Neladius tenuis Casey

Neladius tenuis Casey, stat. rest.

(Figs 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18–19)

Neladius tenuis Casey, 1897: 499.

Microcydmus (Delius) tenuis (Casey); Franz, 1985: 176. Microscydmus (Neladius) tenuis (Casey); O'Keefe: 264.

Type material studied. Lectotype (here designated): ♂: six labels (Fig. 6): " CASEY / bequest / 1925" [white, printed], "St. Vinc / Penn." [white, printed], "48" [white, handwritten], " Neladius / tenuis / Casey" [white, handwritten], " Delius / tenuis (Casey) / Holotypus / det.H.Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], " TYPE USNM / 49123" [red, printed and handwritten] (NMNH). Paralectotype: ♂, four labels: " CASEY / bequest / 1925" [white, printed], "St. Vinc / Penn." [white, printed], "48" [white, handwritten], "tenuis- 2 / PARATYPE USNM / 49123" [red, handwritten and printed] (NMNH).

Diagnosis. As in genus, vide supra.

Description. Body of male (Fig. 3) moderately convex, elongate, with moderately long appendages, BL 0.94– 1.00 mm; cuticle glossy, uniformly light brown; vestiture of setae slightly lighter than cuticle.

Head (Figs 3, 9, 12) subtrapezoidal, broadest at eyes, HL 0.15–0.16 mm, HW 0.19–0.2 mm; vertex and frons confluent, weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles feebly marked; tempora in anterior half nearly parallel; eyes small, weakly convex and finely faceted. Punctures on vertex and frons fine and inconspicuous; setae short, sparse, suberect. Antennae (Fig. 3) short, AnL 0.38 mm; scape and pedicel elongate, scape slightly longer than pedicel, antennomeres III–VII each about as long as broad, VII distinctly larger than VIII, VIII–X transverse, XI shorter than IX and X combined, about as long as broad.

Pronotum (Figs 3, 9) in dorsal view oval, broadest in anterior third, PL 0.25 mm, PW 0.23 mm; anterior margin rounded and confluent with lateral margins, which are strongly rounded in anterior half and nearly straight in posterior third, where they are strongly convergent; posterior corners strongly obtuse-angled and blunt; posterior margin rounded. Punctures on pronotal disc as fine as those on frons and vertex; setae short and sparse, suberect.

Elytra (Fig. 3) suboval, broadest in anterior third, EL 0.53–0.60 mm, EW 0.33–0.35 mm, EI 1.50–1.85; basal impressions and humeral calli absent; apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytral disc as inconspicuous as those on head and pronotum; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Hind wings absent.

Legs moderately long and slender; unmodified.

Aedeagus (Figs 18–19) elongate, AeL 0.18 mm, thin-walled, with symmetrical median lobe and strongly asymmetrical, darkly sclerotized and complicated endophallic structures; parameres strongly broadened distally and in apical region curved mesodorsally, each with one long subapical seta and one or two tiny apical setae.

Distribution. Pennsylvania.

Lectotype designation. Casey (1897) mentioned a male and a presumable female in his description. The male was identified by him on the basis of a tip of the aedeagus protruding from the genital opening, and this specimen, illustrated in Fig. 3 and with labels as in Fig. 6 is here designated as lectotype of Neladius tenuis Casey, 1897. The other specimen turned out to be a male.