Dyscolus marini Moret sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 3E0B11ED-E5E4-438D-9E7B-F7FEC399804B

Figs 21, 24

Etymology

Noun in the genitive case, dedicated to Diego Marín, curator of the insect collection (CISEC) at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador.

Type material

Holotype

ECUADOR • ♂; Loja Province, Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma, Waypoint 392; 4°6′58.4″ S, 79°10′18.6″ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; 19.30–21 pm; bromeliad on tree; COI voucher PM392-10, BOLD sequence SUM057-18; QCAZ.

Paratypes (5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀)

ECUADOR - Loja Province • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; MNHN • 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma, Waypoint 397; 4°7′2.4″ S, 79°10′6.3″ W; 2970 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher PM397-01, BOLD sequence SUM248-18; CPM • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; QCAZ 252423 • 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma, Waypoint 399; 4°7′3.4″ S, 79°9′51.0″ W; 3020 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher PM399- 02, BOLD sequence SUM189-18; CPM • 1 ♀; Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma; 4.115 S, 79.171 W; 2870 m a.s.l.; 4 Jul. 2013; D. Marín and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher CR029, BOLD sequence GBNP020-17; CISEC • 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma; 4°5′5 S, 79°12′ W; 2750 m a.s.l.; 28–30 Dec. 2001; G. Beltrán leg.; QCAZ 74257.

Diagnostic description

Habitus: Fig. 21. Wingless. Body length: 9.9–12.3 mm. Body colour variable, from reddish brown to brunneous; legs, antennae and mouthparts reddish brown. Elytral microsculpture isodiametric. Head elongate, markedly constricted basally, eyes prominent, genae flat. Pronotum subcordiform; sides arcuate anterad, sinuate posterad before the hind angles which are slightly obtuse or right angled; two pairs of lateral setae. Elytra depressed medially; striae entire, well impressed, relatively broad; intervals flat. Third elytral interval with two or three setae (when only two setae, the median one is missing). Last visible abdominal ventrite with one pair (♂) or two pairs ( ♀) of setae along its apical margin. Legs: tarsi rugose dorsally, metatarsomeres 1–3 bisulcate, fourth metatarsomere with one pair of dorsolateral subapical setae, apical lobes moderately long, the external lobe 1.5 times longer than the inner lobe; fifth metatarsomere asetose ventrally. Male genitalia: Fig. 24. Median lobe arcuate, apex short, endophallus without sclerotized structure. Female genitalia: unstudied.

Comparisons

According to the currently available molecular data, Dyscolus marini Moret sp. nov. belongs to the same clade as D. ruizi Moret sp. nov., D. arborarius Moret sp. nov., D. moretianus Perrault, 1993, D. sulcipedis Moret sp. nov. and D. rugitarsis Moret sp. nov. However, by its external characters it has a close resemblance to D. ravidus Moret sp. nov., which belongs to a different clade. Dyscolus marini Moret sp. nov. differs from D. ravidus Moret sp. nov. by the following characters: elytra with the same colour as the pronotum; eyes more convex; hind angles of the pronotum obtuse; elytral striae wider; third interval with at least two discal setae; elytral microsculpture isodiametric; male genitalia: apical blade of the median lobe two times shorter than in D. ravidus Moret sp. nov.

Habitat

Upper montane forest on the Eastern slope of the Andes, 2750–3050 m a.s.l., found at the beginning of the night on the surface of the leaf litter and above ground on mossy trunks or on epiphytes, especially in leaf axils of epiphytic bromeliads.

Geographic distribution

Only known from the type locality in Southern Ecuador. Probably microendemic.