Paranimbus santamartensis Minkina & Skelley 2026, new species

Paranimbus santamartensis Minkina & Skelley, new species (Figs 1A–C, 2A–D) Type locality. Colombia, Magdalena, Santa Marta, Minca, N 11˚05’47’’ W 074˚04’34’’. Type material. Holotype, male: 8/ Colombia Magdalena, | Santa Marta, Sa Nevada | Santa Marta, Minca env. | N11˚05’47’’ W074˚04’34’’, | 1680m, 21.v.2013 Dostal. Paratype male (not dissected): COLOM. Magd., 7000’ | San Lorenzo, 41 km. S | Sta. Marta, V-9-1973 | Howden & Campbell. Description of the holotype (male). Dorsum (Fig. 1A). Length: 10.5 mm; maximum width: 4.1 mm. Elongate, head and pronotum weakly convex, elytra moderately convex, weakly shiny. Dark brown with anterior part of clypeus, anterior angles of pronotum, elytra before apex and boundaries distinctly lightened, yellowish brown. Head (Fig. 2A) trapezoidal, weakly convex, weakly shiny, with distinct microreticulation. Clypeus distinctly, widely bordered, with upturned borders, anteriorly truncate, rounded on sides, distinctly notched before genae; with borders with thin, long macrosetae; genae angular, distinctly protruding beyond the eyes, with distinct thin, long macrosetae; median gibbosity low, indistinct; frontoclypeal suture distinctly impressed medially, without tubercles, with two low protuberances on sides. Punctation simple, moderately dense, weakly variable in size, quite regularly distributed. Epipharynx (Fig. 2D) tranverse, on sides rounded, with double anterior margins: inner margin regularly rounded, external margin straight, concavely arcuate. Corypha feably protruding inner anterior margin, with three relatively long and thick celtes at apex. Acropariae thin and quite long, acanthopariae and chaetopariae thin and relatively short, adelochaetae thin and long, chaetopedia thin and relatively short; adelochaetae chaetopariae and chaetopedia mixed. Epitorma visible as distinctly sclerotized, thin, elongate tube. Ikrioma lacking. Tormae thin and moderately elongate. Pronotum transverse, widest in the posterior third, as wide as base of elytra, weakly convex, weakly shiny, with slightly indistinct microreticulation; punctation simple, moderately dense, somewhat irregular in size, quite regularly distributed; some punctures (mainly on sides) bearing short and thin macrosetae; sides distinctly bordered; anterior and basal margin not bordered; sides with moderately dense, long, thin macrosetation, posteriorly with similar but shorter macrosetation; anterior angles rounded, posterior angles rounded; posterior margin sinuate at the middle. Pronotum in the middle posterior half with indistinct, shallow longitudinal groove (Fig. 1A). Scutellar shield small, triangular, with widely, distinctly ogival sides, matt, with distinct microreticulation, with few moderately large punctures nearby base, some bearing thin, moderately long macrosetae. Elytra distinctly elongate, moderately convex, nearly parallel sided, only slightly widened posteriorly and distinctly rounded before apex, widest after the middle, with distinct, moderately long and thin macrosetation on sides and before apex, with few short and thin macrosetae across the whole surface; without humeral denticles; with 10 striae and 10 intervals. Striae narrow, matt, indistinctly punctate; punctures if visible indistinctly indenting margins of intervals.All striae blurred before apex, stria 6 and stria 9 shortened before base. Odd intervals weakly shiny, with distinct microreticulation, distinctly convex, with an irregular row of fine punctures in the middle; even intervals matt, with distinct microreticulation, flat, with only few irregularly spaced punctures. Macropterous. Legs. Femorae slender, shiny, without microreticulation, with sparse, moderately large punctatation, bearing long and thin macrosetae. Protibiae slender, tridentate laterally, the third tooth obsolete, proximally serrulate; dorsal side smooth, shiny; apical spur inwardly located, short, broad, downwardly curved, acute at apex. Mesotibiae and metatibiae with two strong transverse carinae, fimbriate apically with row of spinules of unequal length. Metatibiae superior apical spur slightly shorter than metatarsomere 1, latter as long as metatarsomeres 2–3 combined. Claws short, distinctly arcuate. Venter (Fig. 1B). Metaventrite shiny, with trace of microreticulation, distinctly convex, with indistinct, shallow and thin longitudinal impression at middle; surface center without punctation, around with sparse, moderate punctures bearing long and thin macrosetae. Abdominal ventrites weakly shiny, moderately densely, moderately coarsely punctate, with punctures bearing long and thin macrosetae; with distinct microreticulation. Pygidium shiny, with distinct microreticulation, with moderately dense and long macrosetation. Aedeagus (Figs 2B–C). Parameres slightly shorter than phallobase, with apex downwardly curved in lateral view, acute at apex, inferiorly with distinct sinuosity, which is denticulate basally. Variation. Paratype body length: 14.0 mm; maximum width: 4.9 mm. Other characters are similar to the holotype. Etymology. Toponymic; an adjective derived from the name of the massive Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, where the holotype of the new species was collected. Diagnosis. The large size of the elongate body with almost parallel-sided elytra, anteriorly truncate clypeus, elongate, slender protibiae in the male, odd elytral intervals higher than even, and the characteristic shape of the epipharynx and aedeagus make this species unmistakable among other Aphodiini of the region and confirm that it has undoubtedly been correctly classified in the genus Paranimbus. However, when using the key of Dellacasa et al. (2001) to the type species, identification may be problematic due to the posterior margin of the pronotum not having a distinct marginal groove, in contrast to the type species of the genus: P. peruanus (Erichson, 1834). Paranimbus santamartensis, having an indistinct, shallow posterior marginal groove of the pronotum, may only be confused with P. penai Petrovitz, 1970. However, it can be distinguished from that species by several features: punctation of the clypeus without macrosetation, elytral striae with indistinct, shallow punctures, intervals at most weakly shiny and unevenly high, body pale brown, and aedeagus apex less distinctly elongate and more distinctly curved (compare with Fig. 10 in Dellacasa 1990). In addition, P. santamartensis can be distinguished from all other known species by its large size, nearly glabrous dorsal surface and its distribution in Colombia. Very little is known about the distribution of the known species of Paranimbus Schmidt, 1913. Paranimbus santamartensis from Colombia, is the northernmost representative of the genus. Previously, the northernmost distribution was that of P. penai. The distance between the known locations of P. santamartensis and P. penai is over 2000 km. In addition, species of this genus may occur sympatrically (P. peruanus and P. longitarsis (Harold, 1860)). It is worth noting that some Scarabaeoidea species have similar distributions, with sister species occuring in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Chocó Biogeographic Region, at lower elevations than the Sierra Nevada sister species. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is very special in Colombia’s biogeographical history (Neita-Moreno et al. 2025). All this indicates a high probability of more undescribed species at higher elevations in western South America.