Calleida desenderi Casale

Casale, Achille, 2011, Calleida desenderi, new species from Ecuador (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiinae), ZooKeys 100, pp. 47-54 : 49-51

Calleida desenderi Casale sp. n.

Diagnosis.

With the character states of the Neotropical Calleida species (see Erwin 2004), but markedly characterised by the peculiar combination of the following morphological features: medium sized (L: 9.0-9.5 mm; TL: 8.5-9.0 mm); body and appendages rufous, contrasting in colour with the translucent, metallic green disc of elytra; pronotum slightly transverse, with lateral margins slightly sinuate in the basal fourth; elytra moderately elongate, depressed, with marked pre-apical callosity and apical margin not beaded, bent and prominent at the sutural angle. Abdominal sternum VII with two setae on each side in males, three setae in females.

Male genitalia as in Figs 3-5: median lobe of aedeagus ring-like, depressed at sides; apex short; endophallus with a long, twisted flagellum.

Close to Calleida scyntillans Bates, 1883 and Calleida schumacheri Steinheil, 1875, Calleida desenderi sp. n. is distinguishable from the closest Neotropical species for the features stressed below (see Key, in Relationships).

Type locality.

Ecuador, Napo: San Rafael, 1400 m.

Type material.

Holotype ♂: Ecuador, Napo: Reventador, San Rafael 1400 m, 10 Jan 1998 F. Maza, at light trap (QCAZ); paratype ♀: Ecuador, Sucumbios, Cascada San Rafael, 1150 m, 77°33'30"W, 00°2'44"S, 30 Apr 2004, D. Cisneros (CCa).

Note: the male holotype presents some malformations (elytral intervals wrinkled, metatibiae asymmetrically curved). For this very reason, the female paratype is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Etymology and dedication.

It is a great honor for me to dedicate this new Ecuadorian species to the memory of Konjev Desender, the Belgian carabidologist who contributed greatly to the knowledge of carabids of the Galapagos Islands, the famous archipelago belonging to the Republic of Ecuador

Description.

General features as in Fig. 1. Medium sized: L: 9.0 mm (male holotype) - 9.5 mm (female paratype); TL: mm 8.5 mm (male holotype) - 9.0 mm (female paratype).

Colour: Head, base of antennae, prothorax, pterothorax, abdomen, basal and lateral margins of elytra, and legs, concolorous pale rufous; apex of mandibles, apical half of antennomere 4, and antennomeres 5-11 markedly infuscated; disc of elytra translucent, light metallic golden green (but reddish at oblique light), with cupreous-purple reflections at apex and on the sutural interval.

Lustre and microsculpure: Head and pronotum shiny, with highly effaced microsculpture; elytra shiny, translucent, with fine, hardly visible reticulate sculpture and marked metallic lustre.

Head: wide, with moderate neck constriction; genae short, moderately swollen and regularly curved to the neck constriction, not contiguous with the posterior margin of eyes; frontal furrows sparsely punctuate; eyes very large and prominent; two supraorbital setae on each side.

Prothorax: subquadrate, slightly wider than long (ratio PL/PW: 0.9), with lateral sides shortly sinuate in the basal fourth. Lateral reflection moderate, more evident basally; lateral furrows wide, depressed, each with a series of deep punctures. Disc moderately depressed, with marked transversal wrinkles. Anterior angles rounded, not prominent; basal angles obtuse. Basal margin markedly oblique at the extreme lateral sides. One paramedial seta and one basolateral seta on each side present.

Elytra: moderately elongate (ratio EL/EW: 1.7), slightly widened at the apical third; disc depressed, with evident concavity at the middle on each elytron; striae superficial, shallowly punctuate; intervals flat. Post-humeral sinuation shallow, pre-apical outer callosity evident on intervals 7-8. Apical margin obliquely bent, markedly prominent at the sutural angle, not beaded. Interval 3 with two small discal and one apical setiferous pores; umbilicate series of 13 pores along stria 8.

Hind wings: fully developed.

Legs: femora robust, tibiae elongate, tarsomeres of slender form; only metatarsomere 1 grooved dorsally; metatarsomere 4 deeply bilobed, its lobes short, widened and truncate at apex. Tarsal claws denticulate, each with six long teeth on the inner side.

Abdominal sterna: sternum VII with two setae on each side in males, three setae in females; male abdominal segment IX as in Fig. 2.

Male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 3-4) ring-like, depressed at sides; apex short, distally rounded; endophallus with a long, twisted flagellum. Left paramere as in Fig. 5.

Female genitalia: not examined, owing to the fact that the abdominal sterna, in the only female specimen known so far, were not fully sclerotized.

Geographical distribution and ecology.

Calleida desenderi sp. n.is known so far from Ecuador (Napo Province), surroundings of San Rafael, on the Amazon side of the Andes. The two specimens of the type series were obtained in January and April, in two different years, in secondary humid premontane forests at 1150-1400 m.

Relationships.

The most interesting and curious fact is that Calleida desenderi sp. n. is very similar in external features to the sympatric species Calleida vignai Casale, 2008, this also known so far from only two individuals sampled in two different years. This datum confirms the well known occurrence, in arboreal canopies of tropical forests, of apparently rare sibling species belonging to different species groups, markedly isolated by pre-zygotic barriers thanks to different phenologies, habitat choices, and by completely different morphological features in genitalia.

In fact, Calleida vignai , for the character state of male genitalia (median lobe of aedeagus elongate and slender, endophallus with copulatory lamella composed by two pieces connected at the base), belongs to a group of taxa that I indicated as lindigii species group ( Casale 1988, 2008).

On the contrary, Calleida desenderi sp. n. belongs to another group of Neotropical species, that here I will indicate as cupreocincta species group. Diagnostic features of this group are: body and appendages rufous, elytra in part or fully metallic green; elytra moderately elongate, depressed, with apical margin not beaded. Abdominal sternum VII with two setae on each side in males, three setae in females. Male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus ring-like, depressed at sides; endophallus with a long, twisted flagellum.

The group includes some not yet described species from Central and Southern America. The species described so far can be distinguished by the following key: