Aphelocerus coxae Rifkind, 2020

Aphelocerus coxae Rifkind , new species

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( Figs. 15–17 View Figs )

Specimen Examined. Holotype female (?): Mexico, Oaxaca, Hwy 175, La Cumbre, Brecha el Raton , 2900 m, pine/oak, vii-15-2018, on Baccharis, J. Rifkind & E. Martinez , colls. (CSCA).

Description ( Holotype). Length: 5.25 mm. Color: Deep metallic blue; apex of terminal maxillary palpomere, and two basal labial palpomeres, testaceous; terminal labial palpomere brown. Head: Surface shining, very sparsely, finely punctulate, front vested with short, pale, suberect setae, cranium sparsely vested with erect black setae of moderate length; antenna short, club distinct. Pronotum: About as broad as long, narrower than elytra at base; sides feebly convex; disc subflattened above; transverse impression deeply incised, broadly Ushaped at middle; surface shining, lateral foveae large, distinct, set within coarsely swirled integumental folds; surface otherwise shallowly, indistinctly punctate, sparsely vested with mostly long, erect black setae. Elytra: Elongate (ratio of length to combined width 17:10), widest at posterior 1/3; umbones pronounced; sides gradually, shallowly inflected behind base, then expanded to posterior 1/3, and from there arcuately convergent to separately rounded, dehiscent apices; disc flattened above; surface shining, deeply impressed with longitudinal punctiferous striae; interstrial integument corrugated; vestiture sparse, composed of short, fine, suberect pale setae, and a few longer, erect black setae. Metaventrite: Convex; surface shining, indistinctly roughened, sparsely setose. Abdomen: Shining, very sparsely, finely punctate; vestiture sparse; ventrite 5 with sides oblique, broadly, feebly, arcuately emarginate posteriorly; ventrite 6 and sternite 6 with posterior margins broadly, shallowly rounded, sternite 6 slightly surpassing ventrite 6. Genitalia: Not examined.

Etymology. The specific name is a patronymic honoring Marilyn Cox-Gum, my mother-in-law and friend, in gratitude for her cheerful management of the travel details of my entomological expeditions for three decades.

Distribution. Known from the Sierra Juárez of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Biology. The holotype was collected on flowers of a Baccharis L. species at 2,900 m elevation in a pine-oak forest. On the beating sheet it highly resembled, and was nearly mistaken for, similarly sized metallic blue chrysomelid beetles that were in abundance on the same plant. Many Chrysomelidae are known to be chemically protected, and this clerid may be involved in a mimicry complex with the leaf beetles as models.

Diagnosis. The new species will key out to Aphelocerus echinatus Ekis in Opitz’ s (2005) revision of the genus. The two species can be distinguished most readily by their different vestiture: A. echinatus has its dorsal and ventral surfaces conspicuously vested with pale and dark setae of varying lengths, whereas A. coxae is very sparsely setose, and its integument consequently more strongly relucent. In addition, the two species are allopatric, and appear to occupy different habitats: A. echinatus has been collected from tropical deciduous forest at middle elevations in Chiapas, while the new species is found in higher elevation pine-oak forest in Oaxaca.