Baconia furtiva, Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Baconia Lewis (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 343, pp. 1-297 : 37-39

Baconia furtiva sp. n. Figs 6C8 A–B, GMap 1

Type locality.

FRENCH GUIANA: Montagne des Chevaux [4.72°N, 52.40°W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "GUYANE FRANÇAISE:Montagne des Chevaux 4°43'N, 52°24'W Piège d’interception 1 Aou 2009. SEAG leg." / "Caterino/Tishechkin Exosternini Voucher EXO-00500" (MNHN). Paratypes (28): FRENCH GUIANA: 1:Montagne des Chevaux, 4°43'N, 52°24'W, 1.viii.2009, FIT, SEAG, 2:11.vii.2009, 4:13.vi.2009, 1:16.v.2009, 2:19.vii.2009, 1:2.v.2009, 3:27.vi.2009, 2:27.vii.2009, FIT, SEAG; 5:6.vi.2009, 4:9.viii.2009, 1: 15.iii.2009; 1: Belvèdére de Saül, 3°1'22"N, 53°12'34"W, 17.i.2011, 1: 20.xii.2010 (all FIT, SEAG leg.; CHND, MSCC, AKTC, FMNH).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.9-2.2mm, width: 1.5-1.8mm; body broadly elongate oval, strongly depressed, glabrous; head and pronotum metallic greenish-blue, contrasting slightly with metallic blue elytra and pygidia, venter piceous; frons convex over antennal bases, depressed along midline, ground punctation inconspicuous, with few coarse punctures on epistoma, middle of frontal disk, and toward vertex, frontal stria present along inner margin of eye, curving inward at front, usually interrupted over antennal bases and at middle, supraorbital stria absent; antennal scape short, club asymmetrically oblong; epistoma weakly emarginate apically; labrum about 3 ×wider than long, weakly emarginate apically; both mandibles with acute basal tooth; pronotal sides increasingly arcuate to apex, marginal stria complete along lateral and anterior margins, lateral submarginal stria absent, pronotal disk narrowly depressed very close to anterior corners, ground punctation of pronotal disk fine, inconspicuous at middle, slightly coarser secondary punctures present in lateral thirds; elytra with two complete epipleural striae, outer subhumeral stria absent, inner subhumeral stria present in basal two-thirds, may be interrupted, dorsal striae 1-3 complete, 3rd stria may be abbreviated apically, 4th, 5th and sutural striae only faintly indicated, generally only by serial punctures in apical third, elytral disk with few coarse punctures across apical fourth; prosternum broad, weakly convex, keel truncate to weakly sinuate at base, carinal striae complete, bent mediad at base, rarely united, subparallel to divergent anterad; prosternal lobe about two-thirds keel length, apical margin broadly rounded, marginal stria obsolete at sides; mesoventrite broadly, shallowly emarginate at middle, marginal stria complete; mesometaventral stria ab sent, inner lateral metaventral stria extending from end of marginal mesoventral stria posterolaterad toward middle of metacoxa, sinuate apically, outer lateral metaventral stria present, parallel to basal two-thirds of inner stria, metaventral disk impunctate at middle; abdominal ventrite 1 with complete inner lateral stria and posterior fragments of outer stria, middle portion of disk lacking coarse punctures; protibia 4-5 dentate, the basal denticles weak, outer margin serrulate between teeth; mesotibia with single marginal spine, subtended by submarginal carina diminishing to base; outer metatibial margin smooth; propygidium with complete transverse basal stria, discal punctures small, ocellate, separated by 1 –2× their diameters basally; propygidial gland openings evident behind ends of transverse basal stria, about one-fourth from each lateral margin; pygidium with ground punctation moderately dense, secondary punctation increasingly evident toward base. Male genitalia (Figs 8 A–B, G): T8 slightly longer than broad, sides subparallel to weakly convergent apically, basal emargination broad, shallow, weakly acute at middle, basal rim slightly explanate, apical emargination broad, deep, with ventrolateral apodemes separated by about one-half maximum T8 width, extending about one-third distad beneath, tapering to near apex; S8 divided, inner margins approximate at base, weakly divergent to near apex, markedly desclerotized in apical third, bearing conspicuous fringe of setae near apex, outer margins weakly convergent, apical guides narrow but evenly developed along most of sides, narrowly rounded apically; T9 with basal apodemes thin, about half total length, T9 apices narrow, acute, weakly opposed, glabrous, ventrolateral apodemes very weakly projecting beneath; S9 weakly widened at base, head only slightly widened, with apicolateral points curved, horn-like, desclerotized along midline, with narrow apicomedial division; tegmen with sides subparallel to near apex, apical one-fourth weakly bulbous, broadly rounded at apex, dorsobasal edge projecting, tegmen more or less straight in lateral aspect; median lobe about two-thirds tegmen length; basal piece about one-fourth tegmen length.

Remarks.

Among the species closely related to Baconia festiva , this species can be easily recognized by the presence of only apical fragments of the 4th, 5th, and sutural elytral striae (Fig. 6C).

Etymology.

The name of this species means ‘stealthy’ or ‘furtive’, referring to its presumed habit of stalking subcortical prey.