Baeocera arizonensis Löbl, 2021

Löbl, Ivan, Leschen, Richard A. B. & Warner, William B., 2021, Scaphisomatini of Arizona (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scaphidiinae) collected by V-Flight Intercept Traps, Revue suisse de Zoologie 128 (1), pp. 173-185 : 176-177

Baeocera arizonensis Löbl , sp. nov.

Figs 3-5

Material examined:

Holotype: MHNG (# MHNG-ENTO-86101); male; USA: AZ: Cochise Co. Huachuca Mts. ; 0.8 rd. mi. SW Reef; 31.4238° - 110.2991°; July 4-24.2019; V-flight intercept trap; W.B. Warner.

Paratypes: MHNG, WBWC; 2 males, 1 female; with the same data as the holotype. – WBWC; 1 male; with the same data but Aug. 31 -Sept. 28, 2018.

Etymology: The species epithet refers to Arizona.

Diagnosis: The species is defined by the following characters in combination: body length about 1.20- 1.30 mm, elytra lighter than most of pronotum, lateral margins of pronotum and elytra continuously arcuate, elytron with basal stria broadly separated from lateral stria, lateral parts of metaventrite finely punctate, ventrite I with basal striae, aedeagus symmetrical, with tapering apical process, parameres sinuate and narrowed posterior basal third, internal sac with complex sclerites, as in Figs 3, 4 .

Description: Length 1.23-1.28 mm, width 0.75- 0.85 mm. Head and most of pronotum dark brown, pronotum near lateral margins, hypomeres, elytra and appendages ochraceous, mesoventrite, mesanepisterna, metaventrite, metanepisterna and abdomen dark brown to blackish. Antennomere II twice as long as antennomere III. Length/width ratios of antennomeres as: III 15/7: IV 18/6: V 20/6: V1 17/7: VII 20/9: VIII 17/10: IX 30/15: X 27/16: XI 43/18. Pronotum and elytra continuously arcuate. Pronotal punctation hardly visible at 50 times magnification, microsculpture indistinct. Marginal carinae of pronotum not visible in dorsal view. Point of scutellum exposed. Elytron weakly narrowed apically, with lateral margin rounded near base and apex, oblique at middle, adsutural area flat and broad, sutural stria punctate, curved along base to form basal stria; basal stria extended slightly outward basal half of elytral width and broadly separated from lateral stria, gradually approximate to basal margin; lateral stria punctate. Elytral disc not microsculptured, with punctation less fine than that on pronotum. Hypomeron impunctate. Mesepimeron about twice to three times as long as wide and about 1.5 times as long as distance to coxa. Median part of metaventrite flattened, with impunctate narrow central area delimited laterally and apically by dense patch of fine punctures. Remaining punctation on metaventrite hardly visible at 100 times magnification. Submesocoxal lines convex, with row of small, not elongate pits, not extended laterally. Submesocoxal areas 0.05-0.06 mm long, about as half to two-thirds of shortest distance to metacoxae. Exposed part of metanepisternum flat, about 0.08-0.09 mm wide, with suture finely punctate, straight or somewhat curved. Tibiae straight. Abdominal punctation finer that elytral punctation, microsculpture punctulate, hardly visible. Ventrite I with basolateral striae 0.08-0.12 mm long, row of fine basal pits interrupted at middle. Aedeagus ( Figs 3-5 ) 0.47-0.52 mm long, weakly sclerotized.

Distribution: USA, Arizona.

Type locality: Arizona, Cochise Co. Huachuca Mts. , 0.8 rd. mi. SW Reef, 31.4238°N, 110.2991°W.

Remarks: The species is a member of the B. picea group as defined in Löbl & Stephan (1993). Its aedeagal characters suggest relationship with B. borealis Löbl & Stephan, 1993 by having the same peculiar shape of the parameres. The shape of the median lobe is also similar though the apical process is in B. arizonensis narrower in lateral view. The new species may be easily distinguished from B. borealis by the bicolorous body, the long laterobasal striae of the ventrite I, and the shape of the sclerotized pieces of the internal sac. It falls in the key to the North American Baeocera ( Löbl & Stephan, 1993) under the couplet 5, to B. elongata Löbl & Stephan, 1993 . B. elongata is significantly larger and has the submesocoxal lines nearly parallel with the margin of coxal cavities, and deep striae at the base of the ventrite I.

Figures

Figs 3-10. Aedeagi in Baeocera. (3 - 4) B. arizonensis Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm. (5) Ditto, paramere in ventral view, scale = 0.1 mm. (6-7) B. obscura Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm (basal bulb deformed, tip of apical process broken). (8.) Ditto, paramere in ventral view, scale = 0.05 mm. (9-10) B. vintercepta Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm.