Brevipogon Lawrence, 2005

Lawrence, John F., 2005, Brevipogon, a New Genus of North American Artematopodidae (Coleoptera), with a Key to World Genera, The Coleopterists Bulletin 59 (2), pp. 223-236 : 224-226

Brevipogon Lawrence , new genus

Type species: Eurypogon confusus Fall 1901: 239 .

Diagnosis. Both males and females of Brevipogon confusus are distinguished from those of Eurypogon species by a relatively short and broad body, complete and sharply defined lateral pronotal carinae (anteriorly absent or vaguely defined in Eurypogon ) and relatively long third antennomere, which is much longer than 2 and almost as long as 4. In Brevipogon males the terminal ventrite is entirely densely covered with glandular hairs (lacking in Eurypogon ). The dense covering of glandular hairs on the terminal ventrite also occurs in Ctesibius eumolpoides Champion males but in that species the ventrite is larger than ventrites 2–4 combined (only slightly larger than 4 in Brevipogon ). Ctesibius also differs from Brevipogon in having shiny, sparsely punctured upper surfaces clothed with suberect hairs, distinct lateral margins on the pronotal disc, subacute posterior pronotal angles, and metallic blue elytra with raised humeri and indistinct puncture rows, not forming striae. Patches of abdominal glandular hairs also occur in males of Allopogonia and Macropogon , but in the former they are restricted to the central portions of ventrites 3–5 and in the latter they occur on the apical portion of ventrite 5. Brevipogon antennae also lack the dense clothing of erect hairs found, not only in Eurypogon males, but also those of Macropogon, Artematopus, Carcinognathus and Allopogonia.

Redescription. Length about 3.5 to 6 mm. Body (fig. 1) moderately short and broad, slightly flattened and clothed with fine, decumbent hairs. Head about 0.8 3 as long as wide behind eyes; posterior edge biemarginate above occipital foramen; eyes well-developed, entire, strongly protruding, finely facetted without interfacetal hairs; sides of head behind eyes strongly and gradually converging to occipital foramen; curved carina beginning behind dorsal eye margin and continuing ventrally as a genal carina ending near the mandibular articulation. Antennal insertions barely exposed from above, with broad and moderately deep subantennal fossa. Frontoclypeal suture absent; clypeus broadly rounded anteriorly. Gula about as long as wide at base, sutures strongly inwardly curved, extending from occipital foramen to maxillary articulations. Antennae slender and filiform or very weakly serrate (with antennomeres 4 to 10 slightly, asymmetrically enlarged at apex), moderately long and without dense, erect hairs in male. Labrum exposed, less than half as long as wide, broadly rounded anteriorly. Mandible flattened, less than twice as long as wide and acutely unidentate, with sharp subapical tooth but no mola or prostheca. Maxilla with two-segmented galea densely setose at apex; lacinia broader than galea, obliquely truncate and densely setose; apical palpomere distinctly expanded and securiform. Labium with subtrapezoidal mentum and broad, hyaline, finely setose, divided ligula; apical palpomere strongly expanded and securiform. Prothorax about half as long as wide, widest posteriorly, sides converging towards apex which is truncate; lateral carinae complete and sharply defined but not expanded to form narrow margin; anterior angles not produced forward, posterior angles right or slightly obtuse; posterior edge weakly trisinuate, forming mesal lobe with barely concave edge; without basal margin or bead; disc simple, very finely, moderately densely punctate, with an obliquely transverse row of 7 larger punctures near posterior edge on either side of mesal lobe. Prosternum in front of coxae slightly longer than prosternal process and almost twice as long as shortest diameter of coxal cavity, with a short, more or less vertical head rest and paired carinae converging posteriorly and extending from anterior edge to base of prosternal process, which is about half as wide as shortest diameter of coxal cavity; prosternum moderately tumid, obliquely raised posteriorly (from ventral perspective) and slightly overlapping base of mesoventrite. Procoxae strongly transverse, posteriorly excavate, with large exposed trochantin, well developed articulating area and free cryptopleuron with long, narrow stalk and expanded muscle disc; procoxal cavities widely open externally and internally, the hypomeral (notal) projections only barely produced mesally and rounded. Promesothoracic interlocking device weakly developed. Scutellum moderately small, with abruptly raised, truncate anterior edge, rounded sides and angulate apex. Elytra moderately broad, about 1.8 times as long as wide and 5 times as long as pronotum; sides subparallel for half their length, then gradually converging to conjointly rounded apices; base of each with carina beginning at scutellum, curving around base of more or less flattened humerus and continued posteriorly as lateral carina delimiting epipleuron; disc with 11 puncture rows, which tend to form weakly impressed striae; underside of elytral apex with ventrolaterally projecting interlocking tongue. Mesoventrite slightly more than half as long as wide, anteriorly with a pair of large, oblique, concavities (procoxal rests) that are confluent with those on mesepisterna; discrimen complete; mesoventral cavity moderately well developed, extending to anterior third of coxal cavity. Mesepisternum separated by suture from mesoventrite, moderately large, obliquely subquadrate, divided by a sharp carina forming posterior edge of procoxal rest; pleural suture complete; mesepimeron subtrapezoidal, laterally as wide as mesepisternum but narrowing mesally.

Mesocoxae slightly transverse and slightly oblique, with broadly exposed trochantin, separated by about half the shortest diameter of a coxal cavity, which is laterally open (closed partly by mesepimeron); internal meso- and metathoracic portions of coxal cavity almost completely separated by membranous joint. Mesometaventral junction formed by loose meeting of concave mesoventral process and broadly rounded metaventral process. Metaventrite more than half as long as wide with sides widest posteriorly, curved and converging anteriorly, surface slightly convex; discrimen about 0.75 3 as long as median length of ventrite; axillary space moderately well developed but shorter than distance between it and posterolateral corner of mesoventrite; transverse (katepisternal) suture moderately long but very close to posterior edge; visible portion of metepisternum moderately broad anteriorly, distinctly narrowed posteriorly; metepimeron barely exposed posteriorly. Metacoxae strongly transverse and contiguous, extending laterally to epipleura; metacoxal plate weakly developed but complete to lateral edge. Metendosternite (furca) with moderately broad stalk, short, straight lateral arms, and anterior tendons located on paired, rounded projections well separated by a deep emargination. Hind wing about 2.3 3as long as wide; apical field about 0.2 3 as long as total wing length, without or with only vague pigment patches; radial cell about twice as long as wide at base, inner basal angle almost right; cross-vein r3 moderately long and slightly oblique, r4 complete, slightly curved; basal section of RP long, extending to basal 4 th; medial field with 5 free veins; MP 3 þ 4 with basal cross-vein and short spur; apically divided into MP 3 and MP 4 just beyond meeting with CuA 1; wedge cell about 3 3 as long as wide, slightly obliquely truncate apically, CuA 1 þ 2 very short, giving rise to CuA 2 and moderately long CuA 1, which joins MP 3 þ 4; AA 3 þ 4 forked well before AA3 joins wedge cell; anal notch absent, AP 3 þ 4 long and undivided. Legs slender; trochanters about twice as long as wide, widened and moderately oblique apically; tibiae slightly longer than respective femora; tibial spurs short, slender, paired; tarsomere 1 longest, with slight ventral lobe at apex; tarsomeres 2 and 3 subequal, each with well-developed, bilobed membranous ventral process at apex; tarsomere 4 short, but with bilobed membranous process extending almost to apex of tarsomere 5, which is slender and glabrous; pretarsal claws simple; empodium not obvious. Abdomen with combined ventrites about 1.3 3 as long as wide; ventrite 1 slightly shorter than 2, 3 or 4, 5 the longest; all ventrites connate but separated by distinct sutures, which are sinuate with anterior mesal curvature increasing posteriorly, so that suture between 4 and 5 is strongly curved; ventrite 5 in male densely clothed with glandular hairs; laterosternites sharply delineated, especially on ventrites 2–5. Sternites 8 and 9 in male broadly rounded basally; tergite 9 deeply emarginate; tergite 10 welldeveloped, separated by broad membranous joint, broadly rounded apically. Phallobase about 0.75 3 as long as wide, basally produced and acute; parameres about 1.5 3 as long as phallobase, apically acute; penis slightly shorter than a paramere, apically acute. Sternite 8 in female lightly sclerotized mesally, basally forming long spiculum ventrale. Ovipositor more than 7 3 as long as wide, moderately lightly sclerotized; paraproctal bacula almost 3 3 as long as coxites, which are each divided into a shorter, broader basal section and longer, narrower apical one; styli welldeveloped and terminal. Internal female tract greatly enlarged in vicinity of gonopore forming a bursa copulatrix, which bears a pair of lateral spiculate plates, and an anteriorly-attached spermathecal complex joined by a relatively narrow entry duct and consisting of a pair of broadbased lateral outgrowths and a pair of irregularly curved chambers; large spermathecal gland attached to this complex dorsally by long duct.