Psectrascelis senex Villablanca-Miranda & Zúñiga-Reinoso, 2022

Villablanca-Miranda, Vicente, Villablanca, Javier & Zúñiga-Reinoso, Álvaro, 2022, Psectrascelis senex sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), a new species from the southern Atacama Desert, Chile, Zootaxa 5174 (3), pp. 285-293 : 287-291

Psectrascelis senex Villablanca-Miranda & Zúñiga-Reinoso sp. nov.

Type locality. Chile, Coquimbo Region, Limarí Province, Los Loros, Eastern slope of Los Loros hills (- 30.77 S, - 71.64 W) .

Type material. Holotype: Chile, Coquimbo Region, Limarí Province, Talinay, Los Loros , Eastern slope of Los Loros hills (- 30.77 S, - 71.64 W). 29-I-2021. Leg. A. Jara, A. Zúñiga (1♂ MNNC) . Paratypes: Same data and locality as the holotype 4 ♂♂ / 4 ♀♀ (1♀ MNNC, 2 ♂♂ / 1♀ MZUC, 1♂ / 1♀ PPPC, 1♂ / 1♀ SLPC). Chile, Coquimbo Region, Limarí Province, Alcones (- 30.75 S, - 71.54 W). 24-X-2020. Leg. V. Villablanca-Miranda, J.Villablanca-Villanueva 17♂♂ / 26♀♀ (9♂♂ / 17♀♀ VVPC, 1♂ / 1♀ MGPC, 2♂♂ / 2♀♀ IADIZA, 1♂ / 2♀♀ IEUMCE, 2♂♂ / 2♀♀ MNNC, 2♂♂ / 2♀♀ MZUC) ; 22-IX-2021. Leg. V. Villablanca-Miranda, J. Villablanca. 4 ♂♂ / 3♀♀ (4♂♂ / 3♀♀ JVPC,) ; 24- II-2022. Leg. V. Villablanca-Miranda, D. Rojas, J. Villablanca-Villanueva. 7♂♂ / 6♀♀ (5 ♂♂ 4 ♀♀ VVPC, 2♂♂ / 2 ♀♀ MGPC) .

Description. Male. Head black. Labrum emarginate, with thick punctures and scarce short setae. Lateral margins with dense and long whitish setae. Clypeal anterior margin strongly curved. Clypeus with thicker and more scattered punctures than labrum. Front slightly convex, with punctures as the clypeus, with a tuft of long, whitish, and decumbent setae close to the eyes. Mandibles with short, decumbent setae. Maxillary and labial palpus are also covered with short, decumbent setae. Mentum slightly widened forward, covered by erected setae and moderately punctured. Gena with fine punctures close to the posterior margin and covered by erected whitish setae. Antennae brownish, covered with short and whitish decumbent setae. Antennomeres I-IV are longer than the next four but smaller than the last three. Antennomeres V-VIII are roughly the same size but shorter than the others. Last three antennomeres with velveted pilosity. Antennae can almost reach the posterior margin of the pronotum. Thorax shiny black. Pronotum slightly convex, wider than long, and less wide than the elytra. Maximum width close to half. Pronotal disc convex with strong parallel wrinkles and with fine, scattered punctures ( Fig. 2A ). Anterior margin curved, with short yellowish setae running along the margin. Anterior angles acute. Lateral margins curved, and rhomboidal in appearance, raised on the wider part. Posterior margin bisinuate with short yellowish setae along the margin. Posterior angles rounded without exceeding the elytra. Proepisternum wrinkled and coarsely punctuated with scarce short setae. Prosternum convex with wrinkles and thick punctures with long decumbent whitish setae ( Fig. 2B ). Prosternal process convex, wider in the posterior half, with coarse punctuation and setae similar to those of the prosternum. Mesosternum flat, punctuation smaller than those of the prosternum, with setae of different sizes, which are concentrated on the posterior margin ( Fig. 2B ). Metasternum flat with setae and punctures on the lateral margins. Wrinkled towards the anterior margin. Pseudopleurum densely covered with thick punctures and short whitish setae ( Fig. 2C ). Epipleura with scattered punctures ( Fig. 2C ). Elytra blacks, shiny and convex. Maximum width close to half. Raised elytral suture. Three carinae on each elytron and the second carina with thick and scattered punctures ( Fig. 2A ). Intercostal spaces with fine punctures and abundant short pilosity. Elytral margin conspicuous and thickly punctured ( Fig. 2A ). Abdomen black, shiny, convex, with fine punctuation and decumbent pilosity ( Fig. 2B ). Ventrite I -IV are similar in appearance, longitudinally wrinkled on the anterior margins. Middle part with few inconspicuous wrinkles and fine punctuation, denser towards lateral margins, from which white, very short setae protrude. Ventrite V with fine punctuation, denser towards the lateral margins and apex. Setae long and decumbent at the apex. Legs black. The basal second third of the femora is covered by dense whitish pilosity while the apical part is glabrous. This pilosity is only present in the ventral and dorsal part of the femora, but not on the flanks ( Fig. 2A, B and C ). Basal third of the ventral part of the tibiae with dense whitish pilosity ( Fig. 2B ). Metatibiae is longer and arched, wider in the posterior third where a small velvety patch is present in the ventral face ( Fig. 2C ). Tarsi is covered by whitish pilosity. Male genitalia in ventral view with lateral styles of tegmen (ls) narrowed towards the apex ( Fig. 3A ), curved and thick ( Fig. 3B ), with scarce punctures on the surface. Apex with abundant short setae, accompanied by scarce long setae. Long setae are visible in the first third. Basal margin bisinuated. Basal lamina of tegmen roughly same size than ls, margin sub-straight with last third narrowing to the base, basal margin sub-rounded.

Female. The females are in general externally quite similar to the males ( Fig. 2D and 2A ), but larger, elytra wider ( Fig. 2E ), and more raised ( Fig. 2F ) than the males. Whitish pilosity covers half of the tibiae. Metatibiae straight without the velvety patch ( Fig. 2E ). Genitalia in ventral view ( Fig. 3E ) with the second coxite plate + valvifer (v+c2) 1,3 times longer than wide, surface barely punctured, rugose, and long hairs directed to the apex on the anterior part. The third coxite plate (c3) is two times longer than wide, barely narrowing to the apex, with the surface strongly punctured, and with abundant long setae directed to the apex. A tuft of short hair (sensory setae: ss) in apical position close to the base of the fourth coxite plate (c4, Fig. 3F ). Strongly sclerotized and lanceolated c4.

Diagnosis. The diagnostic traits of P. senex sp. nov. are presented through a comparison with P. penai because both species are morphologically and genetically close. For this, the traits of P. penai are given in parentheses when they differ from those of P. senex sp. nov. Pronotum disc with strong parallel wrinkles and punctures (soft wrinkles and scarce punctures, Fig. 2G ). Elytra with carinae (Elytra without carinae, Fig. 2G ). Elytral suture raised with scarce punctures on the declination (Elytral suture flat with a line of fine punctures along its entire length, Fig. 3G ). Space between carinae with abundant short pilosity (Elytra glabrous, Fig. 2G and H ). Pseudopleurum densely covered with thick punctures and short whitish setae (pseudopleurum with parallel lines of thick punctures, Fig. 2I ) Scarce punctures on the ls surface (abundant punctures, Fig. 3C ). Apex with abundant short setae (without short setae). Long setae are visible on the first third of the ls (short setae barely visible on ls, Fig. C and D). Basal margin bisinuated of the ls (Basal margin triangular, Fig. 3C ). The surface of the c2+v and c3 strongly punctured (Surface of the c2+ v and c3 strongly striated, Fig. 3F ). Lateral margin of c3 barely narrowing to the apex (c3 strongly narrowing to the apex, Fig. 3F ). A tuft of short setae in c4 (A tuft of large setae in c4, Fig. 3F and G ).

Intraspecific variation. The pattern of pronotal wrinkles and punctuations is highly variable. The number and size of punctures on the second carina are unique in each specimen and even unique in each elytron ( Fig. 2 A and D ). The intercostal space may be interrupted by small joints between carinae ( Fig. 2A ). The mean male body length is 10.8 mm (n=13) with a range between 9.9 and 11.8 mm. The average body length of the female is 12.9 mm (n=14) with a range of 10.9 to 14 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Chile, Coquimbo Region, Limarí Province. The area is located in the Coquimbean Biogeographical Province ( Morrone 2015), district of Intermediate Desert (sensu Peña 1966). P. senex sp. nov. inhabits the foothill of the Los Loros hills and surrounding areas of the Alcones town ( Fig. 1B and C ). The species was collected under the bushes Haplopappus foliosus DC. ( Fig. 1B ) and Haplopappus cerberoanus (J.Rémy) Reiche ( Fig. 1C ) in direct contact with the sandy soil. This area is highly influenced by the coastal fog called “camanchaca” which overpasses the west face of the Talinay mountain range ( Fig. 1B ).

Etymology. The specific name is from Latin senex meaning old, due to the wrinkled appearance of the taxon described and also because the first and second authors want to dedicate this species to Jaime Villablanca-Villanueva (grandfather and father respectively) for accompanying and assisting in the expedition in which specimens of this new species were collected.

Genetic analyses. Partial fragments of 830 bp COI were obtained. We found three haplotypes of COI gene in P. senex sp. nov. with a 0.2% to 0.4% intraspecific genetic distance, whereas P. penai presented a single haplotype. The genetic distance of COI between P. senex sp. nov. and P. penai was between 2.2% to 2.4%.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Overview of distribution and habitat of Psectrascelis senex sp. nov. a) Distribution of P. senex sp. nov. (red stars) and P. penai (black dots). b) Overview of the habitat on the eastern slope of Los Loros hills. c) Overview of the habitat in Alcones and d) specimen in situ from Alcones.

FIGURE 2. Habitus in dorsal, ventral, and lateral view respectively of Psectrascelis species included in this study. A–C: Male of P. senex sp. nov. D–F: Female of P. senex sp. nov.. G–I: Male of P. penai.

FIGURE 3. Ventral and lateral views respectively of the aedeagus and ovipositor of the Psectrascelis species studied. A–B: Aedeagus of P. senex sp. nov. C–D: Aedeagus of P. penai. E–F: Ovopositor of P. senex sp. nov. G–H: Ovopositor of P. penai. ls, lateral style; b, basal lamina; c2–c4, coxite plates 2–4; ss, sensory setae; v, valvifer.