Macrelmis alea, Passos, Maria Inês Silva Dos, Miranda, Gustavo Silva De & Nessimian, Jorge Luiz, 2015

Passos, Maria Inês Silva Dos, Miranda, Gustavo Silva De & Nessimian, Jorge Luiz, 2015, Three new species of Macrelmis Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Elmidae: Elminae) from Southeastern Brazil with new definition of species groups to the genus, Zootaxa 4058 (2), pp. 195-210 : 201

alea new species group

Diagnostic character: presence of spongy structures covering the parameres, parameres with setae on its apex ( Figs. 5A, B ).

Species: Macrelmis aeolis , M. alea , M. browni sp. nov. and M. itatiaiensis sp. nov.

Distribution ( Fig. 6 ): Brasil: Santa Catarina ( Hinton 1946), Rio de Janeiro (present work) and Minas Gerais (present work).

History of the group: Macrelmis alea and M. aeolis were considered as closely related by Hinton (1946) based on the presence of spongy structure, presence of head granulation and shape of fifth abdominal sternite, but a species group has never been formally proposed. In addition to these two species, M. itatiaiensis sp. nov. and M. browni sp. nov. also have the defining characters and are added to the group.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Distributional map of South American species of Macrelmis. The question mark in the big map over Brazil represents M. antiqua, a species without a more precise location known. The question mark in frame B over São Paulo state represents M. salti, another species with not many detail, beside the state where it occurs in Brazil.

FIGURE 5 A – F. Male genitalia of Macrelmis. A, B: alea sp. group. A. M. alea. B. M. aeolis (both modified from Hinton, 1946). C, D. milleri sp. group. C. M. milleri. D. M. hayakae (both modified from Spangler, 1997). E, F. clypeata sp. group. E. M. clypeata. F. M isus (modified from Hinton, 1946). Scale bars: A, B, E, F: 0.1 mm; C: 0.3 mm; D: 0.5 mm.