Quissunego, Santos-Silva & Bezark, 2024

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Bezark, Larry G., 2024, New species, notes and record of New World Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), Zootaxa 5551 (1), pp. 167-185 : 177-178

Quissunego gen. nov.

Type species: Quissunego confusus sp. nov., here designated.

Etymology. Latin, “ Quissunego ” (Quis sun ego?) (Who am I?), allusive to the complicated process of including the type-species in a genus. Masculine gender.

Description. Male. Body widened, slightly flattened, less than 10 mm in the type species. Frons subsquare. Eyes moderately coarsely faceted; upper eye lobes wide, distance between them slightly larger than width of one upper lobe; lower eye lobes distinctly longer than genae; area of connection between eye lobes distinctly narrower than upper lobe.Antennae 11-segmented, distinctly longer than body; scape gradually widened from base to middle, then subparallel-sided slightly narrowed on apical fifth without apical modification, not reaching posterior margin of prothorax, with one long, erect dark seta near apex of ventral surface; pedicel cylindrical, slightly longer than wide; antennomeres III–XI filiform, without tufts of setae; III and IV similar same length, the longest, with a few short, erect, fine setae ventrally. Prothorax wider than long; anterior constriction narrow, well marked; sides slightly rounded and divergent from anterior constriction to lateral tubercles, then convergent to posterolateral angles; lateral tubercles large, as a continuation of the lateral margin, located slightly before posterior quarter. Pronotum without tubercles; sparsely, coarsely punctate on anterior 3/4, abundantly punctate on posterior quarter, punctures not following toward sides of prothorax. Prosternal process strongly narrowed centrally, then strongly widened posteriorly; narrowest area distinctly shorter than one-tenth of procoxal width. Mesoventral process narrow, gradually narrowed from base to posterior fifth, then moderately widened; narrowest area about one-eight mesocoxal width. Scutellum semicircle shaped. Elytra without tubercles and erect setae; subparallel-sided on anterior half, slightly narrowed just after humeri, then gradually convergent toward apex; apex slightly oblique and concave, with rounded outer and sutural angles; humeral angles not projected; humeral and dorsal carinae and centrobasal crest absent. Femora pedunculate-clavate; femoral clubs strongly widened; metafemora reaching apex of elytra. Tibiae cylindrical, without modifications. Metatarsomere I longer than II–III together.

Remarks. The key from Monné et al. (2020a) leads Quissunego gen. nov. to the alternative of couplet “40” with Lepturges (Lepturges) Bates, 1863 . However, the lateral tubercles of the prothorax are distinctly distant from the posterolateral angles of the prothorax, making it very artificial to consider the new species as belonging to Lepturges (Lepturges) . Furthermore, the femoral clubs are much stouter than in the species currently included in Lepturges (Lepturges) . The key from Monné et al. (2020b) leads Quissunego gen. nov. to the alternative of couplet “56,” and in it to Lophopoenopsis Melzer, 1931 . Although included in a key to genera without erect setae on elytra, we now know that the type species of Lophopoenopsis , L. singularis Melzer, 1931 , has erect setae on elytra, which are absent in Quissunego . Using the key by Dillon (1956), which includes only a few American genera of Acanthocinini, Quissunego is included in the alternative of couplet “31” with Lepturges (Lepturges) . Finally, using the key to North American genera of Acanthocinini from Linsley & Chemsak (1995), Quissunego is included in the alternative of couplet “10” with Sternidius LeConte, 1853 , which has the mesoventral process very wide, while it is very narrow in Quissunego .

Quissunego is similar to Leiopus (Leiopus) Audinet-Serville, 1835 , but differs by the upper eye lobes wide (narrow or moderately narrow in Leiopus ( Leiopus )), and the punctures on the posterior region of the pronotum do not follow toward sides of the prothorax (following toward sides of the prothorax in Leiopus (Leiopus) , at least in the type species of the genus).

The key from Monné et al. (2020b) can be updated as follows, with the exclusion of Lophopoenopsis :

56(55). Distance between upper eye lobes larger than three times width of one upper lobe.... Luteolepturges Monné & Monné, 2012

– Distance between upper eye lobes slightly larger than width of one upper lobe..................... Quissunego gen. nov.