). 4: 8-17.i.2010, A.V. Petrov (AKTC, MUSM). 1: 10-14.ii.2010, A.V. Petrov (AKTC).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 2.00-2.34 mm, width: 1.68-2.00 mm; body ovoid, widest behind middle, rufobrunneus, with fine, dense ground punctation on frons, pronotum, and all sterna. Frons and epistoma convex; frontal stria present only along inner edge of eye, absent across front, not joining fine supraorbital; pronotum with marginal stria complete across anterior margin; lateral submarginal pronotal stria complete at side, curving inward at front but ending freely; anterior submarginal stria crenulate, weakly recurved at sides; pronotal disk with few larger punctures towards sides; median pronotal gland openings difficult to detect amidst ground punctation, but present about one-third of pronotal length behind anterior margin, directly behind ends of anterior submarginal stria; elytra with one complete epipleural stria, outer subhumeral stria present in apical half, inner subhumeral stria absent, striae 1-3 complete, 4th present in basal half, arched inward at base but not reaching sutural stria, also represented by apical fragments, occasionally complete, 5th stria only present in apical fourth, often fragmented, sutural stria in apical 2/3; elytral disk with narrow band of small punctures sparsely scattered along apical margin; prosternal keel broad, flat, truncate at base, carinal striae evenly convergent, joined by broad anterior arch and fine basal line; prosternal lobe with marginal stria complete, strongly impressed; anterior margin of mesoventrite shallowly, inwardly arcuate, not distinctly emarginate, marginal stria complete; mesometaventral stria narrowly arched to midpoint of mesoventral disk, crenulate, posteriorly extending toward inner third of metacoxa; 1st abdominal ventrite with inner lateral stria complete, outer abbreviated posteriorly; propygidium with fine, rather sparse ground punctation, with small ocellate punctures irregularly separated by about their diameters, denser toward base; pygidial ground punctation fine, moderately dense, additional small punctures very sparsely interspersed; apical sulcus fine but nearly complete to base. Male genitalia (Fig. 14 A–D): accessory sclerites present, small; T8 short, sides weakly convergent, rounded, angled in to apex, apical emargination narrow, basal emargination deep, broad, meeting basal membrane attachment line at apex, ventrolateral apodemes most strongly developed at base, narrowing to apex; S8 with sides divergent in apical third, apical guides strongly developed in apical half, apices broad and bluntly rounded, with several conspicuous apical setae, ventral halves separate throughout length, diverging slightly apicad; T9 with sides parallel in basal half, converging to narrow, subacute opposing apices; T10 with halves separate; S9 with stem narrowest near midpoint, rather abruptly widened to broadly subtruncate base, apical margin with very shallow median emargination, apical flanges short and separate; tegmen widest just beyond midpoint, abruptly narrowed toward apex, then widened, apices obliquely truncate, apical third of tegmen abruptly bend downward, medioventral process weak, very narrowly ‘U’ -shaped, barely projecting beneath, about one-third from base; basal piece about one-third tegmen length; median lobe also about one-third tegmen length, with filamentous stems of proximal apodemes very short.

Remarks.

The presence of very conspicuous fine, dense ground punctation on the head, pronotum (Fig. 13A), and sterna is unique to this species.

The published type locality of Ulster Co., New York, USA has been convincingly discredited ( Hinton 1935a), and the species is instead known to occur in Amazonian parts of South America. The type specimen was deposited at BMNH along with Lewis's collection, and the pin, point, and original labels are present in that collection. However, no specimens corresponding to the species distinctive characters have been found. One of us (MSC) was resident at BMNH during the conversion of the histerid collection from slats to unit trays, and a thorough search was conducted at that time (year 2000). Wenzel's synonymous Operclipygus ruptistrius , which agrees in all respects with Operclipygus conquisitus , was described from this area, as well.