Venezolanoconnus bejumanus, Jałoszyński, 2020

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2020, Five new species of the Neotropical genus Venezolanoconnus Franz (Coleoptera Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 274-284 : 282-283

Venezolanoconnus bejumanus sp. n.

( Figs 5 , 14, 15 , 32–35 )

Material studied. Holotype: ♂ ( VENEZUELA, Carabobo state): two labels: “VENEZUELA, / Carabobo; Mun. Bejuma / Cerro de Paja , 1500- / 1550m / N10°16’, W68°14’ / 12.i.2007; leg. Brachat ” [white, printed], “ VENEZOLANOCONNUS / bejumanus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2020 / HOLOTYPUS ” [red, printed] ( MNHW) . Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, same data as for holotype (cPJ, MNHW) .

Diagnosis. Male: BL close to 1 mm; antennomeres 3–5 each about as long as broad, and 6–10 each transverse (6 weakly so); humeral line conspicuously short, only about 0.2 EL; eyes small, so that post-ocular portion of head is clearly longer than eye, posterior emargination of eye sharp-angled; pronotum with two pairs of tiny, shallow, barely discernible antebasal pits, lacking groove; aedeagus subrectangular with broadly rounded apical projection, subapical C-shaped flagellum, and subtriangular, broad subapical plate with asymmetrical and pointed apex, and each paramere with a group of 4–5 long setae near apex.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 5 ) stout, strongly convex, BL 1.03 mm; cuticle glossy, pigmentation uniformly dark brown, vestiture of setae yellowish.

Head ( Figs 14–15 ) short, broadest at eyes, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.18 mm; tempora in dorsal view ( Fig. 14 ) just behind eyes weakly convergent posterad, and then rapidly curved mesad; post-ocular portion of head distinctly longer than eye; vertex and frons confluent and distinctly convex; supraantennal tubercles small and feebly elevated. Eyes small, bean-shaped, strongly emarginate posteriorly, emargination forms a sharp angle, eyes strongly projecting laterally and coarsely faceted ( Fig. 15 ). Punctures on vertex and frons fine and superficial, barely discernible; setae short and sparse, suberect. Antennae slender, weakly thickening distad, AnL 0.43 mm; scape and pedicel elongate, antennomeres 3–5 each about as long as broad, and 6–10 each transverse (6 weakly so), 11 distinctly shorter than 9 and 10 combined, about 1.6 × as long as broad.

Pronotum broadest shortly in front of base, PL 0.28 mm, PW 0.33 mm; lacking antebasal pits, with two pairs of tiny, shallow, barely discernible antebasal pits, lacking groove, covered with barely discernible, fine and shallow punctures, and with dense, suberect setae, sides also with dense, thick bristles.

Elytra together oval, broadest near middle, EL 0.58 mm, EW 0.53 mm, EI 1.10; humeral calli prominent, elongate; humeral and post-humeral region demarcated by carinate, diffuse subhumeral line as long as only 0.2 EL; punctures inconspicuous; setae dense, short, suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 32–35 ) stout and in ventral view subrectangular, AeL 0.13 mm; with broadly rounded apical region; endophallic structures with distinct C-shaped flagellum looped in its proximal region, with broad subtriangular plate with asymmetrical and pointed apex, and with a group of needle-like sclerites; parameres in lateral view with broadly subtriangular apices, each with 4–5 long apical setae.

Female. Externally similar to male, but with much smaller eyes, stouter elytra, and antennae shorter in relation to body. BL 1.09–1.15 mm; HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.18 mm, AnL 0.40 mm; PL 0.29–0.30 mm, PW 0.33–0.34 mm; EL 0.63–0.68 mm, EW 0.53–0.55 mm, EI 1.19–1.23.

Distribution ( Fig. 36 ). North-western Venezuela.

Etymology. Named after the municipality Bejuma.

Remarks. Venezolanoconnus bejumanus is most similar to V. minimus ; see Remarks for the latter species.

Figures

FIGURE 36. Distribution of Venezolanoconnus.

FIGURES 1–5. Dorsal habitus of male. Venezolanoconnus meridanus sp. n. (1); V. minimus sp. n. (2); V. colombianus sp. n. (3); V. ecuadoranus sp. n. (4); V. bejumanus sp. n. (5).

FIGURES 6–15. Head of male in dorsal (top) and lateral (bottom) views. Venezolanoconnus meridanus sp. n. (6–7); V. minimus sp. n. (8–9); V. colombianus sp. n. (10–11); V. ecuadoranus sp. n. (12–13); V. bejumanus sp. n. (14–15).

FIGURES 28–35. Aedeagus in ventral (28, 30, 32, 34) and lateral (29, 31, 33, 35) views. Venezolanoconnus ecuadoranus sp. n. (28–31); V. bejumanus sp. n. (32–35).