Dyscolus globoculus Moret, 2020

Moret, Pierre & Murienne, Jérôme, 2020, Integrative taxonomy of the genus Dyscolus (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Platynini) in Ecuadorian Andes, European Journal of Taxonomy 646, pp. 1-55 : 18-20

Dyscolus globoculus Moret sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BDCC6B63-F8CC-4438-8CB3-C7458BCC9715

Figs 13–14

Etymology

Combination of two Latin words, ‘ globus ’ and ‘ oculus ’, in allusion to the globular form of the eyes of this new species.

Type material

Holotype (only known specimen)

ECUADOR • ♂ (lacks the left middle leg, the left hind leg and the three last joints of the right antenna); Zamora-Chinchipe Province, Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Bajada Carretera Loja–Zamora ; 3.987º S, 79.118º W; 2530 m a.s.l.; 5 Sep. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher CR064, BOLD sequence GBNP035-17; MNHN.

Diagnostic description

Habitus: Fig. 13 . Wingless. Body length: 12.2 mm. Body shiny black, with a bluish-violaceous metallic lustre on the elytra; femora and tibiae black, tarsi dark brown; palpi reddish brown, antennomeres 1–3 nigropiceous with a darker apex, 4–11 reddish brown. Elytral microsculpture transverse. Head small, very elongate, almost cylindrical, with an abrupt collar constriction; eyes strongly protruding, almost hemispherical; genae long and flat, longer than the eyes; mandibles moderately long and acute. Pronotum almost as wide as the elytra, completely rounded basally, with broadly explanate margins and lacking anterior lobes; two pairs of lateral setae; longitudinal basal impressions narrow. Elytra elongate-oval, convex; humeri effaced; subapical sinuation weak; apex separately rounded. Striae deep and punctate, randomly broken by a few interruptions in the distal part of striae 1–4 and all along striae 5–7. Intervals 1–7 strongly convex, the third interval with two discal setae, one after the middle at ca 0.60 of the elytron length, the other in a broader fovea at 0.85; 17 umbilicate setae along the lateral margin. Last visible abdominal ventrite emarginate, with one pair (♂) of setae along its apical margin. Legs elongate and slender; fourth metatarsomere with one pair of subapical dorsolateral setae (the outer seta has fallen out but the pore is clearly visible), apical lobes asymmetrical, the outer lobe more than two times longer than the inner lobe; fifth tarsomere of all legs setose ventrally. Male genitalia: Fig. 14 . Median lobe relatively short, feebly arcuate, apex broadly rounded in dorsal view, endophallus unarmed. Female genitalia: unknown.

Comparisons

Given the unique combination of the following five characters: elytra with violaceous metallic lustre, cylindrical head with hemispherical eyes, rounded pronotum, bisetose third interval of the elytra and setose onychia, Dyscolus globoculus Moret sp. nov. has no close relatives among Neotropical Platynini . Dyscolus globoculus Moret sp. nov. superficially resembles Javanese members of the genus Colpodes in its strongly protruded eyes and explanate margins of the pronotum ( Liebherr 1998: fig. 2), but it lacks several derived characters of Colpodes : head with deep sulci bordering the eyes; effaced neck constriction; elytra with a denticle at the sutural apex; fourth tarsomeres without any subapical dorsolateral seta ( Moret 1989: fig. 5; Liebherr 1998: figs 4–6). The protuberant eye is probably a homoplastic character which developed independently in these two lineages.

Habitat

Upper montane forest on the Eastern slope of the Andes , at around 2500 m a.s.l.

Geographic distribution

Only known from the type locality in Southern Ecuador, in the Parque Nacional Podocarpus. Probably microendemic.

Figures

Figs 13–14. Dyscolus globoculus Moret sp. nov. 13. Habitus of the male holotype (MNHN, COI voucher CR064). 14. Aedeagus, median lobe in lateral view.