Argosadalia priscilla, Vandenberg, 2019

Vandenberg, Natalia J., 2019, A new monotypic genus and new species of lady beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae Coccinellini) from western South America, Zootaxa 4712 (3), pp. 413-422 : 418-421

Argosadalia priscilla sp. nov

( Figs.1–7 , 11 a–e, 15–18, 20)

Diagnosis. The distinctive dorsal color pattern of this new species ( Figs. 1–4 ) will easily distinguished it from other known species of New World lady beetles. Also, as the single member of the genus Argosadalia , it can be distinguished from its closest known relatives using the characters discussed in the generic “Diagnosis” and “Remarks,” above, and accompanying illustrations ( Figs. 11–14 ). If additional species of this genus come to light, the exact form of the male genitalia will probably serve as the best means of separating them.

Description of holotype (male). Length 4.1 mm, width 3.1 mm. Form slightly elongate, oval, slightly pointed apically, widest at middle of elytral length ( Fig. 1 ), moderately convex (elytral height/elytral length=.50) ( Fig. 2 ), with elytral margin narrowly but distinctly explanate ( Fig. 3 ). Dorsal surfaces shagreened, most noticeably on head. Punctation on elytron moderate, separated by about 1.0–1.5 diameters, on head and pronotum finer, less regularly distributed, separated by 0.5–3.0 diameters. Ground color of head and pronotum orange; head without distinct maculae; pronotum with small oval dark brown spot centered in each lateral 1/5; median 3/5 with vague, almost indiscernible dappling. Conjoined elytra with 32 cream colored spots on deep maroon, nearly black background; spots arranged on each elytron as follows: 2 well separated subtriangular spots touching elytral base, larger spot contiguous with scutellum, smaller spot in front of humeral bulge; 2 oval common sutural spots, anterior somewhat suffused by background color, placed just in front of basal half, posterior spot subapical; remaining spots forming 3 longitudinal arcuate series, with first series parasutural, composed of 3 large roughly circular discal spots of approximately equal diameter, bracketing anterior common sutural spot; second series paralateral composed of 4 smaller spots, anterior most crescentiform, placed just below humeral bulge, 2 subcircular centered at basal 1/3 and basal 3/5, 1 oblique subapical; third series lateral, composed of 6 irregular polygonal spots evenly spaced along elytral margin from humeral angle to just before apical angle, posterior 4 narrowly connected just inside raised lateral bead. Ventral surfaces including mouthparts, antenna, legs predominantly light yellow brown; darker reddish brown on abdominal ventrites 1–3, lateral part of 4, antennal club, distal end of terminal maxillary palpomere, metafemur and all femoral apices, external edge of tibiae, distal tarsomeres, mesepisternum, metepisternum, and lateral fourth of metaventrite. Mesepimeron, metepimeron, elytral epipleuron cream colored. Head ( Fig. 3 ) transverse; eyes finely facetted separated by about 2× diameter in frontal view, weakly emarginated by digitiform canthus; clypeus with anterolateral angle produced; labrum subtrapezoidal, wider at base, with apical corners rounded; antenna with 11 antennomeres, club gradual, with last antennomere longer than wide, suboval with somewhat oblique apex. Labium with prementum subtrapezoidal, weakly bilobed apically ( Fig. 5 ). Maxilla with terminal maxillary palpomere slightly elongate triangular with rounded corners ( Fig. 6 ). Pronotal base lacking marginal bead. Scutellar shield triangular with posterior angle narrowly attenuate. Prosternum T-shaped with lateral arms weakly folded back, intercoxal process weakly convex, lacking carinae, with faint raised lateral bead. Mesoventrite with anterior margin roundly, weakly emarginate at middle; anterior face with triangular depression to receive intercoxal process. Elytron with lateral bead, but less distinct toward apex. Elytral epipleuron complete to apex, subhorizontal except slanted externally in apical 1/6, flat to weakly concave, widest anteriorly, tapered from near base of abdomen to apex, with greatest width equal to about 1/7 maximum body width ( Fig. 11b, d ); ventral epipleural carina (part of abdominal locking mechanism) not continued to elytral apex. Abdomen ( Fig. 11b ) with 6 ventrites; hind margin of ventrites 1–5 inclusive of flexure bands linear when abdomen held flat, of ventrite 6 rounded with superficial medial notch; ventrite 1 moderately long with distance from coxal cavity to apex subequal to length of coxa; abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 7 ) reaching 4/5 distance from coxal cavity to apex of first ventrite, subangularly joined to oblique line and entirely obliterated beyond, forming modified V-shaped figure with outer part short, linear, not attaining basal or lateral margins of ventrite, inner part weakly arcuate. Male genitalia ( Figs. 15–17 ) with basal lobe about as long as paramere, widest just before apex, apically bifurcate, terminating in pair of tapered upcurved projections separated by U-shaped emargination, with left projection (appearing on right-hand side of ventral drawing ( Fig. 16 ), or lower plane of lateral drawing ( Fig. 17 )) slightly longer, more curved than right; paramere spoonshaped, with long setae on perimeter and outer surface of apex; corresponding inner surface concave with oblique subapical ridge marking beginning of concave area; basal piece distinctly longer than wide, with distal end appearing weakly bilobed but actually connected by thin membrane. Penis with apex forming elongate tapered spout-like structure bearing median orifice, preceded by short preapical twisted or threaded region.

Female. Similar to male except larger on average, proportionally slightly broader than male ( Fig. 4 ) with elytral apex slightly more pointed. 6 th abdominal ventrite evenly arcuate ( Fig. 11c ). Female genitalia ( Fig. 18 ) with most of sperm duct bearing sclerotized sheath, tapered toward spermatheca, obliquely truncated at bursal end.

Variation. Length 3.5–5.2 mm. Ground color of head and pronotum reddish orange to straw yellow. Head immaculate or with pair of discrete or confluent dark brown basal spots. Pronotum variable: immaculate, or with pair of dark brown discal spots more or less distinct than in holotype, or with 4 dark brown discal spots forming transverse series; specimens from Puyo with median 3/5 of pronotum infuscate, in some specimens forming blurry M-shaped mark. Elytral ground color darker or lighter; pale spots vary from off-white to yellow, larger or smaller than in holotype; elytral spot below humeral bulge crescentiform to nearly circular; other spots also show slight variations in shape, with confluence of adjacent spots common in specimens with larger markings; some specimens with sutural, parasutural markings coalesced to form large common central mark, evoking a fleur-de-lis shape ( Fig. 4 ). Elytral epipleuron immaculate or with faint dark spots wrapped around from dorsal surface.

Etymology. Priscilla, proper noun in apposition, named in honor of my mother Priscilla Campbell Vandenberg (1925–2018). Mom held progressive views on child-rearing, and supported my early interests in entomology despite a general climate of the times that disapproved of young girls following such pursuits. She learned the scientific names of all the common lady beetle species in her garden and always brought a jar with her when she went golfing so she could bring me any unusual lady beetles she might encounter.

Type material. Holotype (male) with labels: “ Bolivia — 360m alt., Dept. Cochabamba, San Antonio Rd. ,VIII,

5, 1951, in tree, G.H. Dieke / Slide 541203 ♂ / Adalia cardenasi Dieke paratype [unpublished manuscript name, label folded in half to indicate a non-valid name] / G.H. Dieke, coll’n 1965 / Holotype, Argosadalia priscilla Vandenberg 2019 ” with associated slide mounted genitalia with labels “541203, Adalia cardenasi Dke , paratype, ♂ genitalia, Bolivia S. Anton [unpublished manuscript name, label marked with oblique pencil slash] / Holotype, Argosadalia priscilla Vandenberg 2019 ” ( USNM;) 22 paratypes: 5 (all females) with same first, third and fourth labels as holotype, and last label “ Paratype, Argosadalia priscilla Vandenberg 2019 ” ( USNM); 7 (6 males, 1 female; 1 male with head and thorax missing) with same last label as preceding, and additional labels “ BOLIVIA, COCHA- BAMBA-Chapare, Villa Tunari , 500m- 5-9-I-1958, Monros –Wygodzinsky / COLECCION, INST.- FUND. M. LILO, (4000)-S.M.TUCUMAN, TUCUMAN-ARGENTINA” ( IFML); 1 (female) with labels “ Bolivie , Ocobamba , Garlepp / PM ” ( PM); 6 (sexes not determined) with same last label as preceding, and additional labels “ ECUADOR: Puyo , 900-960m, 1-8.X.1970 / J & M. Sedlacek Collectors, BISHOP” ( BPBM); 3 (sexes not determined) with same last label as preceding, and additional labels “ ECUADOR: Puyo, 960m, 1-8.X.1970 / J & M. Sedlacek Collectors, Bishop Museum ” ( BPBM).

Additional material. Digital images encountered on the World Wide Web also appear to belong to this species: 4 images of a specimen photographed by J. McClarin (2015) on 2015-II-17 with associated data “Small lady beetle (family Coccinellidae ) found near the Rio Bobonaza near Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador, 600+ meters elevation. 2015-II- 17 ”; habitus views, female genitalia, and morphological details of a specimen with associated data “ Perú, Cusco, Villa Carmen, Field Station near confluence of Pilcopata & Pini-Pini rivers. [...], 505m, 25-V-2011 DJ Bennet” ( KSBS) ( González 2015).

Distribution ( Fig. 20 ). The known distribution of the new species is summarized, below, with climatic and vegetation information, gleaned from the literature and internet sources, placed in square brackets:

BOLIVIA: Cochabamba: Chapari, Villa Tunari (500 m) [tropical rainforest ( Abrahamczyk et al. 2010)]; “San Antonio Rd.” (360 m) [data for Cochabama, Cochabamba: semi-arid with moderate Spring-like temperatures year round (Wikipedia contributors 2019b)] ; La Paz:?Ocobaya (see remarks, below)

ECUADOR: Pastaza: Puyo (900–960 m); near Puyo (600+ m) [predominantly submontane tropical rainforest (Wikipedia contributors 2019a)] .

PERU: Cusco: Pilcopata, Villa Carmen Field Station (505 m) [cloud forest to montane and lowland rainforest ( Amazon Conservation Association 2019)]; La Convencion,? Ocobamba (see remarks, below) .

Remarks: The collection locality “Ocobamba, Bolivia ” of the single paratype collected by “Garlepp” was not found on any maps of Bolivia. Gordon (1975) described another lady beetle species, Mada pseudodamata Gordon, 1975 , with the same collection labels, and suggested that the specimen was probably from “Ocobayba” (sic, probably a misspelling or alternative spelling of Ocobaya) in the Department of La Paz, Bolivia. Another possibility is that both of these specimens came from Ocobamba, Department of Cusco, Peru. The Garlepp brothers, Otto and Gustav were naturalists and avid collectors of neotropical birds, insects, and small mammals (Wikipedia contributors 2019c). According to Hershkovitz (1944), Otto Garlepp collected water rats in the Ocobamba Valley, Peru in 1897, so it is at least possible that he also did some beetle collecting at that time. I have included both alternative localities for the Garlepp specimen in the distribution above preceded by a question mark.

Another locality that could not be found for certainty was San Antonio Rd, Dept. Cochabamba, Bolivia. I did find a Plaza San Antonio opposite San Antonio Church in Tarata , Cochabamba, Bolivia with a couple dozen large trees and foot paths, so it is possible that this is the collection locality. The town Tarata is contiguous to the town of Cochabamba , both in the Department Cochabamba.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Known distribution of Argosadalia priscilla sp. nov. plotted on a vegetation map of tropical South America (after Eva et al. 1999). Data points are represented in red dots. The hollow dots show the two conflicting interpretations of the locality of a specimen collected by Garlepp: Ocobamba, Peru vs. Ocobaya, Bolivia (see “Remarks,” below, for further information).

FIGURES 1–10. External morphology of lady beetles in the tribe Coccinellini. 1–4, Argosadalia priscilla sp. nov. habitus illustrations: 1–3, holotype, male (scale bar lower left): 1, dorsal; 2, lateral; 3, frontal; 4, paratype, female (scale bar upper right), dorsal. 5–6, A. priscilla sp. nov., ventral view of mouthparts: 5, labial prementum and palpi; 6, maxillary palp. 7–10, abdominal postcoxal lines: 7, A. priscilla sp. nov.; 8, Adalia bipunctata L., 1758; 9, Neoharmonia venusta (Melsheimer, 1847); 10, Coccinella sp.

FIGURES 11–14. Genera of the Neda-group, key characters drawn from exemplars of the type species of each genus: a, body form in dorsal view, males; b, diagrammatic view of venter, males, elytral epipleuron shown in red, abdominal ventrites in white; c, apex of abdomen, female, arrow points to hind margin of 4th ventrite; d, shape of elytra in cross-sectional view through widest part; e, basal lobe of male genitalia in ventral view rescaled to the same length for comparative purposes. Scale bar applies to figures in rows a–d. 11, Argosadalia priscilla sp. nov.; 12, Neoharmonia venusta Melsheimer, 1847; 13, Neda norrisii (Guérin-Méneville, 1844); 14, Mononeda marginata (L., 1767).

FIGURES 15–19. Genitalia of lady beetles in the Neda-group. 15–17, male genitalia of Argosadalia priscilla sp. nov.: 15, left lateral view of penis; 16, ventral view of phallobase; 17, right lateral view of phallobase. 18–19, Female genitalia in dorsal view, arrows to the right of each figure show the outer angle where the cornu joins the nodulus: 18, A. priscilla sp. nov.; 19, Neoharmonia venusta Melsheimer, 1847.