Helochares (Hydrobaticus) politus, Short & Girón, 2018

Short, Andrew Edward Z. & Girón, Jennifer C., 2018, Review of the Helochares (Hydrobaticus) MacLeay of the New World (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Acidocerinae), Zootaxa 4407 (1), pp. 29-50 : 45

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4407.1.2
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B45E9ABD-CB52-4EE7-91D6-783E8E958AC5
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3803376
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1FB1AFED-3D86-48B0-A9B8-6E2E38831DD9
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:1FB1AFED-3D86-48B0-A9B8-6E2E38831DD9
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Helochares (Hydrobaticus) politus
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Helochares (Hydrobaticus) politus View in CoL n. sp.

Figs. 4A View FIGURE 4 , 5I View FIGURE 5 , 7I View FIGURE 7 , 10B View FIGURE 10 .

Type material. Holotype (male): “ GUATEMALA: Departamen-/to de Huehuetenango,/ 11 km N. Santa Eulalia / on road to San Mateo / Ixtantan ,/ 2865m 5.II>1965/ D. E. Breedlove ” ( CAS).

Differential diagnosis. Body size 6.6 mm. Clypeus dark yellow with the central third darkened to dark brown. Elytra without any detectable serial punctures or striae ( Fig. 4A View FIGURE 4 ). Abdominal ventrites uniformly dark brown; pubescence dense and evenly distributed, the longest hairs shorter than those on the metaventrite. Aedeagus ( Fig. 7I View FIGURE 7 ) 2.5-times longer than its greatest width; apex of parameres rounded, with outer corners widely rounded; inner corners of apex of parameres forming a nearly right angle; lateral outer margins of parameres parallel, slightly constricted near midlength; maximum width of aedeagus at basal half, nearly as wide as maximum width of aedeagus at apical half; median lobe with apex gradually tapering to an acute point.

This species is extremely similar to H. laevis , from which it can only be definitively separated by the form of the aedeagus ( Fig. 7I View FIGURE 7 ).

Description. In addition to differential diagnosis: pronotum dark brown to black in central half ( Fig. 4A View FIGURE 4 ). Ground punctation on head and pronotum moderately impressed, slightly less impressed on the elytra.

Distribution. Guatemala ( Fig. 10B View FIGURE 10 ). The single specimen was taken at a very high elevation (2865m).

Etymology. Politus (L), after the smooth elytra which lacks any coarse serial punctures or striae.

Biology. Nothing is known about the biology of this species.