Falsocis Pic 1916
Creators: name: Lopes-Andrade, Cristiano
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Ciidae
Falsocis

description: Falsocis Pic, 1916 (Figs 1–24)
Falcocis in Blackwelder 1945: 549 (incorrect subsequent spelling) Falcosis in Abdullah 1973: 231 (incorrect subsequent spelling)
Type species
Falsocis opacus Pic, 1916, by monotypy
Included taxa
Falsocis opacus Pic, 1916 Falsocis opacus flavus Pic, 1922 Falsocis brasiliensis sp. nov.
Diagnosis
The genus may be distinguished from other ciid genera by the combination of an extremely convex body, dual vestiture of pronotum and elytra, triangular scutellum, fully developed hind wings, flat prosternum (slightly convex), laminate prosternal process, each protibia with outer margin expanded to form a single tooth, metaventrite disc small and with discrimen extending from posterior to anterior margin. Males have the frontoclypeal ridge curved upwards and bearing a pair of small tubercles on the anterior edge; lateral corners angulate, or produced upwards to form a pair of long curved horns; the anterior pronotal edge elevated and produced forwards; and a distinct setose patch in the first abdominal ventrite.
Redescription
Length 2.00– 3.15mm. Body oval, oblong (between 1.48 and 1.97X as long as wide), extremely convex (GD/EW = 0.78–0.88), vestiture of pronotum and elytra dual, consisting of small, inconspicuous decumbent setae and stout, conspicuous suberect to erect setae, all yellowish. Head not visible (Fig. 1) or barely visible from above (Fig. 7); disc convex, subglabrous, with coarse and sparse punctation; interstice between punctures microreticulate. Frontoclypeal ridge in male curved upwards and bearing two small tubercles on the anterior edge (Figs 4, 10), lateral corners angulate (Fig. 4) or produced to form a pair of long horns (Fig. 10). Head, pronotum and elytra punctation single, coarse, irregularly distributed; each puncture bearing a seta (small and decumbent or stout and erect). Antennae (Figs 14, 17) inserted beyond eyes, with 10 antennomeres; funicle subglabrous; club with three antennomeres, transverse, loose, more setose than funicle; each antennomere of the club bearing four sensillifers formed by a group of indistinctly organized sensilla. Mouthparts (Fig. 18) with galea and lacinia subcircular; prementum longer than wide, with labial palpi inserted at its apex; labial palpi very small, basal palpomere reduced to a thin lamella and barely visible (even at magnifications of 200X), second palpomere broad and conspicuous, apical palpomere cylindrical. Eyes (Fig. 14) prominent, finely facetted, each eye usually with more than 70 ommatidia. Pronotal surface densely punctate; punctation coarse; anterior edge elevated and produced; males with anterior edge strongly developed forwards to form a plate that narrows towards a straight anterior edge (Figs 1–3, 7–9); apical margin of the plate slightly sinuous (Figs 1, 7), sometimes with a patch of long setae on either side (Figs 7, 9–11); lateral pronotal carinae finely crenulate, invisible for their entire lengths from above (Figs 1, 7); antero-lateral pronotal corners broadly rounded or angulate, slightly to distinctly produced forwards. Scutellum triangular (Fig. 13). Elytra strongly convex; lateral to posterior margins bending ventrally (Figs 3, 9, 11, 16); humeri angulate; lateral carinae strong, forming epipleura below more large at base and tapering to basal third, then continuing as a narrow line (Fig. 9, 11, 16) or expanding again until the apex (Fig. 3). Hindwings present and fully developed (Fig. 19). Prosternum short, flat (slightly convex), without carina at midline (Fig. 15); prosternal process short, as long as the prosternum length at midline, laminate, slightly curved inwards. Procoxae subconical (Figs 3, 9, 11, 15), slightly projecting below the plane of the prosternal process. Procoxal cavities opened behind, each aperture width being almost half the length of the prosternal process. Each tibia without spines; outer apex of each protibia expanded to form a single tooth (Fig. 11, arrow). Each tarsus with four tarsomeres. Meso and metacoxae contiguous. Metaventrite almost as long as the first ventrite at midline; discrimen extending from anterior margin throughout the disc at midline, almost reaching the posterior margin. First abdominal ventrite longer than the following ventrite at midline, but smaller than the second and third abdominal ventrites together; males bearing a distinct setose patch at midline (Fig. 16, arrow). Male genitalia well sclerotized; ninth segment V-shaped; eighth sternite (Figs 5, 21) with anterior margin curved inwards, corners angulate and slightly produced; aedeagus (Figs 6, 20, 22) with tegmen twice to four times as wide as median lobe (penis); tegmen nearly as long as median lobe. Female genitalia as described for Falsocis brasiliensis sp. nov. (Fig. 23; see below).
Comments
Unfortunately, the description of F. opacus flavus by Pic (1922) is excessively brief, being only “Coloration flave. Guyane ”. It is not possible either to give this taxon separate species status, or to synonymize it with F. opacus, until the types of Pic are examined.
Lawrence & Lopes-Andrade (2005) mentioned 14 ciid genera with a combination of concave or biconcave prosternum and laminate prosternal process, including Falsocis. However, Falsocis does have a flat (slightly convex) prosternum, without distinct concavity.
Within the current classification of Ciidae, Falsocis Pic may be placed in the tribe Ciini of the subfamily Ciinae. It lacks the spinose outer tibial edges that characterize both Orophiini (Lawrence 1974a) and Xylographellini (Kawanabe & Miyatake 1996) and the distinctive type of antennal club, prementum and male genitalia found in the latter tribe.
description: Published as part of Lopes-Andrade, Cristiano, 2007, Notes on Falsocis Pic (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Ciidae), with the description of an endangered Brazilian species, pp. 41-58 in Zootaxa 1544 on pages 43-44, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.177945