Operclipygus therondi Wenzel, 1976

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Operclipygus Marseul (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 271, pp. 1-401 : 257-258

Operclipygus therondi Wenzel, 1976 Fig. 67EMap 24

Operclipygus therondi Wenzel, 1976: 250.

Type locality.

ECUADOR: Pichincha:Santo Domingo [0°15'S, 79°10'W].

Type material.

Holotype male: published type locality: "Ecuador, versant O. des Andes, Santo Domingo, 500m" (IRNSB), not examined. Paratypefemale, genitalia missing: "Ecuador:verst.O.desAndes, Santo Domingo 600m., J. et. N. Leleup ”/” Paratype Operclipygus therondi Wenzel" (FMNH), examined 2006.

Other material.

ECUADOR: Pichincha: 1: Santo Domingo, Tinalandia, 680m, 4. v– 25.vii.1985, malaise/FIT, S. & J. Peck (CHSM); 1: 16km E Santo Domingo, Tinalandia, 750m, 27.iii.1999, R. Brooks (CMNC).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 2.15-2.37 mm, width: 1.93-2.06 mm; body rufopiceous, broadly rounded; frons weakly depressed at middle; frontal stria rounded at sides, rather narrowly arcuate across front; supraorbital stria weak, present at middle, detached from frontal stria; epistoma flat to weakly convex; labrum about twice as wide as long, weakly, asymmetrically emarginate apically; pronotal sides rather strongly convergent to front, disk lacking prescutellar impression, with fine, sparse ground punctation, lacking coarser lateral punctures; marginal pronotal stria interrupted behind head; submarginal pronotal stria continuous along lateral and anterior margins; median pronotal gland openings simple, about three-fourths pronotal length behind anterior margin; elytron with two complete epipleural striae, outer subhumeral stria complete, inner subhumeral stria faintly impressed in apical half or absent, dorsal striae 1-3 complete, 4th stria present in apical two-thirds, 5th stria present in apical half, sutural stria present in apical two-thirds; prosternal lobe truncate to very weakly emarginate at base, carinal striae complete, widely separated at base, united in anterior arch; anterior mesoventral margin truncate, marginal stria fine, fragmented at middle; mesometaventral stria very broadly arched forward to near marginal mesoventral stria, which is continued posterolaterally by lateral metaventral stria toward outer third of metacoxa; 1st abdominal ventrite with inner lateral stria complete, outer stria present in basal half only; lacking conspicuous postmetacoxal fovea; propygidium with fine, sparse ground punctation, especially conspicuous in posterolateral corners, with larger, round punctures separated by about one-third their diameters; pygidium with fine, dense ground punctation, without coarser punctures except along basal margin; marginal pygidial sulcus complete, fine, complete, weakly widened toward vague basal foveae. Male not available for study.

Remarks.

The unique form of the marginal pygidial sulcus, with a deep marginal groove ending in weakly enlarged basal foveae (Fig. 67E), easily distinguishes this species.