Protoconnus costaricanus, Jałoszyński, 2018

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, Revision of the Neotropical genus Protoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 41-82 : 73

Protoconnus costaricanus sp. n.

( Figs 64 , 76–77 , 101 )

Type material. Holotype: COSTA RICA (Limón Province): ♂, two labels: " COSTA RICA [CR2013-09] / Limon Province: Rd. Manzanillo> / Punta Uva, 9°37'30''-38'18''N, / 82°39'41''-41'39''W, 0-10 m, degraded / costal rain forest, car net, 1.XII.2013, leg. M. Schülke & B. Grünberg" [white, printed], " PROTOCONNUS / costaricanus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2018 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] (cMS). Paratype: 1 ♂, same data as for the holotype, with a standard yellow " Paratypus " label (cPJ).

Diagnosis. BL 0.93–0.98 mm; body stout, elytra 1.67–1.73 times as broad as moderately transverse pronotum; frons in male between supraantennal tubercles narrow but flat; vertex distinctly convex and weakly rounded; pronotal base with distinct groove but with barely discernible pits; lateral pronotal carinae distinct in posterior third; humeral carinae distinct; aedeagus in ventral view with basal capsule only slightly shorter than distal region and gradually narrowed distad, distal region in ventral view broadly rounded at apex but with very slender tiny distomedian tooth-like projection; parameres strongly curved laterad.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 64 ) strongly convex; elytra dark brown with indistinctly lighter stripe along suture, remaining body parts light brown, setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 0.93–0.98 mm.

Head broadest at extremely large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.15–0.18 mm, HW 0.24– 0.25 mm; tempora absent; vertex weakly convex, posterior margin weakly rounded; frons between large supraantennal tubercles narrow but flat. Punctures on frons and vertex inconspicuous; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.43 mm, shorter than half BL, club distinctly delimited; antennomere I about twice as long as broad, II about 1.7 × as long as broad, III–VIII each indistinctly transverse, IX and X strongly transverse, XI much longer than X, 1.2 × as long as broad.

Pronotum moderately transverse, subtrapezoidal, with sides nearly parallel in posterior half; PL 0.23–0.25 mm, PW 0.28–0.30 mm. Anterior and posterior margins weakly convex, lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior third, posteriorly nearly straight; lateral carinae distinct in posterior third; transverse antebasal groove distinct, antebasal pits barely discernible. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Elytra much more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.55 mm, EW 0.48–0.50 mm, EI 1.10–1.16; humeral carinae distinct, but not very sharp. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 76–77 ) slender; AeL 0.18 mm; in ventral view basal capsule slightly shorter than distal region, slightly narrowed distad; distal region laterally indistinctly delimited from sides of basal capsule, broad, broadly rounded at apex but with rapidly narrowed, very slender, pointed distomedian projection, in lateral view distal half slightly recurved; in lateral view area above parameral bases forming a short subtriangular projection; parameres strongly divergent distad, each with one long apical and one very short subapical seta.

Female unknown.

Distribution. Eastern Costa Rica ( Fig. 101 ).

Etymology. Locotypical; after the country name.

Remarks. This species is externally unremarkable, but its aedeagus is unique in having a broadly rounded apical region with an abruptly demarcated and very slender distomedian tooth-like projection.

Figures

FIGURE 101. Distribution of nominal Protoconnus species.

FIGURES 62–67. Dorsal habitus of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus acutus sp. n. (62); P. minusculus sp. n. (63); P. costaricanus sp. n. (64); P. tunarianus sp. n. (65); P. magnus sp. n. (66); P. apaapa sp. n. (67).

FIGURES 76–83. Aedeagi of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus costaricanus sp. n. (76–77); P. tunarianus sp. n. (78–79); P. magnus sp. n. (80–81); P. apaapa sp. n. (82–83).