Passalus (Passalus) chechai Jimenez-Ferbans, 2023

Jimenez-Ferbans, Larry, Maestre-Guerra, Ana, Villalba-Fuentes, Evelin, Barros-Barrios, Mayelis M. & Munoz-Montero, Jeison, 2023, Passalidae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia: synopsis, key, and new species description, ZooKeys 1179, pp. 243-297 : 243

6. Passalus (Passalus) chechai Jimenez-Ferbans sp. nov.

Figs 7 , 8

Type material.

Holotype Colombia • ♂; La Guajira, Serranía del Perijá, Cerro Pintao; 10°25'37.9"N, 72°56'33.3"W; 3019 m alt.; 08 Aug 2015; L. Granados leg.; CBUMAG: ENT: 20605.

Diagnosis.

Hemibrachypterous. Frons wide, anterior frontal edge straight, without middle indentation or secondary mediofrontal tubercles. Central tubercle wide at the base, without a sulcus in the posterior part, apex free, almost reaching the anterior frons border. Medial basal mentum impunctate and glabrous. Prosternellum rhomboidal and opaque in the area between procoxae, without longitudinal groove. Anterolateral part of metasternum and lateral fossa pubescent, pubescence reaching the posterior region of the lateral fossa. Metasternal disc without punctures, delimited by numerous punctures posteriorly. Humeri pubescent and epipleura glabrous.

Description.

Habitus (Fig. 7B-D ): total length 30.1 mm, hemibrachypterous, body convex shiny black.

Head (Figs 7A, D , 8A ): labrum with anterior border slightly concave, evenly covered by setae. Clypeus hidden under the frons, anterior angles developed under the mediofrontal + laterofrontal tubercles and slightly smaller than these. Frons wide, anterior frontal edge straight, without middle indentation and secondary mediofrontal tubercles. Mediofrontal + laterofrontal tubercles projected forward, larger than internal tubercles. Internal tubercles small, joined to mediofrontal + laterofrontal tubercles by an inconspicuous ridge, placed at mid distance between the mediofrontal tubercles and the central tubercle base. Posterofrontal ridges “V” shaped. Area between the frontal ridges heavily punctuated without a median sulcus and cephalic mamelon (sensu Jiménez-Ferbans and Reyes-Castillo 2014). Mesofrontal structure of the " Popilius marginatus " type ( Reyes-Castillo 1970), with central tubercle wide at the base, without a sulcus in the posterior part, apex free, almost reaching anterior frons border. Lateroposterior tubercles large, parallels to central tubercle. Lateropostfrontal areas glabrous, shiny, and impunctate. Eyes reduced, not extending past ocular canthi (dorsal view) and with canthus covering almost 1/2 of the eye in lateral view. Canthus glabrous. Postorbital pits shallow. Postfrontal groove semicircular and complete. Hypostomal process slightly separated from the mentum, glabrous and reaching the superior part of the middle zone of the mentum. Medial basal mentum protruding ventrally, impunctate and glabrous. Mentum with rounded lateral fossae, shallow and pubescent laterally. Antennal club tri-lamellate. Dorsal tooth straight on dorsal view and slightly sinuous on lateral view. Internal tooth of the left mandible bidentate, simple on the right mandible. Mandibular fossae short, not reaching the base of the mobile tooth. Maxilla with lacinia bidentate at the apex. Ligula tridentate, with middle tooth longer than the lateral teeth. Middle palpomere of the labial palp 1.3 × wider and with almost the same length as the distal palpomere.

Thorax (Figs 7 , 8 ): Pronotum rounded, same width as elytra, with punctuations extending outside the lateral fossae and marginal groove. Marginal groove wide, occupying ¾ of the anterior margin of the pronotum. Longitudinal sulcus conspicuous. Lateral fossae distinct. Pre-epimeron shiny and heavily pubescent. Prosternellum rhomboidal and opaque in the area between procoxae. Mesosternum with erased mesosternal scars, indicated by an opaque area, impunctate and glabrous. Posterior corner of the mesepisternum and mesepimere glabrous and shiny. Anterolateral part of the metasternum and lateral fossa pubescent, pubescence reaching the posterior region of the lateral fossa. Metasternal disc without punctures, delimited by numerous punctures posteriorly. Posterior metasternal lateral fossa of the same width as epipleura.

Elytra (Fig. 7B, D ): Shiny, anterior border straight and pubescent. Humeri pubescent and epipleura glabrous. Striae with rounded punctures, equally distinctive on lateral and dorsal striae.

Abdomen (Fig. 7C ): Last sternite with marginal groove complete.

Legs (Fig. 7C ): profemur with ventral anterior marginal sulcus thin and complete, reaching the apical pubescence. Protibiae with dorsal sulcus complete. Meso- and metatibiae unarmed.

Aedeagus (Fig. 7C, D ): Basal piece (ventral view) fused with parameres and with deep V-shaped cleft. Median lobe globose, sclerotized on ventral surface, length 1 × length of basal piece and parameres, measured at the median ventral line. Lateral projections of the parameres short and apex rounded in lateral view.

Etymology.

named after Mr. Cesar “Checha” Pérez, enthusiastic amateur collector of passalids in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Figures

Figure 7. Passalus (Passalus) chechai sp. nov. A head and pronotum in dorsal view B habitus dorsal C habitus ventral D lateral view. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (A); 3.0 mm (B, C, D).

Figure 8. Passalus (Passalus) chechai sp. nov. A mentum B mesosternum C head and pronotum in dorso-lateral view D metasternum. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (A, B, C, D).