Aegidinus candezei

Aegidinus candezei (Preudhomme de Borre, 1886)

Fig. 40 -43,66, 82

Orphnus candezei Preudhomme de Borre 1886:116.

Aegidinus candezei (Preudhomme de Borre): Arrow 1912: 31.

Type Material. Male holotype and female paratype from Choco, Colombia (IRSB). Examined.

Description. Male. (n = 3) Length 9.8-11.1 mm; width 5.4-6.2 mm. Color: Surface reddish brown. Head: Frons weakly concave medially, impunctate at base, with moderately dense, small punctures apically. Frontoclypeal suture obsolete. Clypeus with surface rugopunctate. Anterior margin with attenuate, slightly recurved horn projecting approximately 70 o from plane of head; carina extending from base of horn laterally to each eye canthus. Pronotum: Surface with a few sparse, large punctures on sides. Basal margin with row of punctures, punctures less than 1 puncture width apart, becoming weak to obsolete in median third. Disc with fovea divided by slightly elevated, longitudinal line, posterior edge bordered on either side by an erect, large, subtriangular, obliquely compressed tumosity. Anterior margin with median boss. Elytra: Punctures of striae round, C-, U-, or kidney-shaped. Striae 2 and 4 variably obsolete, often half way to apical umbone. Lateral margin adjacent to humerus with 1-3 setose crenulations. Legs: Protibia with apical denticle. Genitalia: Fig. 40-43.

Female. (n = 1) Length 8.4 mm; width 5.0 mm. The female differs from the males in the following respects: Head: Surface not convex. Frons impunctate at base, becoming rugopunctate apically. Clypeus rugopunctate; anterior margin of clypeus without horn and with weak bead. Pronotum: Disc with small, round depression. Elytra: Lateral margin adjacent to humerus with 3 setose crenulations. Legs. Protibia lacks apical denticle. Genitalia: Fig. 66.

Diagnosis. Aegidinus candezei is best distinguished from other species by the form of the male and female genitalia. The twisting of the male parameres (especially the median lobes, Fig. 40-43) is unique. The female genitalia resemble those of A. howdenorum and A. venezuelensis. Females of A. candezei (Fig. 66) have a longitudinal carina on the superior sclerite which is absent in both A. howdenorum (Fig. 68) and A. venezuelensis (Fig. 77).

Distribution (Fig. 82). Colombia. Four specimens examined from IRSB, MNHN. COLOMBIA (2): Choco (2). UNKNOWN: San Carlos (2).

Temporal Distribution. No data.

Natural History. Nothing is known about the natural history of this species.

Remarks. The holotype bears a label that reads “ Colombie, Choco Wallis ”. Gustav Wallis (1830-1878) was a German collector who was employed by both J. Linden (a Belgian nursery) and J. Veitch and Sons Ltd. (a British nursery). He collected in Ecuador and Colombia and is known to have traveled in the Choco region (a cycad endemic to the area, Zamia wallisi Veitch ex A. Br., was discovered by him and is named for him) (Veitch 1906). It is plausible that Gustav Wallis was the collector.