Copelatus caelatipennis Chevrolat, 1863

Manuel, Michaël, Deler-Hernández, Albert, Megna, Yoandri S. & Hájek, Jiří, 2018, Copelatus Erichson from the Dominican Republic, with the description of a new species, comments on elytral striation and faunistic notes on Antillean species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Zootaxa 4399 (3), pp. 371-385 : 379

Copelatus caelatipennis Chevrolat, 1863

( Fig. 14 )

Material examined. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 1♂, 1♀ ( NMPC), La Vega at S margin of Manabao , 19°3.85'N 70°47.61'W, 912 m, 27.viii.2014, A. Deler-Hernández, M. Fikáček leg . 2♂, 4♀ ( NMPC), Juan Dolio , 1.–6.xi.2005, 27.xi.2005 and 10. – 18.12.2005, R. Fencl leg.

Diagnosis. See Megna & Epler (2012). Specimens from the Dominican Republic cannot be assigned to any of the four subspecies of C. caelatipennis as they were delineated by Young (1963). In habitus, the specimens agree well with the widely distributed South American nominotypical form. The pronotum is densely covered by strioles, even in the central disc region and in both sexes, as in C. caelatipennis princeps Young, 1963 , but unlike C. c. princeps the dorsal side is darkly coloured and the basal testaceous band of elytra is expanded in the scutellar region (other diagnostic characters of princeps also missing; for details see Young 1963: 68). Furthermore, C. c. princeps is geographically confined to south-eastern USA and Bahamas (its records from Cuba by Megner & Epler (2012) may in fact correspond to another undescribed subspecies). In conclusion, following the logic of Young (1963), a new subspecies of C. caelatipennis should be described for the Dominican Republic populations. Clearly, we are dealing with a very variable widespread species with noticeable morphological differentiation throughout its distribution area, notably in the various islands of the Caribbean. Understanding the historical and genetic significance of this variation will be possible only through molecular studies using different genetic markers (most likely best using population genomic data) with dense sampling of populations throughout the Neotropics. Therefore, for the moment we prefer to treat the Dominican Republic populations as C. caelatipennis without any subspecific name.

Collection circumstances. In Juan Dolio, the species was collected at light in coastal wetland (R. Fencl, pers. comm. 2006). In La Vega, the species was collected in side pools with submerged vegetation and muddy/sandy bottom of a small stony river flowing through cultivated land.

Distribution. Widespread Neotropical species ranging from south-eastern USA to Argentina. In the Caribbean recorded from Florida, Cuba, Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic (first record), Guadeloupe.

Figures

FIGURES 14–18. Details of Copelatus. 14. C. caelatipennis habitus (4.4 mm); 15. C. posticatus habitus (6.6 mm); 16. C. vitraci habitus (5.0 mm); 17. median lobe in lateral view of C. vitraci; 18. paramere of C. vitraci. Scale bar (Figs 17–18) = 0.5 mm.