Notaepytus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) Skelley, 2009

Skelley, Paul E., 2009, Pleasing fungus beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (82), pp. 1-94 : 68-69

Notaepytus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) , new combination

Figure 1b , 3 , 14, 17 , 21, 25 , 83 , 85 , 89 , 105 , 121 , 148

Mycotretus flavitarsis Sturm in Dejean 1836: 429 ~ Dejean 1837: 453; Sturm 1843: 305. [all listings of

this combination are nomina nuda]. Ischyrus flavitarsis Lacordaire 1842: 130 ~ Jacquelin du Val 1856: 133, t. XI, f. 10; Guérin-Méneville

1857: 321-322, t. 11, f. 10; Candèze 1861: 70-71, t. 6, f. 5 [larva]; Chapuis 1876: 35 (footnote 2); Crotch

1876: 432(56); Gemminger and Harold 1876: 3690; Gundlach 1891 -1894: 127; Gorham 1898: 335;

Kuhnt 1909: 62; Kuhnt 1911: 42; Leng and Mutchler 1914: 412; Deelder 1942: 82; Blackwelder 1945:

465; Roberts 1958: 283 [larva]; Skelley 1998b: 14. Ischirus [sic] flavitarsis Lacordaire ~ Candèze 1861: index. Oocyanus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) ~ Curran 1944: 3, f. 2; Turnbow and Thomas 2008: 38. Epytus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) ~ Alvarenga 1994: 18; Perez-Gelabert 2008: 108. Eptyus [sic] flavitarsis (Lacordaire) ~ Peck 2005: 134.

Mycotretus signaticollis Klug in Dejean 1836: 429 [all listings of this name are nomina nuda] ~ Dejean 1837: 453; Sturm 1843: 305 [as synonym of M. flavitarsis ]; Gemminger and Harold 1876: 3690 [as synonym of I. fulvitarsis “i. litt.”].

“ Mycotretus thoracica Dej. (Engis) ” in Dejean 1836: 429 [all listings of this name are nomina nuda] ~ Dejean 1837: 453; Gemminger and Harold 1876: 3690 [as synonym of I. fulvitarsis ].

Diagnosis. Notaepytus flavitarsis is readily recognized by the mostly orange pronotum with two apical and four basal spots ( Fig. 83 , 89 , 121 ).

Description. Length: 6.1-8.5 mm; width: 2.8-3.5 mm. Body elongate, parallel-sided, somewhat flattened; surface microreticulate. Color black except as noted: pronotum orangish with 2 widely separated black spots on apical margin and 4 basal black spots connected along the basal margin ( Fig. 83 , 89 , 121 ); elytra with jagged orangish band at basal third and apical quarter; pronotal hypomeron and posterior 3/ 4 elytral epipleural fold orangish; tarsi, last 2 abdominal ventrites, and palpi reddish-brown; antennomere XI pale.

Head interocular width = 2.0-2.5 x ocular width; vertex punctures fine, puncture size = 0.33 x ocular facet diameter, separated by 2-3 x their diameter; epistomal punctures impressed, punctures size = 0.5 x ocular facet diameter, separated by 2-3 x their diameter; epistome anterior margin shallowly concave. Eyes large, coarsely faceted. Antennomere III length = 3 x width, length = length of antennomeres IV+V combined; antennomeres IV-VIII equal in length; antennomere IX triangular ( Fig. 25 ), length = 0.8 x width; antennomeres X and XI equal in length; antennomere XI subcircular. Terminal maxillary palpomere triangular, symmetrical, length = width. Terminal labial palpomere triangular, asymmetrical, width = 2 x length, expanded medially, width = terminal maxillary palpomere ( Fig. 85 ).

Pronotum transverse; punctures on disc evenly distributed, slightly finer than those on vertex; separated by 2-4 x their diameter; base with large punctures at each side of base, puncture size = 0.9 x ocular facet diameter. Scutellum pentagonal, length = 0.5 x width. Elytral striae puncture size = an ocular facet diameter, separated by 2-3 x their diameter; intervals with fine punctures; base lacking marginal bead. Wings present, fully developed.

Prosternum length = 2.5 x intercoxal width; sternal plate flat, roughened; sternal lines not continuous around coxal cavity, or with faint division; base shallowly concave. Mesosternal lines parallel, not continuous around coxal cavity. Metasternum long, distance between meso- and metacoxae = 1.8 x intermesocoxal width; anterior lines disappearing under mesosternum medially; continuous around mesocoxal cavity; punctures coarse, puncture size = mesosternal punctures, evenly distributed, separated by 2-3 x their diameter. Abdomen with coxal lines not connected medially; continuous around metacoxal cavity; first ventrite punctured like metasternum; ventrite II-V with finer punctures, evenly distributed; apex of ventrite V with coarse punctures. Male genitalia with flagellum having a dorsal cartilaginous thickening at the apical third and truncate apex ( Fig. 105 ).

Distribution. This is the only Notaepytus species found on multiple West Indian islands: Bahamas (Cat Island, Eleuthera, New Providence), Cuba, Hispaniola, Tortue Island ( Fig. 1b ).

Type Material. Lacordaire (1842) described variations which implies he had a series of specimens. Otherwise, he only stated the type(s) “Il se trouve à Cuba.” However, the name was originally used as a nomen nudum in the Dejean collection which Lacordaire studied and used in his monograph (see Materials and Methods). Type specimens of I. flavitarsis are probably within the Dejean collection at the MRSN or Lacordaire’s collection (present repository unknown). Dejean’s collection has a single specimen standing over a label stating “ Ischyrus flavitarsis Cuba Sturm, Dej. Lac.”. To fix the concept of the species to a single specimen, this specimen ( Fig. 148 ) is here designated as the lectotype of Ischyrus flavitarsis . The label data are as follows: “/ [green paper] S. gago / LECTOTYPE Ischyrus flavitarsis Lacord. , det. P.E. Skelley 2008 /” (sex undetermined, MRSN).

Specimens Examined. A total of 211 specimens were studied. All label data are presented in the Appendix.

Variation. The only notable variation is the size of the orange elytral bands, which vary in size as much within a population as across the entire species range. These bands are present and distinct on all but one female specimen from Tortue Island, Haiti.

Remarks. Notaepytus flavitarsis is the most widely occurring species of the endemic West Indian fauna, and is expected to be found on other smaller island in the Caribbean.

Figures

Figure 1. West Indian maps. 1a) Map of West Indian countries mentioned in the text. 1b) Map indicating species occurring on specific islands with distribution of Notaepytus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) indicated by the white triangles.

Figure 2-11. Key characters. 2-3) Anterior view of head and pronotum. 2) Iphiclus suturalis. 3) Notaepytus flavitarsis. 4-5) Lateral habitus. 4) Aegithus clavicornis. 5) Iphiclus suturalis. 6-11) Dorsal habitus. 6) Aegithus clavicornis. 7) Aegithus lebasii. 8) Iphiclus guadeloupensis. 9) Iphiclus suturalis. 10) Cubyrus sapphirus. 11) Ischyrus quadripunctatus.

Figure 12-17. Key characters. 12-15) Ventral view head and mouthparts. 12) Dacne ducke. 13) Antillengis epochthidius. 14) Notaepytus flavitarsis. 15) Epytus cyaneus. 16-17) Anterior diagonal view of head. 16) Altisessor ater. 17) Notaepytus flavitarsis.

Figure 18-25. Key characters. 18-21) Mesofemur. 22-25) Antenna. 18, 22) Cubyrus sapphirus. 19, 23) Ischyrus quadripunctatus. 20, 24) Epytus cyaneus. 21, 25) Notaepytus flavitarsis.[White arrow points at posterior marginal bead, or note its absence, on mesofemur.]

Figure 81-84. Notaepytus spp. 81-83) Larva associated with N. modestus adults. 85) N. flavitarsis adult on fungus in Cuba (photo by J. Genaro).

Figure 85-88. Notaeptyus spp., key characters. 85) N. flavitarsis, normal long metasternum. 86) N. cubanacan, shortened metasternum of wingless form. 87) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega) male genitalia with flagellum everted. 88) N. lavegaensis male genitalia, with flagellum inverted. Genitalic scale line = 1 mm.

Figure 89-104. Notaepytus spp., habitus drawings. 89) N. flavitarsis. 90) N. tarsatus. 91) N. cubanacan. 92) N. modestus. 93) N. cyclosignatus. 94) N. elongatus. 95) N. fulvitarsis. 96) N. decoregens. 97) N. ignotensis. 98) N. haitensis. 99) N. inversus. 100) N. baorucoensis. 101) N. neibaensis. 102) N. lavegaensis. 103) N. cyanoros. 104) N. elateroides.

Figure 105-120. Notaepytus spp., male genital flagella. 105) N. flavitarsis. 106) N. tarsatus. 107) N. modestus. 108) N. elateroides. 109) N. cyanoros. 110) N. cyclosignatus. 111) N. inversus. 112) N. neibaensis. 113) N. haitensis.114) N. ignotensis. 115) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Hato Mayor). 116) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega). 117) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Barahona). 118) N. decoregens. 119) N. baorucoensis. 120) N. lavegaensis. All reproduced to same scale, scale line = 1 mm.

Figure 121-123. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Cuba. 121) N. flavitarsis. 122) N. tarsatus. 123) N. cubanacan, holotype.

Figure 148-155. Lectotypes, holotype and labels. 148) Lectotype Ischyrus flavitarsis Lacordaire. 149-151) Holotype Ischyrus fulvitarsis Lacordaire. 149) Dorsal habitus. 150) Final card mounting of I. fulvitarsis holotype parts. 151) Labels for holotype of I. fulvitarsis. 152) Notaepytus ignotensis type collection labels. 153-155) Lectotype Erotylus modestus Olivier labels, dorsal and lateral habitus.