Notionotus Spangler, 1972

Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Liza M. & Short, Andrew Edward Z., 2022, Revision of the water scavenger beetle genus Notionotus Spangler, 1972 in the Neotropical Region (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae, Enochrinae), ZooKeys 1109, pp. 141-191 : 141

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1109.80775
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A418DA2C-02DD-4023-A9F8-41FA0AEAAC83
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treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Notionotus Spangler, 1972
status

Treatment

Genus Notionotus Spangler, 1972

Notionotus Spangler, 1972: 139.

Type species.

Notionotus rosalesi Spangler, 1972: 141; by original designation.

Differential diagnosis for Neotropical species.

Small to very small beetles, total body length 1.5-2.0 mm. Color yellow, reddish brown, dark and pale brown to black. Body shape oval in dorsal view; moderately convex to convex in lateral view. Antennae with eight antennomeres. Maxillary palps short, nearly half the width of the head, second segment bending outwards, apical segment ~ 2 × as long as the penultimate segment (Fig. 4J; e View Figure 4 .g., N. bifidus sp. nov.). Eyes reniform in dorsal view. Clypeus and labrum shallowly emarginate anteromedially, lateral margins of the labrum bearing setae. Head, pronotum and elytra with ground and systematic punctures; systematic punctures of the head very sparse. The elytral ground punctation is more evident in some species (Fig. 2A; e View Figure 2 .g., N. liparus ) than in others (Fig. 4G; e View Figure 4 .g., N. garciae sp. nov.); systematic punctures extremely reduce and sparse detectable for short seta, forming very sparse rows (Fig. 4B; e View Figure 4 .g., N. patamona sp. nov.); elytra without sutural stria. Prosternum carinate medially, strongly raised, and projected anteromedially. Elevation of mesoventrite strongly raised forming an anteromedial carina consisting of one (Fig. 10A, B View Figure 10 ) or two longitudinal ridges and one transverse (Fig. 10C, D View Figure 10 ), extending between procoxae on the same plane as metaventrite. Metaventrite densely pubescent, slightly elevated, with elevation broad posteromedially and convex medially forming a glabrous patch drop-shaped; and two posterolateral glabrous patches in a half-circle shape. Pro- and mesofemora mostly covered with pubescence on basal three-quarters (Fig. 3B; e View Figure 3 .g., N. tricarinatus ); metafemora with pubescence, sometimes on basal three-quarters, or along basal three-quarters of the anterior margin with some setae on the posterior basal margin (Fig. 2H; e View Figure 2 .g., N. rosalesi ). Abdominal ventrites densely pubescent, with fifth ventrite bearing an apical emargination to shallowly truncate. Aedeagus trilobed, size and form variable.

Remarks.

As this revision only treats the New World species, we did not comprehensively examine the Old World species to generate a global genus description. Therefore, the diagnosis above should be considered for Neotropical species only. The Old World species of Notionotus are generally similar to the New World species, but some species do differ in significant characters: for example, N. suturalis Hebaeur, 2003 has a sutural stria and antennae with 9 antennomeres.

Remarks of diagnostic features of Notionotus Spangler, 1972.

Body shape and coloration. The degree of convexity between species is variable; some are moderately convex, others weakly convex. The general dorsal coloration of the body among species ranges from yellow (e.g., N. tricarinatus , Fig. 3A View Figure 3 ) to nearly black (e.g., N. liparus , Fig. 2A View Figure 2 ), however color alone is usually not sufficient on its own to definitively identify most Notionotus species. This is due both to the fact that some species share the same coloration, as well as some species have a slight variation in dorsal coloration. Species with unique (so far as currently known) color patterns include N. liparus (entirely dark brown to black, Fig. 2A View Figure 2 ), N. rosalesi (tricolored, Fig. 2G View Figure 2 ) and N. insignitus sp. nov. (with pale spot on the elytral disc Fig. 4D View Figure 4 ). The coloration of the head in some species is uniform, but in others is bicolorous (with typically the frons being darker than the clypeus).

Mesoventrite. In Notionotus the elevation of the mesoventrite is composed of two or three laminae: one transverse ridge and one longitudinal (Fig. 10A, B View Figure 10 ) or two transverse ridges and one longitudinal ridge (Fig. 10C, D View Figure 10 ), which generally converge and fuse medially; the shape of the longitudinal ridge shows high variation among species. In general, the transverse ridges are medially elevated and laterally concave. The apex of the transverse ridge can be nearly acute (Fig. 10B View Figure 10 ), or blunt (Fig. 10C View Figure 10 ), and lateral sides vary from very to slightly concave or straight. The longitudinal ridge varies, it can be completely sharp or sharp anteriorly and broadening posteriorly reaching the end of the elevation, but it can also be broad anteriorly and sharp posteriorly. The point where the two or three ridges merged can be rounded and obtuse or wide and blunt respectively.

Elytral punctation. The density of the ground punctation is typically sparse, and the degree of impression is variable between species within the genus. In some species, the ground punctation is very weakly impressed and may almost appear absent and low magnification (Fig. 4H; e View Figure 4 .g., N. vatius sp. nov.); in other cases, it is more coarse and moderately impressed (Fig. 4E; e View Figure 4 .g., N. juma sp. nov.).

Aedeagus. The shape of the aedeagus is the most important and often crucial feature to identify species of Notionotus . Most species in the Neotropics exhibit two different generalized aedeagal forms: in some species, the median lobe and basal piece have the same length, or the median lobe is slightly longer than the parameres (e.g., N. tricarinatus , Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ). However, some species present the median lobe and basal lobe that are shorter than the parameres (e.g., N. bicolor sp. nov. (Fig. 8A View Figure 8 ), N. retusus sp. nov. (Fig. 8E View Figure 8 ), N. parvus sp. nov. (Fig. 9E View Figure 9 )). In terms of shape, some species present variation in the apex of the median lobe, this is usually rounded (e.g., N. patamona sp. nov., Fig. 8D View Figure 8 ), but it varies from acute (e.g., N. liparus , Fig. 7A View Figure 7 ), emarginated (e.g., N. juma , Fig. 8G View Figure 8 ), and bifurcated (e.g., N. bifidus sp. nov., Fig. 9D View Figure 9 ). Additionally, the width of the median lobe varies from very slender (e.g., N. giraldoi , Fig. 7D View Figure 7 ) to very wide (e.g., N. bifidus , Fig. 9D View Figure 9 ). Nevertheless, in most of the species, the median lobe is wide at the base and slightly narrowing towards the apex.

Notionotus liparus species group

Diagnosis.

The species of this group can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: (1) the shape of the elevation mesoventrite, having one transverse ridge and one longitudinal ridge (Fig. 10A, B View Figure 10 ); (2) parameres nearly as long as the basal piece; the length of the median lobe and the length of the parameres is approximately subequal. (e.g., Notionotus liparus , Fig. 7A View Figure 7 ).