Panabachia ambulans, Muñoz-Tobar & Caterino, 2025

Panabachia ambulans sp. nov.

Figs 3 J View Figure 3 , 5 H View Figure 5 , 7 H View Figure 7 , 8 I View Figure 8 , 9 View Figure 9

Type material.

Holotype • ♂ ( QCAZ-I -280222 / MECN-EN -40689 ): “ ECUADOR: Chimborazo, Páramo de Atillo , 3501 m, 02°11.265'S, 78°31.2601'W, 08 - VII- 2016, Berlese, S. Muñoz & A. Romero ” / “ Caterino DNA voucher, Ext. MSC-13035 , Morphosp. Atillo ”; deposited in QCAZI GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis.

Body (Fig. 3 J View Figure 3 ) large, bronzy brown, with fine, mostly recumbent setae; head broadly subquadrate posteriorly, slightly narrowed to front; vertexal foveae distinct but not too deep; antennal bases slightly swollen in front of short, oblique striae; eyes rather small, diameter less than post-ocular genal length; antennae long, scape ~ 2 × as long as wide, tapering slightly, antennomere II cylindrical, III conical, longer than II; IV – VII all elongate-cylindrical, somewhat varied in length, VIII shorter, IX – XI gradually enlarged, forming loose club; pronotum slightly longer than wide, widest near front, narrowed abruptly to a narrow anterior collar, more gradually to base; pronotal disk (Fig. 7 H View Figure 7 ) with distinct median and very faint lateral foveae, setiferous punctures slightly denser toward front; male pronotum unmodified; elytra short, sides evenly tapered to humeri (wingless), each with four basal foveae, the lateral pair approximate and sharing a depression; 1 st male protarsomere (Fig. 9 A View Figure 9 ) enlarged into distinct setose lobe beneath and along lateral margin of 2 nd; male 2 nd mesotarsomere (Fig. 9 B View Figure 9 ) enlarged, with distinct, blunt ventral tooth, 3 rd mesotarsomere thin, short, mesotarsal claw single, very elongate, able to chelate with 2 nd tarsomere’s ventral tooth; all tarsal claws unpaired, long; abdomen large; male last ventrite (Fig. 5 H View Figure 5 ) broadly and deeply depressed, densely setose, opposing surface of last tergite similarly depressed and setose. Aedeagus (Fig. 8 I View Figure 8 ) radically asymmetrical, basal foramen oval, parameres indistinct; tegmen with three irregularly trilobed, left lobe long, curved, articulating apically with enlarged, weakly coiled accessory sclerite, this sclerite with a separate, thin distal process; median lobe of tegmen shortest, ending bluntly, free, between enlarged lateral lobes; right lobe of tegmen arising from a large, arcuate basal lamina, tip flattened, curving ventrolaterad, with acute, dorsal subapical spine, tip recurved dorsad, bluntly rounded; second accessory sclerite free near apex of right tegmental lobe, simple, elongate, curved. TL 1.88 mm, EW 0.38 mm.

Distribution.

This species is only known from grassland and shrub páramo around the Atillo lakes, province of Chimborazo, Ecuador.

Etymology.

The name of this species means ‘ walker’, a reference to its flightlessness.

Remarks.

This species is unique in numerous respects. It is considerably larger than any other, and the male’s flightlessness (and clearly associated body proportion changes - the bulky abdomen in particular; Fig. 3 J View Figure 3 ) see no parallels in other species. The lack of male pronotal modifications recurs in a number of other species, none of which appear to be closely related to this species or to each other. The male shows tarsal modifications seen in no other species. While a few other males exhibit slightly modified setae on the basal protarsomere (s) (e. g. P. salebrosa ), none have the basal tarsomere itself modified, and the enlarged tarsal claws that can chelate with the 2 nd mesotarsomere are completely unique. Finally, the aedeagus is very difficult to homologize with any other. Yet, upon closer inspection, it exhibits a basally flattened tegmen, with small oval basal foramen, and it has free accessory sclerites. The tegmen is highly asymmetrical, and subdivided into a trio of lateral lobes, one of which has become closely associated with a highly modified accessory sclerite. The second accessory sclerite appears to have been reduced to a small vestige.