Palaestes nicaraguae Sharp, 1899

Jaskula, Radomir, Michalski, Marek & Marris, John W. M., 2021, First records of the Palaestes abruptus Sharp, 1899 and P. nicaraguae Sharp, 1899 (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) from South America, with a checklist of flat bark beetles from the continent, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 62576-62576 : 62576

Palaestes nicaraguae Sharp, 1899

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: 1 male, 1 female; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: higherClassification: Animalia; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Cucujidae' Palaestes; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Coleoptera; family: Cucujidae; genus: Palaestes; specificEpithet: nicaraguae; Location: higherGeography: South America; Peru; Junín Region; Satipo Province; Satipo District; 15 km N-NW from Satipo; Rio Venado vill.; continent: South America; country: Peru; countryCode: PE; stateProvince: Junín Region; county: Satipo Province; municipality: Satipo District; locality: Rio Venado vill., 15 km N-NW from Satipo ; verbatimElevation: 1300 m; verbatimCoordinates: 11°11.32S 74°46.03W; Identification: identifiedBy: Radomir Jaskuła; dateIdentified: 2020-12; identificationReferences: Sharp 1899; identificationRemarks: Pictures of type material were used to confirm identification; Event: eventDate: 2019-11-01; year: 2019; month: 11; day: 1; habitat: mountain rain forest; eventRemarks: col. Alexander Petrov; Record Level: collectionID: RJC (Radomir Jaskuła Collection, Łódź, Poland); ownerInstitutionCode: RJC/CUC-0010; RJC/CUC-0011; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: male; lifeStage: adult; associatedOccurrences: NCBI BioSample ID: SAMN10963593; associatedSequences: GenBank: No. MK614522; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Coleoptera; family: Cucujidae; genus: Palaestes; specificEpithet: nicaraguae; Location: higherGeography: South America; Peru; Cusco Region; Sancurtambo; Santa Isabel; Cosnipata [ Kosñipata] Valley Rain Forest Alt. 5525 ft.; continent: South America; country: Peru; countryCode: PE; stateProvince: Cusco Region; locality: Cosnipata [ Kosnipata ] Valley Rain Forest Alt. 5525 ft. ; Identification: identifiedBy: Mengjie Jin; dateIdentified: 2019; identificationReferences: Sharp 1899; identificationRemarks: Pictures of type material were used to confirm identification; Event: eventDate: 1951-12-14; year: 1951; month: 12; day: 14; eventRemarks: col. F Woytkowski; Record Level: collectionID: FSCA (Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville, Florida, USA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: higherClassification: Animalia; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Cucujidae' Palaestes; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Coleoptera; family: Cucujidae; genus: Palaestes; specificEpithet: nicaraguae; Location: higherGeography: South America; Peru; Cusco Region; Sancurtambo; Santa Isabel; Cosnipata [ Kosñipata] Valley Rain Forest Alt. 5525 ft.; continent: South America; country: Peru; countryCode: PE; stateProvince: Cusco Region; locality: Cosnipata [ Kosnipata ] Valley Rain Forest Alt. 5525 ft. ; Identification: identifiedBy: Mengjie Jin; dateIdentified: 2019; identificationReferences: Sharp 1899; identificationRemarks: Pictures of type material were used to confirm identification; Event: eventDate: 1951-12-14; year: 1951; month: 12; day: 14; eventRemarks: col. H. L. Dozier; Record Level: collectionID: FSCA (Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville, Florida, USA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecime Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: female [genitalia dissected]; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: higherClassification: Animalia; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Cucujidae' Palaestes; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Coleoptera; family: Cucujidae; genus: Palaestes; specificEpithet: nicaraguae; Location: higherGeography: South America; Peru; Cusco Region; Quiroz; Rio Paucartambo; continent: South America; country: Peru; countryCode: PE; stateProvince: Cusco Region; locality: Quiroz, Rio Paucartambo ; Identification: identifiedBy: John W.M. Marris; dateIdentified: 2020-12; identificationReferences: Sharp 1899; identificationRemarks: Pictures of type material were used to confirm identification; Event: eventDate: 1933-11-23; year: 1933; month: 11; day: 23; Record Level: collectionID: FSCA (Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville, Florida, USA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Small beetles with strongly flattened bodies; body length (measured from the top of clypeus to the end of elytra) from 10.2 mm (female, Fig. 3 b) to 10.4 mm (male, Fig. 3 a). Sexual dimorphism clearly visible with males having very large mandibles.

The Peruvian specimens match closely with the holotype of P. nicaraguae , based on examination of photographs of the holotype (held in the Natural History Museum, London). The specimens from Peru share the following distinctive characteristics: head, mandibles and prothorax orange-brown, scutellum orange-brown, legs with femorae orange-brown and tibiae and tarsi black, tarsal claws brown-orange and elytra with black colouration extending apically from about the basal 1/3 to 2/5. The only notable difference is that, in the specimens from Peru, the antennomeres dark brown to black, except for the last two apical segmenta, which are red-brown. In contrast, the holotype has three apical segments that are red-brown.

Distribution

Previously, this species was known only from Nicaragua ( Sharp 1899, Jin et al. 2020). The locality is placed in mountainous rain forest at altitudes from 1100 to 1350 m a.s.l. (Fig. 4 ). These are the first records from Peru and South America.

Ecology

As noted for P. abruptus , the larvae and adults of P. nicarague are presumed to live under the bark of dead trees, where they most probably prey on small insects and larvae. There are no published accounts of the ecology and biology specifically for P. nicaraguae .

Figures

Figure 3. Palaestes nicaraguae - male (a) and female (b) from Junin Region, Peru (photo Marek Michalski).

Figure 4. Habitat of Palaestes nicaraguae in Junin Region, Peru: general view (a), felled trees (b) (photo Alexander Petrov).