Dyscolus ruizi Moret 2020, sp. nov.

Dyscolus ruizi Moret sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 811C080F-1087-49A8-BB75-7B71DA04C593

Figs 34–35

Etymology

Noun in the genitive case, dedicated to Carlos Ruiz Carreira, associate professor at the Universidad de La Laguna (Canarias), who investigated in 2013–2014 the biodiversity of carabid beetles along an elevational gradient between Loja and Zamora.

Type material

Holotype

ECUADOR • ♂; Loja Province, Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma, Waypoint 397; 4°7′2.4″ S, 79°10′6.3″ W; 2900 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher PM392-68, BOLD sequence SUM056-18; QCAZ.

Paratypes (10 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀)

ECUADOR – Loja Province • 1 ♂; Cajanuma Sendero; 4.113º S, 79.174º W; 2920 m a.s.l.; 24 Sep. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; CISEC • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; COI voucher CR120, BOLD sequence GBNP 068-17; QCAZ • 1 ♂; El Tiro; 3.993º S, 79.147º W; 2838 m a.s.l.; 11 Jul. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher CR008, BOLD sequence GBNP 006-17; CISEC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Saraguro, Huashapamba; 2920 m a.s.l.; 10 Dec. 2005; I. Mas leg.; CISEC 0003240, 0003271 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; CPM. – Loja / Zamora Province • 1 ♂; El Tiro–Cima; 3.993º S, 79.147º W; 2838 m a.s.l.; 5 Sep. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; CISEC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; CPM • 1 ♂; LZ03 El Tiro–Cima; 3.993º S, 79.147º W; 2838 m a.s.l.; 11 Jul. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; MNHN • 1 ♀; LZ03 El Tiro; 2813 m a.s.l.; 26 Mar. 2008; Marín Rosero leg.; CISEC 0002573. – Zamora-Chinchipe Province • 1 ♀; Carretera Loja–Zamora; 3.988º S, 79.118º W; 2528 m a.s.l.; 18 Jul. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher CR002, BOLD sequence GBNP 002-17; CISEC • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; COI voucher CR003, BOLD sequence GBNP003-17; CISEC • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 5 Dec. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher CR001, BOLD sequence GBNP001-17; CISEC • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; COI voucher CR055, BOLD sequence GBNP029-17; CISEC.

Diagnostic description

Habitus: Fig. 34. Wingless. Body length: 9.2–11.3 mm. Entirely black or piceous black. Elytral microsculpture finely transverse, weakly impressed. Head broad basally, feebly constricted, eyes small, genae long and convex; antennae short. Pronotum elongate, wider at apex than at base; sides moderately arcuate apically, straight or feebly sinuate basally; hind angles obtuse and blunt; two pairs of lateral setae, the basal one anterad the hind angle. Elytra narrow depressed medially; no subapical sinuation; striae entire, well impressed; intervals flat to subconvex. Third elytral interval with two setae, one near base and one near apex, or with only one subapical seta. Last visible abdominal ventrite with one pair (♂) or two pairs (♀) of setae along its apical margin. Legs robust, anterior femora swollen; dorsal surface of tarsi rugose, almost squamose, not sulcate; fourth metatarsomere with one pair of dorsolateral subapical setae, apical lobes short, the external lobe two times longer than the inner lobe; fifth metatarsomere asetose ventrally. Male genitalia: Fig. 35. Median lobe arcuate, apex robust, acute, endophallus without sclerotized structure. Female genitalia: unstudied.

Comparisons

Dyscolus ruizi Moret sp. nov. belongs to the same clade as D. marini Moret sp. nov., D. arborarius Moret sp. nov., D. moretianus, D. sulcipedis Moret sp. nov. and D. rugitarsis Moret sp. nov. However, by its robust legs, short antennae, small eyes and convex genae, D. ruizi Moret sp. nov. is more similar to species living at higher elevations in the páramo, as D. denigratus (Bates 1891), than to these species which share the same forest environment beneath 3000 m. Dyscolus ruizi Moret sp. nov. differs from D. denigratus by its elongate pronotum and the absence of the middle seta on the third interval.

Habitat

Upper montane forest and subpáramo on the eastern slope of the Andes, at around 2800–3000 m a.s.l. The specimens from Saraguro–Huashapamba were collected in pitfall traps baited with dung.

Geographic distribution

Only known from the Parque Nacional Podocarpus and surroundings, in southern Ecuador. Probably microendemic.