Protoconnus ecuadoranus, Jałoszyński, 2018

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, Revision of the Neotropical genus Protoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 41-82 : 63-65

Protoconnus ecuadoranus sp. n.

( Figs 49 , 56–57 , 101 )

Type material. Holotype: ECUADOR (Napo Province): ♂, two labels: "ECUADOR 64, Napo Prov. / Cosanga vic., Yanayacu / Station, Bamboo hill trail / 2125 m, S 00°36'18.4'' / W 77°53'09.0'', 9 XII 2009 / leg. R. RUTA" [white, printed], " PROTOCONNUS / ecuadoranus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2018 / HOLOTYPUS" [red, printed] (MNHW). Paratype: 1 ♀, "ECUADOR 50, Napo Prov. / Cosanga vic., Yanayacu / Station, Bamboo hill trail (sifting / litter), 2000-2200 m / 00°35'S, 77°53'W / 5 XII 2009, leg. R. RUTA" [white, printed], and a standard yellow "Paratypus" label (cPJ).

Diagnosis. BL 1.15–1.28 mm; body stout, elytra 1.60–1.61 times as broad as strongly transverse pronotum; frons in male between supraantennal tubercles flat, broad and densely covered with shallow and unevenly distributed punctures; vertex unmodified, weakly convex and with posterior margin straight in its median portion; pronotal base with small but distinct pits and distinct groove; lateral pronotal carinae distinct and sharp in posterior half; humeral carinae distinct, rounded and broad anteriorly, distinctly narrowing posterad, where they are sharply marked; aedeagus in ventral view with basal capsule narrowing distad but slightly constricted, distal region rapidly narrowed and slender, broadly but shallowly constricted in proximal half, so that a long flame-like apical portion is delimited; apex slightly asymmetrical, subtriangular and pointed, very weakly curved ventrad; parameres conspicuously broadened distad.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 49 ) strongly convex, brown, covered with setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 1.15 mm.

Head broadest at very large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.26 mm; tempora in lateral view as long as 1/5 of the longest diameter of eye; vertex weakly convex, posterior margin straight in its median portion, laterally forming indistinct angles with rounded tempora; frons flat and broad between large supraantennal tubercles. Punctures on frons and vertex inconspicuous, except for area between supraantennal tubercles, which is densely covered with shallow and diffuse, irregularly distributed punctures; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.58 mm, about half as long as body, club distinctly delimited; antennomere I twice as long as broad, II about 1.5 × as long as broad, III and IV each slightly transverse, V–VIII each about as long as broad, IX and X each slightly transverse, XI distinctly longer than X, about 1.5 × as long as broad.

Pronotum moderately transverse, subtrapezoidal, broadest shortly in front of base; PL 0.30 mm, PW 0.38 mm. Anterior and posterior margins weakly convex, lateral margins weakly rounded; lateral carinae distinct and sharp in posterior half; transverse antebasal groove and five pits distinct. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Elytra much more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.68 mm, EW 0.60 mm, EI 1.13; humeral carinae distinct and long, anteriorly broad and rounded, posteriorly narrowing and sharply marked. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 56–57 ) slender; AeL 0.28 mm; in ventral view basal capsule about as long as distal region, slightly narrowed distad and with shallow constriction; distal region laterally delimited from sides of basal capsule by rapid narrowing, slender, arrow-shaped, with shallow constriction in basal half which delimits flame-like apical half with narrow, slightly asymmetrical and pointed apex, in lateral view distal half slightly curved ventrad; in lateral view area above parameral bases forming a blunt and slightly obtuse angle; parameres strongly divergent distad, conspicuously broadened, each with one long apical and two short subapical setae.

Female similar to male but with much smaller eyes; tempora nearly as long as eye. BL 1.28; HL 0.20, HW 0.29, AnL 0.60; PL 0.30, PW 0.39; EL 0.78, EW 0.63, EI 1.24.

Distribution. North-central Ecuador ( Fig. 101 ).

Etymology. Locotypical, after the country name.

Remarks. Protoconnus ecuadoranus is externally most similar to P. magnus ; both species have large-bodied adults with small supraantennal tubercles, and consequently the frons between them is broad and flat, and additionally densely covered with small and very shallow punctures; the latter character is not known in any other Protoconnus . These species differ in proportions of antennomeres and shapes of their aedeagi. In P. ecuadoranus , antennomeres III and IV are slightly transverse, and V–VII about as long as broad; in P. magnus , antennomeres III and IV are about as long as broad and V–VII slightly elongate. In ventral view, the distal region of the median lobe in P. ecuadoranus is longer and narrower in relation to the basal capsule than that in P. magnus ; and in lateral view, the base of the distal region in P. ecuadoranus is weakly constricted (strongly so in P. magnus ).

Figures

FIGURE 101. Distribution of nominal Protoconnus species.

FIGURES 48–53. Dorsal habitus of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus quillabambanus sp. n. (48); P. ecuadoranus sp. n. (49); P. napoanus sp. n. (50); P. impressifrons sp. n. (51); P. angustus sp. n. (52); P. maximus sp. n. (53).

FIGURES 54–61. Aedeagi of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus quillabambanus sp. n. (54–55); P. ecuadoranus sp. n. (56– 57); P. napoanus sp. n. (58–59); P. impressifrons sp. n. (60–61).