Review of the whirligig beetle genus Gyrinus of Venezuela (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae)
Author
Gustafson, Grey T.
) & 1,2) &) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; e-mail: gtgustafson @ gmail. com
Author
Short, Andrew E. Z.
) & 1,2) &) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; e-mail: gtgustafson @ gmail. com & 1,2) &) Division of Entomology, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; e-mail: aezshort @ ku. edu
text
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae
2017
2017-12-31
57
2
479
520
journal article
10.1515/aemnp-2017-0087
0374-1036
10101344
EC4E5771-9B5E-4745-BB24-556963D657B7
Gyrinus
(
Oreogyrinus
)
iridinus
sp. nov.
(
Figs 37–38
,
50
,
57
,
74
)
Type material.
HOLOTYPE
: J, ‘
VENEZUELA
,
Amazonas
/ stream nr.
Summitof
/
Unturan Range, CL
8012 / II
Feb. 1989
D.
A
. Polhemus’ (
USNM
)
.
PARATYPES
(
20 spec.
): same as
holotype
(
USNM
,
SEMC
,
MIZA
).
Diagnosis.
Body form (
Fig. 37
) oval, in lateral view strongly convex; pronotal disc with transverse crease weakly impressed, without wrinkles laterally; dorsal surface strongly iridescent; elytral disc of female and male similar, all intervals non-reticulate, striae I–IV with small weakly impressed punctures, punctures of V–XI larger and more well impressed, striae VIII–X weakly sulcate; elytral lateral margin narrow, without riffles, not interrupted before apex; elytra apex truncate; metanepisternal ostiole present; aedeagus (
Fig. 50
) with median lobe just broaderin width than single paramere, weaklyconstricted inapical 1/3, apex broadly rounded; parameres rounded apically; gonocoxae (
Fig. 57
) curved, with rounded apices.
Description.
Size. Female length = 4.0–
4.5 mm
, width =
2.5–2.7 mm
; male length = 3.5–4.0 mm, width =
2.5 mm
. Habitus. Body form evenly oval, attenuated anteriorly and posteriorly, widest point justposteriad of humeral region; in lateral view dorsoventrally strongly convex, greatest convexity posterior to scutellar region, evenly depressed anteriorly and posteriorly.
Coloration (
Fig. 37
). Dorsally, head, pronotum, elytra black, with strongly iridescent reflections. Venter overall darkly colored; mouthparts, ventral surface of antennal pedicel, prosternum laterally, propleuron, hypomeron, elytral epipleuron, mesocoxal apex, metacoxal apex, posterior half of abdominal sternite VII, and ultimate abdominal ventrite lighter in color – reddish brown to darker orange yellow; legs yellow in color; remainder of venter dark brown to black.
Sculpture and structure. Pronotum of both sexeswith broad nearly unriffled lateral margins, only very few weak riffles anteriorly; pronotal disc with weakly impressed transverse crease, without considerable wrinkles laterally, onlywrinkled medially near posterior margin. Female and male elytra similar (
Figs 37–38
), striae I–IV with very small, weakly impressed punctures; striae V–XI with larger more well impressed punctures; striae VIII–X weakly sulcate in anterior half; stria XI mostly marginal, briefly raised after basal 1/4 of elytral length. Elytral intervals of both sexes completely without reticulation. Elytra lateral margins narrow, completely unwrinkled, slight sub-apical swelling noticeable, not distinctly interrupting margin; elytral apex truncate. Metanepisternal ostiole small.
Male genitalia (
Fig. 50
). Aedeaguswith median lobe about as long as parameres, width just wider than widthof singleparamere, attenuated inbasal 2/3, weakly constricted before apical 1/3, apical 1/3 with lateral margins rounded, apex broadly rounded; in lateral view dorsally curved; parameres with rounded apex. Female genitalia (
Fig. 57
). Gonocoxae curved, apices rounded, left gonocoxa somewhat less curved than right.
Variability.
There was someminorvariation inhow sulcateelytralstriae VIII and IX appeared, less so in X, as this was the most shallow of the sulcate striae (bearing in mind striae VIII–X of
G. iridinus
sp. nov.
are all weakly sulcate when compared to other
Oreogyrinus
species).
Differential diagnosis.
Gyrinus iridinus
sp. nov.
is most similar to
G.
(
Oreogyrinus
)
opalinus
Régimbart, 1883
(
Fig. 81
), being strongly iridescent, small in size (less than 6.0 mm), and having truncate elytral apices, which distinguishes both species from
G.
(
Oreogyrinus
)
fittkaui
Ochs, 1963
.
Gyrinus iridinus
sp. nov.
differs from
G. opalinus
by having a narrow lateral margin of the elytra, completely lacking any riffles, which is not interrupted by a subapical swelling (
Fig. 37
); and by having elytral intervals VIII–X weakly sulcate.
Gyrinus opalinus
has a broad elytral lateral margin (
Fig. 81
), possessing minute riffles (
OCHS 1954
), that is distinctly interrupted by a subapical swelling (
Fig. 81
), and more strongly sulcate lateral elytral intervals.
Gyrinus iridinus
sp. nov.
also has the pronotal lateralmargins nearly unriffled, compared to that of
G. opalinus
which is considerably riffled (
Fig. 81
). Based on the description provided by
OCHS (1954)
the aedeagus of
G. opalinus
differs from that of
G. iridinus
sp. nov.
by being narrower, ca. the width of a paramere, and having the anterior half subparallel, compared to
G. iridinus
sp. nov.
which has a broader median lobe, which is just wider than the width of a paramere, constricted before its apical 1/3, with the apical 1/3 possessing rounded lateral margins (
Fig. 50
).
Figs 33–38.Dorsal habitus of
Oreogyrinus
species, scale bar = 1 mm. 33 –
Gyrinusvenezolensis
Ochs, 1953
, female. 34 –
G. venezolensis
, male. 35 –
G. vinolentus
sp. nov.
female. 36 –
G. vinolentus
, male. 37 –
G. iridinus
sp. nov.
, female paratype. 38 –
G. iridinus
, male holotype.
Etymology.
The specific epithet
iridinus
refers to the new species’ rainbow iridescence, and is selected for its similarity to the name
G. opalinus
, the species
G. iridinus
appears most similar to. It is treated as a noun in apposition.
Habitat.
The label data indicates the specimens came from a stream near the summit of the Unturán mountain range.
Distribution.
Known only from the
type
locality in the Unturán Mountains of far southern Amazonian
Venezuela
(
Fig. 74
).
Discussion.
This species lacks nearly all the morphological characters of an
Oreogyrinus
.
The pronotum isvery weaklysculptured (
Figs 37–38
), withthe transverse creasefaintly impressed, and lacking the strong wrinkles present inother
Oreogyrinus
species (
Figs 39–40
). The lateral margins of the elytraare narrow, unriffled (
Figs 37–38
), andare not terminated in a plica. The pronotal lateral margin, while broad, is also almost completely without riffles, save for a few faintly evident anteriorly. The lateral striae are not well impressed and sulcate in appearance. Elytral stria XI is not strictly marginal, instead it is briefly elevated in the basal half of the elytra, similar to members of the nominotypical subgenus. The male and female are also not strongly sexually dimorphic (
Figs 37–38
), unlike the majority of other
Oreogyrinus
species (
Figs 33–36
). The ventral coloration is similar to an
Oreogyrinus
, however, this coloration is not unique to
Oreogyrinus
species, being present in other Nearctic nominotypical species like
G. affinis
Aubé, 1838
. The only morphological charactertosuggest this species isa memberof
Oreogyrinus
is the faintly evident riffles inthe anteriorportion of the pronotal lateral margins. The primary reason this species is being classified here as an
Oreogyrinus
, is because it is a South American species lacking the features uniting members of
Neogyrinus
(see discussion above on the
Gyrinus
subgenera), and as currently defined the nominotypical subgenus is absent from South America (
OCHS 1954
). Interestingly, the species most similar to
G. iridinus
sp. nov.
is
G. opalinus
(
Fig. 81
), a rarely collected species, known from the Atlantic forest of
Brazil
, with the only specific localities available being, Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janerio, and Lago de Jequiá, Jequiá da Praia,
Alagoas
,
Brazil
(
OCHS 1954: 132
).