Anomaloptera patagonica Dellapé & Cheli, 2007, n. sp.

Anomaloptera patagonica n. sp.

(Figs. 1–6, table 1)

Holotype: 1 male, Ea. El Centro, 42º12’16.5’’S 63º57’47.6´W, 47 m, Península de Valdés, Chubut, ARGENTINA, 19-II- 2006, G. Cheli coll., pitfall trap. Paratypes: 1 male, 1 female, same data, 42º12’16.9’’S 63º57’27.1’’W, 53 m (head and right hemelytron of male glued to pinned cardboard); 1 male (same data), 42º12’15.9’’S 63º57’45.0’’W, 51 m (mounted on stub and sputter-coated with gold-palladium alloy for scanning); 1 male (same data), 42º12’12.9’’S 63º58’53.3’’W, 53 m; 1 male, Ea. La Falsa, 42º13’40.5’’S 63º51’48.2’’W, 43 m, Península de Valdés, Chubut, ARGENTINA, 19-II-2006, G. Cheli coll., pitfall trap; 1 male (same data), 42º13’35.5’’S 63º51’43.8’’W, 44 m.

The holotype and paratypes are deposited in the entomological collection of the Museo de La Plata (Argentina). Description. Male Holotype (Fig. 1): Head, pronotum, and scutellum dark brown, strongly contrasting with the yellowish hemelytra.

Head, pronotum, scutellum, pleurae, sterna, hemelytra with thick sericeous setae. Head (Fig. 2) triangular, rugose, without ocelli. Antennae brown, basiflagellomere and distiflagellomere darker, pilose; scapus wider and slightly surpassing tylus apex; distiflagellomere fusiform. Rostrum brown, segment II attaining posterior margin of head, IV reaching mesocoxae.

Pronotum trapezoidal; strongly punctate; with a poorly defined pale longitudinal stripe at meson. Scutellum triangular, relatively small, punctures as in pronotum. Hemelytra coleopteroid, strongly convex, covering abdomen, clavus and corium fused, without any trace of membrane; strongly punctate, punctures darker than yellowish background. Hind wings reduced to a very small whitish flap. Pleura dark brown, acetabular areas lighter, metepimeron whitish. Sterna dark brown. Coxae, trochanters, femora, basal tibiae, and pretarsi dark brown, rest of tibiae and tarsi I and II whitish; pilose; femora slightly flattened; profemur with small spine on distal third.

Abdomen brown, not uniformly pigmented, pygophore dark brown; pilose, sternite of segment VII with two thick whitish setae curved posteriorly. Pygophore as in figs 3–4; paramere shank broad, blade strongly curved (Figs. 5–6).

Female. similar to male in all aspects, but without the thick setae on abdomen.

Etymology: The specific name refers to Patagonia, the area were the specimens were collected.

Discussion. Anomaloptera coleopteroides and A. patagonica are the only two coleopteroid species of the genus occurring in the Western Hemisphere. These species are very similar, but can be distinguished as follows: A. coleopteroides has small ocelli (difficult to distinguish in some specimens); brown head, yellowish pronotum and hemelytra; abundant pilosity on pronotum, scutellum, and hemelytra; and the membrane of the hemelytra is reduced to a small flap without veins. or, exceptionally, with unbranched veins. In contrast, A. patagonica lacks ocelli; has a dark brown head, pronotum, and scutellum that contrast strongly with the yellowish hemelytra; is less pilose; has more developed punctures; and completely lacks any remnant of a hemelytral membrane. This last is the most reliable character to differentiate the two species.