Acanthoscelides sauli Romero, Cruz, and Kingsolver, 2009

Napoles, Romero, de, Aracely, Cruz & Kingsolver, John M., 2009, Seed beetles (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) associated with Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., with description of a new species of Acanthoscelides Schilsky, Insecta Mundi 2009 (93), pp. 1-11 : 3-5

Acanthoscelides sauli Romero, Cruz, and Kingsolver , new species

( Figure 1 , 3-5 )

Description. Male. Length (pronotum-elytra) 4.4-5.0 mm; width 2.2-3.1 mm; maximum thoracic depth 1.7-2.5 mm.

Integument color. Head, body and appendages red-orange to reddish brown. Vestiture: With recumbent white, golden or brown setae as follows: eye with medial fringe of moderately dense white setae; postocular lobe with short white setae; postocular patch of dense white setae; remainder of head with moderately dense white or golden pubescence; pronotum with uniform moderately dense golden setae; elytron with uniform moderately dense white to golden setae, usually interrupted by small patches of brown setae as follows: patches between striae 2+3 about 0.25 from base and 0.3 from apex, between striae 4+5 about 0.5 from base, between striae 6+7 about 0.25 and 0.5 from base, between striae 8=9 about 0.25 and 0.5 from base, often the area at apex where striae 3 and 6 join forming a large V-shaped patch of dark setae; pygidium with moderately dense white setae, usually thin median stripe of dense white setae and inverted V-shaped patch of dark setae; undersurfaces and appendages with moderately dense mixed white and golden setae ( Fig. 1a, 1b ).

Structure. Head.- Moderate in length, densely punctulate; frons with median glabrous line or carina extending from frontoclypeal suture to vertex, line expanded on vertex into a densely punctulate glabrous area, usually 1 or 2 shallow pits on glabrous area; usually vague transverse sulcus between upper limits of eyes; eye 1.4 - 1.8 times as wide as width of frons; eye cleft to 0.5-0.6 its length by ocular sinus; posterior margin of eye protruding from adjacent surface; postocular lobe rounded; distance from base of antennae to apex of labrum about half as long as distance from upper limits of eyes to apex of labrum; antennal segments 1 - 4 moniliform to filiform; 5 - 10 eccentric, 11th subacute apically, 5 - 11 about as long as broad; antenna reaching to humerus or slightly beyond; mandibles short, lightly beyond labrum, not crossing apically ( Fig. 1c ). Prothorax.- Disk strongly campanulate; punctulate with many scattered coarser punctures; cervical sulcus shallow, short, extending from near coxal cavity to about 0.5 distance to pronotal midline; lateral prothoracic carina strong, extending from base to 0.7 distance to coxal cavity, carina on laterally expanded margins of prothorax; short median impressed sulcus on median basal lobe; prosternum separating procoxae for about 0.7 their length. Mesothorax and Metathorax.- Scutellum small, bifurcate at posterior margin, clothed with dense white pubescence, transverse; elytron about twice as long as broad; striae deep, punctate, strial intervals punctulate; striae 3 and 4 closer at base than to adjacent striae, others subequal at base; humerus punctulate, red-orange; undersurfaces and all of hind coxa punctulate, lateral margins of thorax with some coarser punctures; hind femur constricted basally and apically, expanded medially to slightly more than width of coxa; ventral surface with carina on inner edge; femur armed with subapical acuminate spine 1.6 times as long as width of tibial base followed by 2 or 3 spines about 0.3 as long as first spine; tibia with ventral, lateral and dorsomesal glabrous longitudinal carinae, lateroventral carina only evident at base of tibia; dorsal surface of tibia without fossa; tibial corona with 3 - 4 spinules; mucro about two-sixth as long as first tarsomere; without sinus at base of mucro; first tarsomere with ventral, lateral and mesal glabrous longitudinal carinae. Abdomen.- First sternum slightly flattened medially, about 0.8 as long as remaining sterna; sterna 2 to 4 unmodified, fifth emarginate; pygidium punctulate, convex in lateral view.

Genitalia. Median lobe short, broad; in ventral view ventral valve with apex rounded, sides concave, base of ventral valve about 0.9 as wide as apex of median lobe, arcuate in lateral view; armature of internal sac with many fine scales lining sac from apex to about 0.3 its length, remainder of the sac lined by fine spicules. Lateral lobes expanded at apex, cleft to about 0.6 their length ( Fig. 1d ).

Female. Measurements: Length (pronotum-elytra) 4.3-4.8 mm. Width 2.7-3.0 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 2.2-2.3 mm. Similar to male but last abdominal sternum not emarginate at apex.

Genitalia. The modified IX abdominal segment with normal size of the four sclerotized baculi; bursa copulatrix with an elliptic folded sclerite with 4-5 small teeth ( Fig. 1e ).

Distribution. Guatemala, Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, and Veracruz).

Figures

Figure 1. Acanthoscelides sauli. a) Male dorsal view. b) Male lateral view. c) Female head. d) Male genitalia. e) Female genitalia.

Figure 3-5. Acanthoscelides sauli and host pod. 3) Pod with a clump of Acanthoscelides sauli eggs and exit hole for adult. 4) Magnified egg clump of Acanthoscelides sauli. 5) Inside wall of the pod, showing the entrance hole for the larvae.