Calymmophorus peninsularis

Flores, Gustavo E., Carrara, Rodolfo & Cheli, Germán H., 2011, Three new Praociini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from Peninsula Valdés (Argentina), with zoogeographical and ecological remarks, Zootaxa 2965, pp. 39-50 : 45-47

Calymmophorus peninsularis Flores and Cheli sp. nov.

( Figs 6 , 8 )

Diagnosis. Calymmophorus peninsularis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: clypeus and frons with protuberances, width of pronotum twice its length, with punctures smaller than elytral punctures, in lateral quarters with an elevated ridge surrounding each puncture posteriorly, pronotum with anterior margin concave and located behind anterior angles, not produced anteriorly over the head; elytron with protuberances in posterior half, outer intercostal space, and pseudopleuron ( Fig. 6 ). On the other hand, all other five species of Calymmophorus , that is, C. cucullatus ( Lacordaire 1830) , C. ursinus ( Lacordaire 1830) , C. dasypoides ( Lacordaire 1830) , C. uspallatensis Berg 1883 , and C. patagonicus Bruch 1916 , have clypeus and frons with punctures; width of pronotum 1.5 times its length, with punctures larger than elytral punctures, punctures in lateral quarters lacking elevated ridge behind the puncture, anterior margin hood-shaped, produced over the head, located anteriorly to anterior angles; elytra with punctures, lacking protuberances.

Description. Length 6–7 mm. Oval habitus; head, pronotum and elytra black; mouth parts, venter, antennae and legs dark brown. Head. Clypeus with sparse protuberances; frons with abundant protuberances, lacking setae in central area; antennae reaching 3/4 of lateral margin of pronotum; antennomere 9 wider than long; tomentose sensory patches on apical third of antennomere 11. Thorax. Width of pronotum ( Fig. 6 ) twice its length, with abundant punctures smaller than elytral punctures, separated from one another by a distance greater than diameter of one puncture; disc with punctures, some of them bearing one seta arising from their posterior margin, in lateral quarters with an elevated ridge surrounding each puncture posteriorly, with one seta arising in between posterior margin of puncture and base of ridge; anterior margin slender, concave, lacking scaly setae, located behind anterior angles, not produced anteriorly over the head; anterior and posterior angles right; lateral margin serrated; prosternum horizontal, with process forming a right angle, not produced backwards. Elytron ( Fig. 6 ) with two raised carinae halfway between suture and lateral margin, with abundant punctures, separated by a distance greater than diameter of one puncture; on anterior half of inner and medial intercostal spaces each puncture bears one short seta arising from its posterior margin; outer intercostal space, posterior half of elytron and psedopleuron with a protuberance behind each puncture, with short setae arising in between each puncture and its posterior protuberance; lateral margin rounded, with a row of long golden setae; epipleuron conspicuous in posterior 4/5, with edge, anterior quarter twice as wide as posterior half. Legs. Protibiae with apical process equal to length of protarsomeres 1–3, outer margin with 3–4 spinae, each one bearing a stout seta.

Type material. Holotype, female: [ Argentina: Chubut, Dto. Biedma/ Península Valdés, Punta Buenos/ Aires 42º 14’ 14”S, 64º 22’ 31”W, 2 m / 08-I-2010, Coll: G. Flores, G. Cheli,/ R. Carrara] [ Calymmophorus / peninsularis sp. nov. / HOLOTYPUS female/ Det. G. Flores and/ G. Cheli 2011] (IADIZA). Paratype female ( Fig. 6 ): [ Argentina. Chubut/ Península Valdés/ Punta Delgada/ D. Rojas, 25-I-1997] (IADIZA).

Etymology. We named this new species peninsularis because it is endemic to the Peninsula Valdés.

Remarks. In spite of these differences with the so far known species of Calymmophorus , C. peninsularis sp. nov. should be included in this genus because it shares with all the above mentioned species the following character states: anterior area of clypeus bent downwards forming a right angle, with the margin broadened, genae fused with clypeus, and prosternum with distinctive anterior margin produced anterad and covering mouthparts ventrally.

Distribution and habitat. This species is only known from two places within Peninsula Valdés: Punta Buenos Aires and Punta Delgada ( Fig. 8 ). In both places it was observed sharing the habitat with other tenebrionid species such as Emmallodera hirtipes Kulzer , Epipedonota cristallisata (Lacordaire) , Mitragenius araneiformis Curtis , Nyctelia circumundata Lesne , N. nodosa (Germar) , Patagonogenius quadricollis (Fairmaire), P. collaris (Kulzer) , Platesthes kuscheli (Kulzer) , Psectrascelis sulcicollis (Waterhouse) , Hylithus tentyroides (Lacordaire) , and Blapstinus punctulatus Solier. In Punta Buenos Aires Calymmophorus peninsularis sp. nov. was recorded in sympatry with C. patagonicus .

Ecological notes. Punta Buenos Aires shows shrubby vegetation composed mainly of Ch. avellanedae , Ch. erinacea ssp. hystrix , Suaeda divaricada , and Atriplex lampa . Surface soils are fine sand, calcareous, without gravel, and salty at depth. In Punta Delgada the vegetation is arranged in a mosaic of shrubs ( Ch. avellanedae , Ch. erinacea hystrix , and Mulinum spinosum ) and grass steppe ( Piptochaetium napostaense , Nassella tenuis and Plantago patagonic a). Surface soils are sandy and loose over a clay-sandy substrate with gravels. Both zones share more than 50% of their vegetation species, and are located in the rainiest area of PV next to the sea. This last characteristic contributes to higher humidity levels and to mitigation of thermal fluctuations ( Bertiller et al. 1981; Rostagno 1981).

Figures

FIGURES 1 − 6. 1. Praocis sellata bruchi, holotype HNHM; 2. P. sellata topali, paratype HNHM; 3. Praocis sellata peninsularis ssp. nov., holotype; 4. Praocis sellata bergi, paratype HNHM; 5. P. sellata granulipennis ssp. nov., paratype; 6. Calymmophorus peninsularis sp. nov., paratype.

FIGURES 7 − 9. 7. Geographical distribution of two subspecies of Praocis sellata in and outside Peninsula Valdés: P. sellata peninsularis (circles), P. sellata granulipennis (triangles). 8. Geographical distribution of two species of Calymmophorus in and outside Peninsula Valdés: C. peninsularis (triangles), C. patagonicus (circles). 9. Location map of Peninsula Valdés, Argentina.