Venezolanoconnus Franz

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2012, Taxonomy of ' Euconnus complex'. Part I. Morphology of Euconnus s. str. and revision of Euconnomorphus Franz and Venezolanoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3555, pp. 55-82 : 74-77

Venezolanoconnus Franz

Venezolanoconnus Franz, 1988: 81 . Type species: Venezolanoconnus andinus Franz, 1988 (original designation).

Revised diagnosis. Male and female: head short, with rounded vertex; tempora with bristles; fronto-clypeal groove absent; sides of pronotum with dense, strongly erect bristles; maxillary palpomere III broad and relatively short; palpomere IV with slightly asymmetrical, very small and indistinctly delimited apical part; mandible with broad basal part and abruptly narrowing, slender distal part without mesal teeth; pronotum with indistinct, rounded anterior and posterior corners, without basal foveae or with one pair of superficial pits; basisternal part of prosternum short and not demarcated from procoxal cavities; prosternum with small subtriangular prosternal intercoxal process in posterior half; mesoventral intercoxal process long, narrow and strongly expanding ventrally (keel-shaped); mesoventrite behind anterior ridge with sharply delimited lateral asetose impressions; sides of mesothorax without foveae; metacoxae narrowly separated by subtrapezoidal metaventral intercoxal process bearing deep and narrow median notch; each elytron with single rudimentary and asetose basal fovea. Male: parameres very broad and surrounding median lobe, barely recognizable.

Redescription. Body of male ( Figs. 59, 62–63 ) strongly convex, relatively stout, with short appendages, BL ca. 1.50–1.70 mm; cuticle glossy, brown, densely setose, vestiture moderately long and variously erect.

Head ( Figs. 60–61, 64 , 66–67 ) strikingly small in relation to pronotum and elytra, short rhomboidal, with variously large eyes (in one species dimorphic; large in males and much smaller in females); occipital constriction ( Fig. 66 ; occ) in the narrowest place slightly broader than half HW; tempora about as long as compound eyes or longer, strongly convergent caudad, each bearing variously dense long setae directed dorso-caudad; vertex rounded, sparsely setose; frons between eyes transverse, abruptly and steeply declining towards strongly transverse clypeus; fronto-clypeal groove absent; antennal insertions separated by elongate part of frons slightly broader than width of scape.

Labrum transverse with rounded sides and nearly straight anterior margin. Mandibles ( Figs. 60, 64 ) symmetrical, each with broad basal part, without noticeable prostheca, and with abruptly delimited, slender and curved distal part without mesal teeth. Each maxilla ( Fig. 66 ) with subtriangular basistipes ( Fig. 66 ; bst), elongate galea ( Fig. 66 ; gal) and lacinia ( Fig. 66 ; lac) and moderately long maxillary palp composed of relatively long palpomere I ( Fig. 66 ; mxpI), strongly elongate, indistinctly pedunculate palpomere II ( Fig. 66 ; mxpII), moderately elongate, very broad palpomere III ( Fig. 66 ; mxpIII) broadest near middle, and very small, subconical palpomere IV ( Fig. 66 ; mxpIV) with indistinctly delimited, slightly asymmetrical apical part.

Labium ( Fig. 66 ) with broad submentum ( Fig. 66 ; smn) indistinctly delimited from gular plate ( Fig. 66 ; gp) and laterally fused with hypostoma; subtrapezoidal mentum ( Fig. 66 ; mn); and short prementum with a pair of median bristles and narrowly separated, small 3-segmented labial palps ( Fig. 66 ; lp).

Gular plate ( Fig. 66 ; gp) indistinctly demarcated, composed of broad posterior and narrow anterior parts; gular sutures ( Fig. 66 ; gs) superficial; posterior tentorial pits ( Fig. 66 ; ptp) indistinctly marked at base of submentum.

Antennae ( Figs. 59, 62–63 ) gradually thickening towards apices, antennomere XI symmetrical, with subconical apex.

Pronotum ( Figs. 59, 62–63 ) in dorsal view approximately circular or oval, with broadly rounded anterior and posterior corners; with rounded sides devoid of marginal carinae or edges; base of pronotum without foveae or with rudimentary pair of submedian foveae; sides of pronotum with dense, long and thick bristles.

Prosternum ( Fig. 65 ; ps) with basisternal part short and not demarcated from procoxal cavities ( Fig. 65 ; pcc); median part of sternum with small subtriangular intercoxal process ( Fig. 65 ; psp) visible only in posterior half of sternum; procoxal sockets ( Fig. 65 ; pcs) closed by lateral lobes of sternum; hypomera ( Fig. 65 ; hy) subtriangular; hypomeral ridges ( Fig. 65 ; hyr) and notosternal sutures ( Fig. 65 ; nss) entire.

Mesoscutellum very small, subtriangular, barely visible between bases of elytra; mesoscuto-scutellar suture indiscernible in slide preparations.

Mesoventrite ( Fig. 65 ) with narrow anterior ridge ( Fig. 65 ; ar) with minute median projection; mesoventral intercoxal process ( Fig. 65 ; msvp) narrow and keel-shaped; mesoventrite behind anterior ridge with sharply delimited lateral asetose impressions ( Fig. 65 ; ai); prepectus ( Fig. 65 ; pre) long, posterior part of mesanepisternum and mesepimeron not visible in ventral view; lateral foveae of mesothorax absent.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 65 ; vIII) strongly transverse, anteriorly fused with mesoventrite, posteriorly deeply bisinuate and with narrow median subtrapezoidal metaventral intercoxal process ( Fig. 65 ; mtvp) bearing long and narrow median notch. Metanepisterna and metepimera narrow.

Metafurca ( Fig. 65 ) with very short and broad stem and divergent lateral furcal arms ( Fig. 65 ; lmfa).

Elytra ( Figs. 59, 62–63 ) oval, each with single rudimentary and asetose basal fovea located in shallow basal impression sharply delimited from prominent and elongate humeral callus by elongate, non-carinate subhumeral line; elytral apices rounded, unmodified.

Legs ( Figs. 59, 62–63 , 65 ) moderately long and slender; procoxae subglobose, mesocoxae slightly elongate, metacoxae strongly transverse, narrow; all trochanters short; all femora gradually clavate; all tibiae nearly straight; tarsi short and robust.

Abdominal sternites ( Fig. 65 ; stIII–VII) unmodified, suture between VII and VIII indistinct.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 68–70 , 71–74 ) relatively stout; ventral and dorsal wall without projections; internal armature asymmetrical and lightly sclerotized; basal foramen located near base of median lobe; parameres very broad but very thin and hyaline, barely noticeable, surrounding median lobe, either with subapical or apical setae.

Distribution and composition. Venezolanoconnus is represented by three species known from the northern and western parts of Venezuela.

Remarks. Venezolanoconnus superficially resembles some species of Euconnus in general appearance, but clearly differs from Euconnus s. str. in the following characters: shape and vestiture of the head (rhomboidal and usually with dense setae on tempora vs. rounded and with very sparse setae on tempora in Euconnus s. str.); shape of mandibles (abruptly separated basal and distal parts and lack of subapical mesal teeth vs. gradually narrowing, subtriangular mandible with small subapical mesal tooth in Euconnus s. str.); lack of fronto-clypeal groove (present in Euconnus s. str.); sculpture of the pronotal base (devoid of foveae or with one pair of rudimentary submedian foveae vs. two distinct sublateral foveae in Euconnus s. str.); the elytral base (with a single rudimentary basal fovea vs. with two distinct foveae in Euconnus s. str.); structure of the mesoventrite (with lateral asetose impressions vs. setose impressions in Euconnus s. str.); shape of the metaventral intercoxal process (narrow, with long median notch vs. moderately broad and without a notch in Euconnus s. str.); and the aedeagus (with very broad and thin parameres surrounding the median lobe vs. long and slender parameres in Euconnus s. str.).

Figures

FIGURES 59 – 64. Morphology of Venezolanoconnus Franz. 59 – 61, V. andinus Franz, holotype male, dorsal habitus (59), head in frontal view (60), head and prothorax in left lateral view (61). 62, V. caracasensis Franz, dorsal habitus of female holotype. 63 – 64, V. ranchoi, dorsal habitus of male holotype (63), head of female paratype in frontal view (64).

FIGURES 65 – 70. Details of morphology of Venezolanoconnus Franz. 65 – 66, 68 – 70, V. andinus Franz, holotype male. 67, V. ranchoi, paratype male. Venter (65; sternite VIII removed), head in ventral view (66 – 67), aedeagus in ventral (68), dorsal (69) and lateral (70) views. Abbreviations: ai, asetose impression of mesoventrite; ar, anterior ridge; bst, basistipes; cd, cardo; gal, galea; gen, gena; gp, gular plate; gs, gular suture; hyr, hypomeral ridge; hr, hypostomal ridge; hy, hypomeron; lac, lacinia; lmfa, lateral metafurcal arm; lp, labial palp; md, mandible; mn, mentum; mscc, mesocoxal cavity; mscs, mesocoxal socket; mst, mediostipes; msvp, mesoventral intercoxal process; mtvp, metaventral intercoxal process; mxpI – IV, maxillary palpomere I – IV; nss, notosternal suture; occ, occipital constriction; pcc, procoxal cavity; pcs, procoxal socket; pn, pronotum; pre, prepectus; ps, prosternum; psp, prosternal intercoxal process; ptp, posterior tentorial pit; smn submentum; stIII – VII, abdominal sternite III – VII; vIII, metaventrite.

FIGURES 71 – 74. Aedeagus of Venezolanoconnus ranchoi Franz in ventral (71, 73) and lateral (72, 74) views. Holotype (71 – 72; distorted or partly erected) and paratype (73 – 74).