Hippeutister californicus Caterino & Tishechkin, n. sp.
Creators: name: Caterino, Michael S.
name: Tishechkin, Alexey K.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Histeridae
Hippeutister
Hippeutister californicus

description: Hippeutister californicus Caterino & Tishechkin, n. sp.
(Figs. 1 A, 2A, 3A, 3C, 4A, 5A, 6A–B, 7A, 8A)
Holotype of undetermined sex: "CA: San Diego Co., 32.7517°N, 116.6641°W, Cleveland NF, Horsethief Cyn., i.6.2005, M. Caterino"/"CA BEETLE PROJ, CBP0056475", SBMNH.
Diagnosis: Apart from its disjunct distribution, this species can be identified by the fine setae on most body surfaces, especially on the elytral dorsum (Figs. 1 A, 4A, 8A). The only other species with dorsal (as opposed to epipleural) elytral setae is H. castaneus, in which they are coarse, fewer, and borne in prominent raised pustules (Fig. 4 C). In most other characters it is very similar to the other new species, H. solisi, not only in discrete characters, but also in size (being smaller than the other species of the genus). Hippeutister solisi has much denser setae along the pronotal and epipleural margins. Some very slight differences in mesosternal striae of the two may be significant, but with only a single specimen of each known, may not be reliable.
Description: L: 2.46; W: 2.12; E/Pn L: 1.72; E/Pn W: 1.17; Pn W/L: 2.00; E L/W: 0.74; Pr/Py: 0.96; Sterna: 0.65, 0.25, 0.59; Tibiae: 0.69 0.69, 0.81 (n=1). Body rounded (Fig. 1 A, 4A), moderately convex (Fig. 8 A), narrowed anteriorly (Figs. 4 A, 5A), pale rufescent and sparsely setose throughout. Frons (Fig. 7 A) with longitudinal carinae parallel on epistoma, bent laterad, then obliquely over antennal insertions, ending freely before meeting ocular carina along inner margin of eye; both of these carinae bearing moderately dense row of short fine setae; frons flat to depressed at middle, and distinctly depressed along inner margin of eye, surface sparsely setose, each seta arising from a fine puncture; labrum flat, apical margin weakly emarginate, bearing numerous setae near apex; mandibles with numerous setae on sides; antenna with scape pyramidal, with all edges sharp, weakly produced, and bearing marginal setae; antennal club nearly cylindrical (Fig. 3 B), slightly flattened, and obliquely truncate at the apex, the apical surface densely tomentose.
Prothoracic sides strongly convergent (Fig. 5 A), weakly sinuate, with the anterior angles distinctly truncate; lateral margin bearing setae between elevated marginal and lateral striae; marginal stria not quite attaining base, extending around anterolateral corner, ending at anteromedian corner behind eye; lateral stria barely extending around basal corner, paralleling marginal stria, meeting it at anterolateral corner; anterior marginal stria present behind head, nearly meeting lateral marginal stria in anteromedial corner, replaced at middle behind head by a short, transverse striole; pronotal surface obliquely depressed on each side, glabrous, with scattered minute punctures, a few faint oblique wrinkles on each side, and several rather large but very shallow ocellate punctures, with their posterior edges effaced, in front of the scutellum. Prosternum broad, (Fig. 6 A) with prosternal lobe strongly deflexed, its anterior margin striate at middle and bearing fine marginal setae; prosternum otherwise glabrous.
Scutellum distinct, shallowly longitudinally depressed; elytra convex, widest at middle, with setae sparsely scattered over entire surface, becoming more dense posteriorly (Fig. 4 A), each seta suberect, directed posterad, short, very weakly flattened, arising from a shallow but fairly broad puncture; elytral striae not marked apart from three distinct epipleural carinae (Fig. 8 A), one of which delimits the dorsal edge of the elytron and is complete from base to apex, the middle on the epipleural surface and also complete, and the outer-most extending from the humeral corner only about one third of the length of the epipleuron, where it meets the elytral margin.
Meso- and metasterna (Fig. 6 B) with few fine setae laterally, depressed and coarsely punctate on and behind mesometasternal suture; mesosternal projection triangular, with fine marginal stria; two lateral metasternal striae present, one along anterior margin, one curving from anterior margin posterad along mesocoxa; metaventrite with three oblique lateral striae, two arising behind inner corner of mesosternal projection, one extending laterad to mesocoxa, thence forming postmesocoxal stria, the other extending straight to metacoxa, the third arising from the first at the inner edge of the mesocoxa and ending freely in front of metacoxa. First visible abdominal sternite with crenulate punctures along anterior margin, and two oblique postmetacoxal striae.
Femora of all legs short, broad and subquadrate, with scattered fine setae on outer surfaces, the meso-and metafemora bearing anterior marginal and submarginal striae; protibiae broad, parallel sided in apical twothirds, with distinct marginal spines; meso- and metatibiae more rounded laterally, slightly narrowed to apex, lacking marginal spines, with complete marginal striae and bearing fine setae on outer face; tarsomeres 1–4 bearing pair of apicoventral setae; pretarsal claws straight.
Propygidium flat across base, weakly convex along apical margin, bearing striae along anterolateral margins, disc with fine setose punctures throughout; pygidium (Fig. 3 C) smooth, convex, with fine setose punctures throughout.
Distribution: This species is only known from the type locality (Fig. 2 A), in a hilly region covered with chaparral (shrubby sclerophyllous, xerophilous) vegetation, at about 2100ft elevation, just a few miles north of the Mexican border. This region of the California Floristic Province is rather unusual in receiving a significant portion of its annual precipitation during the summer months, possibly accounting for this more tropical genus's presence there. The type was collected on the underside of a rock with a colony of Solenopsis amblychila Wheeler during the early part of the winter rainy season. The type was collected in 2005 and the entire site burned in 2006 in the 'Horse Fire'. Attempts to recollect the species at the type locality in 2007 were unsuccessful, and no host ants were found.
Remarks: DNA has been extracted from the head and prothorax of the type specimen, and they are mounted on a separate point from the remainder of the body. This DNA resides in the SBMNH tissue collection under extract #MSC-1027.
description: Published as part of Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2008, A review of Hippeutister Reichensperger with new species from California and Costa Rica (Coleoptera: Histeridae: Hetaeriinae), pp. 39-52 in Zootaxa 1895 on pages 41-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.184407