Liodessus bogotensis chingaza, Balke & Neven & Villastrigo & Ospina-Torres & Prieto & Gutierrez Rubiano & Lotta & Dueñas & Hendrich, 2023

Balke, Michael, Neven, Katja, Villastrigo, Adrian, Ospina-Torres, Rodulfo, Prieto, Carlos, Gutierrez Rubiano, Nicolas, Lotta, Ingrid, Duenas, Luisa F. & Hendrich, Lars, 2023, Eastern Colombian Paramo Liodessus Guignot, 1939 diving beetles are genetically structured, but show signs of hybridization, with description of new species and subspecies (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae), ZooKeys 1143, pp. 165-187 : 165

Liodessus bogotensis chingaza ssp. nov.

Figs 5C , 8C , 10C , 11A, B

Type locality.

Colombia, Cundinamarca, Páramo de Chingaza.

Holotype: Colombia • ♂; Cundinamarca, PN Chingaza; 3,330 m alt.; 14.xi.2018; 4.747, -73.856; Ospina, Balke & Megna leg.; COL_MB_2018_05; UNAL. Paratypes: Colombia • 112 specimens; same data as holotype; UNAL, ZSM • 87 specimens; Cundinamarca, PN Chingaza; 3,500 m alt.; 14.xi.2018; 4.718, -73.821; Ospina, Balke & Megna leg.; COL_MB_2018_06; UNAL, ZSM • 81 specimens; Cundinamarca, PN Chingaza; 3,700 m alt. (3,500 m alt. on label); 15.xi.2018; 4.706, -73.804; Ospina, Balke & Megna leg.; COL_MB_2018_07; UNAL, ZSM. ZSM specimen imaging number for the holoytpe: ZSM-COL-00118.

Description of holotype.

Habitus narrowly elongate-oval, with slight discontinuity between pronotum and elytra (Fig. 5C ); pronotum widest before base (Fig. 5C ). Total length 2.0 mm; length without head 1.8 mm; maximum width 0.9 mm.

Color. Very dark brown to blackish dorsally and ventrally; lighter on anterior head, lateral pronotum, and bases of meso- and metatibia (Fig. 5C ).

Surface sculpture. Head with a few setiferous punctures in front of a distinct occipital line, distinct microreticulation present except on middle of head between the eyes (Fig. 5C ); posterior to occipital line with distinct microreticulation and a few punctures. Pronotum and elytron shiny, with moderately dense, coarse, setiferous punctation (Fig. 5C ).

Structures. Head with distinct occipital line, with rounded clypeus. Antenna stout. Pronotum with distinct lateral bead and distinct, long, deep basal striae (Fig. 5C ).

Genitalia. Median lobe of aedeagus typical of the L. bogotensis complex, with slight variation in lateral view in curvature among individuals (Figs 8C , 10C ); parameres simple, of the " Bidessini " type, 2-segmented.

Variation.

Measurements (N = 20). Loc. COL_MB_2018_05: total length 2.1-2.3 mm (mean 2.17); length without head 1.8-2.0 mm (mean 1.85); maximum width 0.9-1.0 mm (mean 0.96).

Loc. COL_MB_2018_06: total length: 2.3-2.5 mm (mean 2.39); length without head 1.9-2.2 mm (mean 2.07); maximum width 1.0-1.2 mm (mean 1.08).

Occipital line. This line can be visible, or more or less obsolete, or even absent.

Color. Usually darkly colored but a few specimens with paler band-like markings on elytra.

Female variation: see below.

Metathoracic wings. Polymorphic. Short, 2/3 of elytral length; venation visible in five dissected specimens from COL_MB_2018_05 and COL_MB_2018_07. The wings are longer and larger in five dissected specimens from COL_MB_2018_06.

Female. External morphology as in male, with the dorsal surface shiny except for microreticulation on the head; dorsal sculpturation varies in females, with microreticulation on the posterior 1/3 (more or less) of elytron so surface appears slightly less shiny than the males (Fig. 11B ), or entire dorsal surface with stronger, dense microreticulation and surface appears dull (Fig. 11A ). Dull females were mostly encountered at locality COL_MB_2018_06.

Etymology.

Named after the type locality, Chingaza National Park. The word “chingaza” is a noun in the nominative singular standing in apposition.

Identification notes.

This subspecies is reliably only identified on the basis of the collecting locality and Cox1 data. In the COLLI sequence database, this subspecies has six diagnostic characters different from the other subspecies (Table 1 ).

Distribution.

Only known from the Chingaza National Park, Colombia (Fig. 1 ).

Habitat.

Exposed, shallow, densely vegetated, stagnant water bodies.

Notes.

Specimens from COL_MB_2018_06 are slightly larger than those from the two other localities in Chingaza. Their wings are slightly longer, the coloration is brighter in some specimens (Fig. 5C , right), and the proportion of dull to shiny females appears to be greater. This makes these specimens somewhat intermediate between Liodessus b. bogotensis (Fig. 5A ) and Liodessus b. chingaza , yet they share the Liodessus b. chingaza haplotype (Fig. 2 , left purple branch). Specimens with a slightly deviating haplotype (top purple branch) were from COL_MB_2018_07 and agree morphologically with Liodessus b. chingaza from COL_MB_2018_05.

Figures

Figure 1. Map of sampling localities A overview of northwestern South America showing are of sampling depicted in " B " B colored areas represent districts in Paramo: Santanderes (blue), Boyaca (green), and Cundinamarca (brown).

Figure 2. Haplotype network for the Liodessus bogotensis complex using the partial gene COI- 5.

Figure 5. Variation in size and dorsal coloration of subspecies of Liodessus bogotensis A Liodessus b. bogotensis B Liodessus b. almorzadero C Liodessus b. chingaza. Scale bar: 2 mm.

Figure 8. Median lobes in lateral view of Liodessus species A L. bogotensis bogotensis B L. b. almorzadero C L. b. chingaza. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 10. Tips of median lobes in ventral view of Liodessus subspecies A L. bogotensis bogotensis B L. bogotensis almorzadero C L. bogotensis chingaza D L. b. lacunaviridis E L. b. matarredonda F L. b. sumapaz. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.

Figure 11. Liodessus bogotensis chingaza females showing detail of surface reticulation A head and pronotum of dull specimen B elytral tip of shinier specimen. Not to scale.