Renclasea Tishechkin & Caterino
Creators: name: Tishechkin, Alexey K.
name: Caterino, Michael S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Histeridae
Renclasea

description: Renclasea Tishechkin & Caterino, n. gen.
Type species: Renclasea skelleyi n. sp.
Description. Body elongate oval, convex dorsally (L: 1.6–2.3 mm). Body surface smooth and mostly shiny (Figs. 2 A, 5A), sometimes with areas of alutaceous microsculpture dorsally (Fig. 1 B), mostly asetose, some species with sparse inconspicuous setae, especially on legs, antennal scape, labrum and clypeus. Head with latero-marginal frontal carina descending along inner edge of eyes (Fig. 2 A), then running obliquely forward to posterior margin of clypeus, interrupted along clypeolabral border. Frons concave between carinae, frontal stria runs on top of the carina and is interrupted in medial concavity; occipital stria thin, complete, continuous with branches of supraorbital stria. Labrum in the same plane as clypeus, small, rectangular, sometimes with small blunt knob in the middle of apical margin. Mandibles robust, short, with faces of bases unmodified. Antennal scape strongly expanded (Fig. 2 D), irregularly pyramidal, with all edges sharp. Antennal clubs with dense pubescence except for large sclerotized areas on dorsal, inner lateral and ventral surfaces. Pronotum convex, lateral sides weakly convergent anteriorly, moderately but conspicuously explanate. Pronotal basal margin obtusely angulate. Pronotal marginal stria complete (Fig. 1 A, 2A), anterior stria broadly interrupted medially, present only around anterior angles. Anterior margin of pronotum with a pair of small glandular openings behind and slightly mediad eyes; lateral margin also with two elongated gland openings (Figs. 1 A). Scutellum triangular, minute and inconspicuous. Elytron with reduced set of thin, impunctate dorsal striae. Both subhumeral striae complete, carinate; sutural stria abbreviated anteriorly or completely absent, traces of dorsal striae 1–4 variably present, apical stria thin, complete, united with sutural (if present) and inner subhumeral striae. Elytro-epipleural border sharp (Fig. 2 C), angulate along outer subhumeral stria. Propygidium transversely hexagonal, with marginal stria complete, sometimes weakened along apical margin. Pygidium in females with ornament of thin striae represented by apical and/or basal transverse, and medial circular striations (Fig. 7). Prosternal lobe wide and short (Figs. 1 D, 2B), with straight or slightly concave anterior margin. Anterior marginal stria of prosternal lobe complete, diverging from margin laterally; lateral foveae absent, lateral notches present. Prosternal keel relatively narrow, flat or weakly convex, with or without carinal striae, those if present narrowly separated, parallel (Fig. 6 A). Lateral marginal prosternal striae distinct and long. Mesoventrite narrow, its anterior margin produced medially as a weak triangular process (Figs. 1 D, 2B, 6). Marginal lateral stria of mesoventrite present, discal marginal stria absent. Metaventral disc in males with weak median depression. Outer lateral stria of metaventrite present, complete. Inner lateral stria of metaventrite present only as long, double striated recurrent arm. First abdominal ventrite with lateral and postmetacoxal striae united near posterior edge of metacoxa, running thence as long, curved striae towards elytral margin. Legs relatively short; tibia wide, paddle-like. Protibia (Fig. 1 E) strongly expanded, with 14–17 short spines along outer margin and with 8–10 bristles along apical part of inner margin. Meso- and metatibia (Figs. 1 F–G) without teeth and spines on outer margins, on ventral side with complete marginal stria and two longitudinal striae closer to inner margin.
Aedeagus with parameres long, with long basal fusion ventrally and dorsally. Penis aligned along the longitudinal paramere axis. Basal piece long, with shallow and wide dorsal and ventral apical emarginations, its posterior opening circular, in caudal position. Male sternite 8 with fused full-sized halves (although suture between halves distinct), pair of small velae and fringes of long setae along postero-lateral parts of apical margin. Dorsal apical parts of male sternite 8 with inward long narrow rectangular processes. Male tergite 8 with transverse anterior stria (TAS) and complete intra-TAS plate present and no transverse posterior suture. Intra-TAS plate not separated from the tergite body along TAS. Male sternite 9 with slightly expanded stickshaped “handle”. Male tergite 9 with medium ventral apodemes, long basal projections, short pointed apical projections and medium sclerotized ventral processs. Halves of male tergite 9 separate; tergite 10 present, large, fitting into apical emargination of tergite 9, with apical margin widely and deeply acutely emarginated.
Female sternite 8 with deeply emarginate apical margin, distinct basal bridge with angulate lateral parts and obtusely angulate basal angles. Female tergite 8 present as single plate or three narrowly separated plates. Coxites not connected. Female tergite 9 present as single transverse plate, its lateral margins close, but not connected to coxites. Female genital sclerites separate, elongate, strip-shaped.
Etymology. The generic epithet represents the combination of hetaeriine generic names Euclasea and Reninus Lewis 1889, relatively closely related genera, some representatives of which resemble Renclasea species. The gender is feminine.
Diagnosis. Despite the generalized appearance of Renclasea and history of taxonomic confusions surrounding the genus, it is relatively easily recognizable among Hetaeriinae, especially given its North American distribution. It runs to Euclasea in the key to North American Hetaeriinae (Kovarik & Caterino 2001) as well as in the most comprehensive key available for the entire subfamily (Helava et al. 1985). The latter key is not complete, but even given this fact and taking into consideration available undescribed hetaeriine material (Caterino & Tishechkin, unpublished), it would work well to identify Renclasea species in global hetaeriine context (keying them to Euclasea). The combination of convex elongate body shape, smooth shiny surfaces almost completely devoid of setae, explanate pronotal sides, strongly expanded pro-, but not meso- and metatibia and reduction of striae and punctures on elytra and metaventrite readily diagnose the genus. Some representatives of Euclasea (sensu Tishechkin 2007) may be quite similar externally, but none of them have explanate sides of pronotum and strongly expanded protibia. Some species of Reninus (those included earlier in the presently synonimized subgenus Brachylister Bickhardt, 1917) have similar general appearance and similar structure of male genitalia, but all of them have extremely expanded meso- and metatibia and complete set of discal and lateral striae on metaventrite.
description: Published as part of Tishechkin, Alexey K. & Caterino, Michael S., 2009, A new North American genus of Hetaeriinae (Coleoptera: Histeridae), with descriptions of six new species from the U. S. A. and Mexico, pp. 1-18 in Zootaxa 2311 on pages 2-3, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.191863