Laccophilus gentilis suavis Sharp, 1882

Scheers, Kevin, Thomaes, Arno, Hájek, Zimmerman, Michat & Reynoso-Velasco, 2017, The Laccophilinae Gistel, 1848 of Belize (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 65, pp. 1-18 : 1-18

Laccophilus gentilis suavis Sharp, 1882

( Figs 1E, 2D, 3D, 4E)

= Laccophilus suavis Sharp, 1882

= Laccophilus championi Sharp, 1882

MATERIAL STUDIED. STANN CREEK: Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, pool with leaf litter next to stream, 16°46'49,3"N, 88°28'7,1"W, 06.V.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex) TOLEDO: Punta Gorda, fishpond, 16°06'24,6"N, 88°48'25,5"W, 23.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (8ex); Deep River FR, pond savannah, 16°31'11,7"N, 88°42'3,8"W, 19.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex); Bladen NR, pond transition savannah-forest, 16°32'26,3"N, 88°42'57,1"W, 20.IV.2015, Leg K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (4ex); BFree, Agami lagoon, 16°33'27,7"N, 88°42'14,8"W, 17.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex); Punta Gorda, temp. stream in forest, 16°06'37,6"N, 88°49'18,8"W, 25.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex); Indian Creek , Lake of former Lodge, 16°18'45,1"N, 88°49'31,4"W, 29.IV.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (43ex); Punta Gorda, shallow pool, 16°05'19,7"N, 88°48'53,4"W, 05.V.2015, Leg. K. Scheers & A. Thomaes (1ex) .

PUBLISHED RECORDS. ZIMMERMAN (1970) “ British Honduras ” without locality.

DIAGNOSIS. TL: 3.3–3.6 mm; MW: 1.75–1.9 mm. Head testaceous, pronotum testaceous with distinct anterior and posterior pitchy-black bands. Elytra pitchy-black with a testaceous fascia along the base indistinctly interrupted near the suture, a mark near lateral margin at about the middle, a subapical fascia not reaching the suture and a mark near the apex ( Fig. 1E). Ventral parts completely testaceous to testeceous-rufous ( Fig. 2D). Median lobe distinctive ( Fig. 3D).

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11 DISTRIBUTION. Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz), Panama .

ECOLOGY. A tropical lowland species that is mostly distributed in coastal areas. It occurs mainly in grassy and muddy-bottomed pools and in duckweed-chocked, shaded sloughs or in pools of stabilized dunes immediately next to the ocean ( ZIMMERMAN, 1970). Also in Cuba this species was collected in the lowlands in permanent lagoons with abundant aquatic vegetation, muddy sediment, and turbid water ( MEGNA et al., 2011). There are, however, some records of higher elevations up to 1500 m a.s.l. ( ZIMMERMAN, 1970). In Belize this species was found in muddy ponds and lagoons rich in vegetation or at least with some patches of vegetation.