Eleusis insignis SHARP, 1887

Irmler, Ulrich, 2017, The Neotropical species of the genus Eleusis LAPORTE, 1835 with description of the new genus Eleusima (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Osoriinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (2), pp. 275-318 : 290-291

Eleusis insignis SHARP, 1887

Figs 16 A-C, 29H

Eleusis insignis SHARP, 1887: 732

Type material examined: female, Holotype: Guatemala:

Quiche Mts., 7000-9000 ft., leg. Champion ( BMNH) .

Additional material examined: Mexico: Chiapas, Vulcan Tacana, Sumidero, San Antonio , leaf litter beside Rio Mala , 1760 m elev., 3 males, 20.12.1976, leg. H. Frania, D. Proctor (2 AMNH, 1 UIC) ; same location, but NE slope Volcan Tacana, rocky edge of Rio Mala, Sumidero San Antonio , 1760 m elev., 17.12.1975, leg. H. Frania #165-75 ( AMNH) ; Oaxaca, 4.6 km S. Suchixtepec, 2150 m elev., riparian alder forest leaf litter, berlese, female, 23.7.1992, leg. R. Anderson #92-023 ( KNHM) ; Guatemala: El Progresso, Cerro Pinalón (15.0835 N, 89.9444 W), 2575 m elev., cloud forest and treefall gap, female, 29.4.- 5.5.2000, #LLAMA09 Ft-B-01-1-01 ( KNHM) ; San Marcos, Parque Municipal Refugio del Quetzal (14.9391 N, 91.8729 W), 1810 m elev., cloud forest, flight intercept trap, sifted cloud forest litter, 1 male, 1 female, 4.- 11.6.2015, 4.11.2015, leg. Z. Falin, R. Anderson #GUAT1F15099, #GUAT1A15103 (1 KNHM, 1 UIC) .

Diagnosis: The species resembles E. scita in size and colouration. Beside the dense and deep punctation of head and pronotum already mentioned in the description of Sharp, the shape of the pronotum differs from E. scita by the thick tooth interrupting posterior convergence. In the few specimens examined, the head is convergent directly behind eyes, whereas it is mostly widened in E. scita . The central opening of the aedeagus is a triangular incision. Due to the few specimens examined, no sufficient information can be given concerning the infraspecific variance. However, the density of the punctation on head an pronotum seems to vary slightly, but is never as sparse and weak as in E. scita .

Description: Length: 6.4 mm. Colouration: head black; pronotum reddish brown; elytra yellow with indistinctly darker spot along suture and posterior margin; abdomen yellow with wide central stripe brown; legs dark yellow; antennomeres 1 – 4 yellow; 5 – 11 brownish.

Head: 0.75 mm long, 1.20 mm wide (male specimen: 0.63 mm long, 1.07 mm wide); eyes not prominent; postocular sides narrowed to neck in continuously smooth curve; preocular side slightly narrowed to base of antennae; anterior margin of clypeus sinuate; wide central part prominent; anterior margin straight; supraocular groove curved; parallel to curved lateral side; punctation on clypeus sparse; nearly absent; on vertex extremely deep and dense; nearly coriaceous; narrow midline impunctate; temples on both sides of supraocular grooves and along neck impunctate; two setiferous punctures at anterior and posterior end of supraocular groove; one setiferous puncture on each side of central prominence; with elongate microsculpture; on clypeus transversely striate; on vertex with longitudinal striae; surface moderately shiny.

Antennae slightly longer than head and pronotum combined; first antennomere thicker than following antennomeres; slightly longer than second, third antennomere slender; as long as first; following antennomeres shorter; decreasing in length and increasing in width; fourth to seventh antennomere longer than wide; following antennomeres approximately quadrate; sixth to eleventh antennomere pubescent; all antennomeres with long apical setae.

Pronotum: 0.70 mm long, 1.00 mm wide; widest in anterior third; continuously narrowed to posterior margin; in posterior third with thick tooth interrupting lateral margin; anterior half narrowed to anterior margin; at obtuse angles with wide deep groove; in front of groove deeply emarginate; punctation nearly as dense and deep as on vertex; few setiferous punctures at anterior margin and along lateral margin; at anterior margin, elongate microsculpture transversely striate; on disc with longitudinal striae.

Elytra: 1.25 mm long, 1.33 mm wide; sides divergent to posterior angles; humeral and posterior angles nearly rectangular; punctation distinctly weaker than on head and pronotum; interstices between punctures at least two to three times as wide as diameter of punctures; two pairs of setiferous punctures on disc; one pair in anterior half; one pair in approximately central position; on setiferous punctures on each side of scutellum and few setiferous punctures along posterior margin; elongate microsculpture with longitudinal striae.

Abdomen with weak punctation; on each segment with transverse row of setiferous punctures; microsculpture isodiametric at base; transversely striate close to posterior margin of each segment.

Aedeagus thick; in lateral aspect, ventral edge of central lobe slightly curved; apex obtuse; apical opening with central incision; in ventral aspect, approximately parallel; with several sensillae in central part: paramere slightly longer than central lobe; with curved widened transparent lobe; apical margin of transparent lobe with fringe of short setae and one longer and thicker seta.

Figures

Fig. 13–17: Eleusis rufipennis (13); E. ecuadoriensis (14), Eleusis breviceps (15), E. insignis (16), E. scita (17); aedeagus in lateral (A)