Hypotelus pusillus Erichson 1840
Creators: name: Bortoluzzi, Sidnei
name: Caron, Edilson
name: Ribeiro-Costa, Cibele S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Hypotelus
Hypotelus pusillus

description: Hypotelus pusillus Erichson, 1840
(Figs. 3–8, 25–27, 29, 31, 33–38, 40–45, 48, 51, 55, 59, 60, 75, 83, 84, 112)
Hypotelus pusillus Erichson, 1840: 841 (original description, type locality: “Brasilia”); Duponchel, 1841: 57 (fixed Hypotelus pusillus as type species of the genus); Fauvel, 1864: 38 (characters, distribution); Bernhauer & Schubert 1910: 9 (catalog); Herman, 2001: 1786 (catalog, distribution); Navarrete-Heredia et al., 2002: 208 (distribution).
Hypotelus hostilis Fauvel, 1864: 39 (original description, type locality: “ Teapa, Mexico ”); Sharp, 1887: 710 (characters, notes, distribution); Bernhauer & Schubert, 1910: 9 (catalog); Newton et al., 2000: 376 (distribution); Herman, 2001: 1785 (distribution); Navarrete-Heredia et al., 2002: 208 (notes, distribution). New synonym.
Hypotelus lucidus Sharp, 1887: 710 (original description, type locality: “ Panama, Bugaba ”); Bernhauer & Schubert, 1910: 9 (catalog); Herman, 2001: 1785 (distribution). New synonym.
Type material. Hypotelus pusillus Erichson, 1840. Three syntypes deposited in ZMHB, males, one syntype with labels: (1) “6820” [old white label, printed in black]; (2) “ pusillus /Er./ Brasil ” [green label, Erichson's handwritten]; (3) “ SYNTYPUS / Hypotelus / pusillus Erichson, 1840 /labeled by MNHUB 2013 ” [red label, printed in black]. Two syntypes with labels: (1) “Hist.-Coll. (Coleoptera)/Nr. 6820/ Hypotelus / pusillus Erichs. / Brasil.— Cuba /Zool Mus. Berlin ” [green label, printed in black]; (2) “ SYNTYPUS / Hypotelus / pusillus Erichson, 1840 /labeled by MNHUB 2013 ” [red label, printed in black].
Note: In the original description, Erichson (1840) did not specify how many specimens he used for description. We received three specimens with type labels "Syntypus" from ZMHB, which we are considering all syntypes.
Hypotelus hostilis Fauvel, 1864: 39. Syntype, sex undetermined, with labels: (1) “Teapa” [old white label, handwritten]; (2) “Carracas” [old white label, handwritten]; (3) “ hostilis Fvl. / type ” [old white label, handwritten] (4) “R.I.Sc.N.B. 17.479/ Hypotelus /Colln. et de (. A. Fauvel” [white label, printed in black; second line handwritten]; (5) “ Syntype ” [white label, printed in red].
Note: In the original description, Fauvel (1864) did not specify how many specimens he used for description. We observed one syntype deposited in IRSNB.
Hypotelus lucidus Sharp, 1887: 710. Syntype [dissected, body glued on white card; abdominal segments 8 to 10 and aedeagus fixed on acetate plastic card and covered with Canada balsam] deposited in FMNH, male, with labels: (1) “ Bugaba, 800 1,500 ft./ Champion. ” [old white label, printed in black]; (2) “ B.C.A. Col. I. 2. / Hypotelus / lucidus,/ Sharp. ” [old white label, printed in black]; (3) “ Chicago Nat. Hist. Mus. /(ex. D. Sharp Colln. /by exchanger with/ Brit. Mus. Nat. His.)” [old white label, printed in black]; (5) “ SYNTYPE / Hypotelus lucidus / Sharp, 1887 /det. S. Bortoluzzi, 2016” [red label, printed in black].
Note: In the original description Sharp (1887) specified six examples. We observed one syntype deposited in FMNH, other syntypes are presumably deposited in BMNH.
Additional material. See Appendix 2.
Diagnosis. Hypotelus pusillus is similar to Hypotelus insulanus and Hypotelus brevitarsus sp. nov. It differs from H. insulanus in the structure of abdominal segment 8, in which tergite 8 of the male has the posterior margin rounded and sternite 8 has the posterior margin wider and not weakly pigmented, median lobe of aedeagus with apex a little more slender and curved in lateral view; sternite 8 of the female has the posterior margin slightly pointed (Fig. 75). H. pusillus is easily distinguished from Hypotelus brevitarsus sp. nov. by the antennal scape of male generally with a prominent tooth on inner face, antennae longer, reaching to the middle of the elytra and tergite 10 weakly sclerotized only on posterior margin (Fig. 55) and females by the shape of sternite 8 (Fig. 75).
Redescription. BL: 2.4–3.0 mm, BW: 0.6–0.8 mm. Body slightly convex (Fig. 3); dorsal surface glossy; light to dark brown, except elytra yellowish (sometimes with basal darker area forming somewhat an inverted triangle, but not reaching the middle of elytral suture); appendages lighter than body, except mandibles. Dorsal integument of head and pronotum with dispersed fine punctures and undulate microstriae; elytra with dispersed fine punctures and only one longitudinal finely punctate stria close to elytral suture (Fig. 3).
Male. Head. Supra-antennal area slightly prominent. Antennae reaching half-length of elytra; antennomeres 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 with longest setae on inner face (Fig. 25); scape with prominent tooth on inner face; antennomeres 2 and 3 of equal length, 5–11 gradually increasing in length toward antennal apex. Mandibles symmetrical. Mentum 1.6 times wider than long.
Thorax. Pronotum wider than long (PW/PL=1.3) (Fig. 5); anterior angles rounded and slightly prominent; apical half with somewhat curved sides and basal half gradually narrowing toward the base; with complete internal mid-longitudinal ridge and slight longitudinal median sulcus only on basal half; one pair of conspicuous setae on anterior margin. Elytra somewhat longer than wide (EL/BW=1.2), can partially cover abdominal tergite 3.
Abdomen. Tergite 8 with posterior margin rounded (Fig. 48); sternite 8 with posterior margin rounded (Fig. 51); tergite 9 with short ventral struts (Fig. 55); sternite 9 with posterior margin truncate and with two pairs of long setae (Fig. 44); tergite 10 at posterior margin somewhat truncate, weakly pigmented, with short fringes and four setae on each side (Fig. 55). Median lobe of aedeagus with bulbous base and apex slightly rounded in ventral view and curved shape in lateral view, with apex curved (Figs. 59–60).
Female. Similar to male except for: antennae shorter, scape without prominent tooth on inner face and without the longest setae on antennomeres 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 (Fig. 26); abdominal sternite 8 with posterior margin slightly pointed and with short setae (Fig. 75); tergite 9 without ventral struts; tergite 10 wider at apex (Fig. 83) bursa copulatrix rounded (Fig. 83); ovipositor consisting of a pair of weakly pigmented hemisternites and a pair of more apical coxites, and with many long setae on apex (Fig. 45); spermatheca as Fig. 84.
Geographical records. In the current study, the species was examined from United States of America (Florida), Mexico (Chiapas, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco and Vera Cruz), Cuba, Jamaica (Saint Thomas), Guatemala (Escuintla), Costa Rica (Cartago, Limón, Puntarenas, San José), Panama (Chiriquí and Panamá), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Saint Vincent), Grenada (Saint Andrew), Trinidad and Tobago (Balandra Bay), Colombia (Choco), Venezuela, French Guiana (Maripasoula), Peru (Loreto, Ucayali and Puno), Bolivia (Beni, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz), Brazil (Pará, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul) and Paraguay (Alto Paraná). Sharp (1887) listed it from Cerro Zunil and Capetillo in Guatemala. Navarrete-Heredia et al. (2002) listed it from Oaxaca in Mexico (Fig. 112).
Biological notes. Hypotelus pusillus has been found in cloud forest and forest clearings, under bark of logs, on dry bark, and under boards and debris from fallen trees. Some specimens were collected by sweeping in the forest at night, beating dry foliage, in pitfall traps, fermented fibrous log and at light. Navarrete-Heredia et al. (2002) also reported the species in cactus.
Remarks. Some males do not have sexual dimorphism related to the scape (without prominent tooth on inner face) and lack the longest setae on antennomeres 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 (Fig. 26). Some specimens have the median lobe of the aedeagus a little narrower and pointed.
Analyzing the type material, we did not observe different morphological characters that would justify more than one taxon, so the names Hypotelus hostilis and H. lucidus were synonymized with H. pusillus, this last name being the senior synonym and accepted here as the valid name of the taxon.
description: Published as part of Bortoluzzi, Sidnei, Caron, Edilson & Ribeiro-Costa, Cibele S., 2017, Revision and phylogeny of Hypotelus Erichson: a Neotropical genus of minute rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Piestinae), pp. 451-487 in Zootaxa 4273 (4) on pages 476-477, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4273.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/803644