Phrynidius schusteri Noguera, Anderson & Santos-Silva, 2025

Noguera, Felipe A., Anderson, Robert & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2025, Synopsis of Phrynidius Lacordaire (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Apomecynini): description of new species, new records, checklist and updated key to species, Zootaxa 5686 (3), pp. 301-338 : 330-333

Phrynidius schusteri Noguera, Anderson & Santos-Silva , sp. nov.

( Figs 90–98 )

Dimensions in mm (male holotype /female paratype). Total length, 7.80/6.70; prothoracic length, 2.60/2.25; anterior prothoracic width, 2.00/1.70; posterior prothoracic width, 2.05/1.90; maximum prothoracic width, 2.40/2.30; humeral width, 2.25/2.00; elytral length, 4.80/4.40.

Description. Male holotype (90–97). Integument mostly blackish; apex of palpomeres reddish brown; anteclypeus brownish laterally, mostly blackish centrally; anterior third of labrum brown; scape dark brown; pedicel and antennomeres III–XI brown, more reddish brown depending on light intensity, except dark brown apex of pedicel; tarsal claws dark yellowish brown.

Head. Frons slightly convex, moderately abundantly, deeply, coarsely punctate; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures; with a few short, squamiform, arched yellowish-white setae interspersed. Vertex sparsely, coarsely punctate; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures; with a few short, squamiform, arched yellowish-white setae interspersed. Antennal tubercles close to each other ( Fig. 90 ), distance between apices equal to basal diameter of antennomere III; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, except frontal apex with sparse whitish pubescence, and glabrous remaining surface of apex; with short, squamiform, arched yellowish-white setae interspersed frontally, squamiform setae more abundant than on frons. Area behind eyes moderately sparsely, coarsely punctate; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Genae 1.15 times longer than lower eye lobe; sparsely, coarsely punctate; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures, except glabrous apex. Wide central area of postclypeus close to frons with pubescence and squamiform setae as on frons; area close to anteclypeus with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument, and long, erect yellowish-brown setae interspersed. Sides of postclypeus with pubescence as on frons superiorly, glabrous inferiorly. Labrum sparsely, moderately coarsely punctate; with sparse whitish pubescence on posterior 2/3; anterior third with moderately short, erect yellowish-brown setae except anterior margin with fringe of dense yellowish-brown setae; with long, erect yellowish-brown setae interspersed, more abundant laterally. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.38 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.73 times distance between outer margins of eyes; upper eye lobe oblique in relation to the axis of lower eye lobe; eye lobes not well separated, area between eye lobes with one ommatidium ( Fig. 97 ). Antennae 1.7 times elytral length, surpassing elytral apex on apical third of antennomere X. Scape with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence and short, thick, arched whitish setae interspersed, thick setae more abundant dorsally. Pedicel with sparse whitish setae on dorsal surface of basal third, glabrous on remaining basal third, and dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence on remaining surface; with minute, arched, thick whitish setae interspersed. Antennomere III with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence and short, thick, arched whitish setae interspersed, thick setae more abundant dorsally. Basal 2/3 of antennomere IV with pubescence and thick setae as on III; apical third with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Antennomeres V–X with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, and short, erect yellowish-white setae interspersed. Basal half of antennomere XI with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument and apical half with denser yellowish pubescence; with short, erect yellowish-white setae interspersed. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.82; pedicel = 0.18; IV = 0.64; V = 0.36; VI = 0.33; VII = 0.33; VIII = 0.28; IX = 0.28; X = 0.28; XI = 0.38.

Thorax. Prothorax longer than wide; sides divergent on anterior quarter, slightly divergent on wide central area, with slight protuberance on beginning of this area, followed by weak concavity, then convergent toward parallel-sided ninth. Pronotum with large, elevated protuberance centrally between anterior and posterior fifths ( Fig. 97 ), distinctly, gradually elevated anteriorly, slightly concave on basal half of dorsal surface, then gradually inclined toward its posterior region; with one slightly elevated, subcircular tubercle with rounded apex on each side of middle; surface entirely somewhat rugose; moderately abundantly, coarsely punctate; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures; with a few short, squamiform yellowish-white setae interspersed. Sides of prothorax rugose, moderately sparsely, coarsely punctate; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures. Prosternum sparsely, coarsely punctate, punctures shallower centrally; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence laterally, pubescence slightly sparser, yellowish white centrally. Prosternal process with dense yellowish-brown pubescence centrally, slightly sparser, yellowish white basally and apically; narrowest area 0.28 times procoxal width. Mesoventrite with sparse yellowish-white pubescence centrally and dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence laterally. Mesanepisterna with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence. Mesepimera with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence close to mesanepisternum, subglabrous on remaining surface. Mesoventral process with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous lateral margins; apex 0.52 times mesocoxal width. Metaventrite with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence laterally and abundant, mostly yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument centrally, except glabrous area close to metacoxal cavities; with short, squamiform, arched yellowish-white setae interspersed. Scutellum with its exposed region triangular; with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument except almost glabrous lateral areas. Elytra. Ovoid, with epipleural margin slightly inclined on posterior third; basal quarter of dorsal surface with moderately small, sparse conical tubercles, the two most apical and closest to suture slightly larger; with true large, elevated tubercles about apex of anterior third of dorsal surface, transversely subaligned, innermost and outermost conical, central larger, more elevated and flattened laterally, outermost projected sideward; with two large, elevated tubercles slightly after middle of dorsal surface, both rounded apically and larger than all other elytral tubercles, innermost larger, outermost projected sideward; base of posterior third of dorsal surface with one moderately large and elevated tubercle; remaining posterior 2/3 with sparse, conical, small tubercles; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring punctures. Legs. Femora slightly pedunculate-clavate; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence and short, thick, arched whitish setae interspersed. Tibiae with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence and short, thick, arched whitish setae interspersed, except apical fifth of protibiae with sparse whitish pubescence laterally, sparse whitish pubescence dorsally except glabrous apex, and dense, bristly dark yellowish-brown setae on ventral surface, apical sixth of mesotibiae with whitish pubescence laterally, abundant, bristly yellowish-brown setae ventrally, and fringe of dense erect yellowish-brown setae on dorsal sulcus, and apical sixth of metatibiae with sparse whitish pubescence dorsally and laterally, and abundant, bristly yellowish-brown setae ventrally; ventral apex of protibiae ( Fig. 94 ) and mesotibiae ( Fig. 95 ) with spine. Dorsal surface of tarsomeres with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence distinctly sparser centrally and absent basally on tarsomeres I–II; central apex of tarsomeres I–II with a few short whitish setae directed backward.

Abdomen. Sides of ventrites 1–2 with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence; remaining surface with sparser yellowish-white pubescence. Sides of ventrites 3–4 and base of ventrite 5 with moderately abundant pale yellowish-brown pubescence; remaining surface with distinctly sparser yellowish-white pubescence, except apical third of ventrite 5 with sparse whitish pubescence. All ventrites with short, thick, arched yellowish-white setae interspersed.

Female ( Fig. 98 ). Scape and pedicel and basal third of antennomere III brown and remaining surface orangish brown; antennomeres V–XI orangish brown; tarsomeres V and claws reddish brown. Antennae 1.35 times elytral length, almost reaching posterior fifth of elytra. The chromatic variation cannot be regarded as sexual dimorphism, as coloration can vary to some extent in both sexes of the species.

Etymology. The epithet ‘ schusteri ’ refers to the famous coleopterist Jack Clayton Schuster (February 29, 1944 – June 01, 2024) in recognition of his numerous studies on the Guatemalan beetle fauna, but also his unwavering support for entomologists to visit and collect insects in Guatemala.

Type material. Male holotype from GUATEMALA, El Progreso: Sierra de las Minas , near Cerro Pinalón , Las Cabañas , 2579 m, near 15.08467 -89.94299, cloud forest, 12–15.V.2010, P. Skelley, G. Steck & B. Sutton leg. ( FSCA). Female paratype, same data as holotype ( FSCA) .

Remarks. Phrynidius schusteri is similar to P. tuberculatus (see photographs on Bezark (2025) and in Gutiérrez et al. (2020)) but differs as follows: central tubercle of pronotum not reaching anterior margin ( Fig. 97 ); prosternal process narrower ( Fig. 91 ), narrowest area in male 0.29 times procoxal width; and elytral tubercles projected sideward on posterior half of elytra with distinct rounded apex. In P. tuberculatus , the central tubercle of the pronotum reaches the anterior margin, prosternal process wider, narrowest area in male wider than 0.4 times the procoxal width, and the elytral tubercles projected sideward on the posterior half of elytra conical, with apex narrowly rounded. Phrynidius schusteri differs from P. armatus (see photographs on Bezark (2025), in Gutiérrez et al. (2020), and Noguera & Santos-Silva (2023)) by the antennomere III distinctly longer ( Fig. 90 ), much longer than the scape (distinctly shorter and about as long as scape in P. armatus ); prothorax proportionally wider (proportionally narrower in P. armatus ), central tubercle of the pronotum distinctly more elevated ( Fig. 93 ) (not strongly elevated in P. armatus ), and the posterior half of elytra with large tubercle projected sideward ( Fig. 90 ) (absent in P. armatus ). It also differs from P. singularis and P. nayaritensis by the posterior half of elytra with a large tubercle projected sideward ( Fig. 90 ) (absent in these two species); and from P. echinoides ( Figs 106–108 ), by the central tubercle of the pronotum more elevated and not reaching the anterior margin ( Fig. 97 ) (less elevated and reaching the anterior margin in P. echinoides ).

Figures

FIGURES 90–98. Phrynidius schusteri. 90–97) Holotype male: 90) Dorsal habitus; 91) Ventral habitus; 92) Lateral habitus; 93) Latero-oblique habitus; 94) Apex of protibia; 95) Apex of mesotibia; 96) Head, frontal view; 97) Eye lobes and pronotal tubercle. 98) Paratype female, dorsal habitus.

FIGURES 106–108. Phrynidius echinoides, holotype female: 106) Dorsal habitus; 107) Ventral habitus; 108) Lateral habitus.