Ophionthus asenjoi, Rodríguez-Melgarejo & Chani-Posse, 2021

Rodríguez-Melgarejo, Maryzender & Chani-Posse, Mariana, 2021, On the rare Neotropical genus Ophionthus Bernhauer (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae): redescription of the type species and description of a new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 735, pp. 15-33 : 24-26

Ophionthus asenjoi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F332981B-C75D-4420-824B-B1729C3B1FC6

Figs 3–4 , 6

Diagnosis

Ophionthus asenjoi sp. nov. differs from O. serpentinus by having the head with one pair of interocular punctures, antennae with the last three antennomeres much lighter than the preceding segments ( Fig. 3A ) and the abdominal terga IV and V each without a distinct posterior basal transverse carina.

Etymology

This new species is dedicated to the outstanding Peruvian coleopterist Angélico Asenjo, a great friend and colleague, in recognition of his tireless contribution to the study of Staphylinidae from Latin America and other regions, and as a small gesture of thanks for his continuous support of and collaboration with the first author, MR. This specific epithet is regarded as a Latinized masculine noun in the genitive case.

Material examined

Holotype PERU • ♀ [specimen glued to a white strip]; “N-PERU: / Bambamarca, / 3000m, 28.VI [June]. [19]56 / leg. W. Weyrauch ” [typewritten on white label], “ex- col / Weyrauch [printed on white label with black borders]”, “COLECCION / Fundación M. Lillo / 4000 S. M. Tucumán / TUCUMAN - ARGENTINA [printed on white greenish label]”, “HOLOTYPE / Ophionthus asenjoi / Rodríguez-Melgarejo & / Chani-Posse 2020 [printed on red label]”; IFML.

Description

DIMENSIONS. BL = 10.5 ( Fig. 3A ).

COLOURATION. Head, thorax, and abdomen piceous, except apical half of tergum VII, apical third of sternum VII, and segments VIII and IX yellow; mandibles, maxillary and labial palps, elytra and legs dark brown; antennomeres 1–8 dark brown to black and 9–11 yellowish ( Fig. 3A ).

HEAD. Wider than long (HW/HL =1.2),moderately wider than pronotum (HW/PW =1.2). Eyes moderately shorter than temples (YL/TL = 0.8) seen from above. Epicranium with one pair of interocular punctures; each side of vertex with 4–5 postocular punctures. Antennae with antennomere 1 more than 2× as long as antennomere 2 (A1/A2 = 2.2) and as long as antennomeres 2 and 3 combined (A1/(A2+A3) = 1), antennomere 2 distinctly shorter than antennomere 3 (A2/A3 = 0.7). Labial palpus with palpomere 2 1.4× as long as palpomere 1 and 0.6× as long as palpomere 3. Maxillary palpus with palpomere 1 distinctly short; palpomere 2 curved, 2× as long as palpomere 3; palpomere 4 slightly longer than palpomere 2 and about 2× as long as palpomere 3. Neck about 0.4× as wide as head at widest point.

PRONOTUM. Longer than wide (PL/PW = 1.3), with two dorsal rows of four punctures each on disk of pronotum, 3–4 sublateral punctures.

LEGS. First metatarsomere longer than fifth (S1/S5 = 1.7) ( Fig. 3C ).

ELYTRON. Longer than wide (EL/EW = 1.6), at sides about 1.6× as long as elytron along suture.

ABDOMEN. Posterior basal transverse carina distinct only on tergum III.

MALE SEXUAL CHARACTERS. Unknown.

FEMALE SEXUAL CHARACTERS. Similar to those of O. serpentinus .

Geographical distribution and bionomics

Ophionthus asenjoi sp. nov. is only known at present from its type locality in Bambamarca, department of Cajamarca, Northern Peru at 3000 m [m a.s.l.] ( Fig. 4 ). In addition, it is known that on the same collection day as that of the holotype of O. asenjoi sp. nov. (i.e., 28 Jun. 1956), Weyrauch collected two specimens of Cajamarca triseriata Roewer, 1957 (Arachnida: Opiliones) in “Nord-Peru: Cerro Macheipungo, 4 km NW Bambamarca” ( Roewer 1957: 75), which is georeferenced as 06°41′ S, 78°32′ W ( Breure 2012: 5). Therefore, it is highly probable that this locality is the same or close to where the holotype of O. asenjoi sp. nov. was collected. Bambamarca belongs to the ecoregion of Peruvian Yungas ( Olson et al. 2001) or Puna province ( Morrone 2014) and is nowadays agricultural land, surrounded by an urban zone and Andean shrubland ecosystem ( MINAM 2019).

Figures

Fig. 3. Ophionthus asenjoi sp. nov. Holotype, ♀ (IFML). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Original labels. C. Metatarsomeres 1 and 2 with strong and distinct marginal setae (arrows). Scale bar = 5 mm.

Fig. 4. Distribution map of Ophionthus serpentinus Bernhauer, 1908 and O. asenjoi sp. nov.

Fig. 6 (continued on next page). Strict consensus of the 28 MP trees obtained showing the systematic placement of Ophionthus Bernhauer, 1908 within the Neotropical lineage of Philonthina Kirby, 1837 (tree length = 579; consistency index (CI) = 0.24; retention index (RI) = 0.71. Black circles: exclusive synapomorphies; open circles, non-exclusive synapomorphies. Numbers above circles are character numbers; numbers below circles represent character states. Support values are indicated in bold below the branches as follows: Bremer/Standard Bootstrap/Jack-knife (cut = 50 for resampling support values).