Neogyponyx Schenkling (1906)

A, Jaime Solervicens, 2007, Cladistic analysis of species of Natalis Laporte (1836) and related genera Eunatalis Schenkling (1909), Metademius Schenkling (1899) and Eurymetomorphon Pic (1950) (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae) with redescription of a restored Clerinae genus, Zootaxa 1398, pp. 1-14 : 8-9

Neogyponyx Schenkling (1906) nov. status

Type species: Neogyponyx punctipennis ( Germain, 1855) by monotypy.

Diagnosis: The synapomorphies that characterize this taxon involve elytral striation, elytral punctuation, and elytral color. The striae tend to be reduced in number and length, and the punctations of the striae, that in their plesiomorphic state are large, deep and approximate to each other, having at least a pair of nodules at their edges, become small, shallow and widely separated, and in some cases tend to disappear. Eyes small, bulging, coarsely faceted, weakly or not emarginated; antenna with loose three­segmented club; last segment of the labial palpi securiform; prothorax cylindrical, approximately as long as wide, pronotum with a median lateral rounded protuberance, disc of pronotum with longitudinal furrow and seven low, rounded protuberances; narrow intercoxal process, procoxal cavities open; elytra subdepressed, striae poorly defined or absent; color pale brown or yellowish, with or without brown dots in relation to the punctuations of the striae; legs with somewhat fusiform femora, tibiae subcylindrical and substraight, not ridged, with two apical spurs.

Description: body elongate, with parallel sides, 3.4 to 4.4 times longer than wide. Size: between 5.5 and 10.5 mm in length. Head: including the eyes, approximately as wide as the pronotum. Short temples; labrum bilobed, transverse; eyes small, the width of one less than half interocular space, bulging, coarsely faceted, weakly or not emarginated; antennae with eleven antennomeres, extended slightly beyond elytral base, antennomeres 3 to 8 long, slightly and gradually expanded towards the apex; club loose, with 9th and 10th antennomere subtriangular and more dilated internally, 11th antennomere oval, approximately 1.5 times the length of the preceding ( Solervicens 1973); gular sutures short, converging forward; maxilla with galea and lacinia with apical tuft, last segment of palpi long and slightly compressed apically and widened towards center or to distal half; last segment of the labial palpi securiform. Prothorax: Cylindrical, approximately as long as wide (mean: 1.07 times, interval: 0.9 to 1.1, n=15); pronotum with a median lateral rounded protuberance; disc of pronotom with longitudinal furrow and seven low rounded protuberances, two anterior, two median, two posterior and a central one located behind furrow, without strong constriction between posterior and median protuberances; prosternum with narrow intercoxal process, procoxal cavities open; elytra subdepressed, covering the entire abdomen, striae poorly defined or absent, punctations when present small, not deep, distant from one from the other and lacking lateral nodules; metathoracic wings with short apical field (less than 50% of wing length), vein RP 2 absent, vein MP3 straight and parallel with respect to MP4 + CuA1, vein AA3+4 long and attaining the margin of the wing, medial spur of wing (MP1+2) substraight; sometimes with short metathoracic wings (as in N. impressus ); legs with somewhat fusiform femora, approximately as long as width of head (mean: 0.9 times, n=10), profemora slightly wider than mesofemora (mean: 1.1 times, n=9), with hairs on anterior face of profemora and posterior of mesofemora; tibiae subcylindrical and substraight, not ridged, with two apical spurs and brush of hairs in the internal face, specially protibiae; protibiae without apical blunt apophysis; 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tarsomeres lobed beneath, tarsal claws simple. (Figure in Solervicens, 1973).

Abdomen: With six ventrites, 5th and 6th ventrites of male and female only slightly modified.

Male Genitalia: Tegmen without dorsal longitudinal division; venter with 2 long sclerotized divergent plates, sometimes more or less united at middle; with lateral weakly sclerotized area at base of parameres; lateral sclerotization limited to side, separated from ventral plates; apodemes substraight; parameres rounded, with large V­shaped emargination among them, parameral apices less sclerotized; median lobe simple, long and thin, with sclerotized bar through whole length, apodemes are long and thin. ( Figure 9 and in Solervicens, 1973).

Female Genitalia: Vagina elongate, with or without internal denticles, bursa copulatrix well developed and larger than spermatheca; deferent duct of spermatheca connected with base of bursa copulatrix and spermathecal gland united with spermatheca laterally in basal half ( Fig.17 ).

Geographic distribution: Endemic to Chile between the provinces of Huasco (III Region) and Chiloé (X Region)

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 10. Male genitalia. Fig. 7. Natalis laplacei. Tegmen, ventral view. Fig. 8. Natalis laplacei. Tegmen, lateral view; a = linear ventral sclerotization; b = lateral weakly sclerotized area of parameres base; c = weakly sclerotized apex of parameres; d = lateral sclerotization extended to ventral linear sclerotization. Fig. 9. Neogyponyx punctipennis. Tegmen, ventral view. Fig. 10. Eunatalis sp. Tegmen, ventral view; a = ventral sclerotization with two branches in V; b = lateral weakly sclerotized area of parameres base; c = weakly sclerotized apex of parameres; d = lateral sclerotization. Scale: 0, 5 mm.

FIGURES 14 – 17. Internal female genitalia. Fig. 14. Metademius sp. Fig. 15. Natalis wagneri. Fig. 16. Natalis laplacei. Fig. 17. Neogyponyx punctipennis. v = vagina; o = oviduct; b = bursa copulatrix; d = small denticles between rows; e = spermatheca; f = row of denticles; g = spermathecal gland. Scale: 0, 5 mm.