Alurnus mutabilis Waterhouse 1881

Staines, C. L., 2013, A review of the genus Alurnus Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), Insecta Mundi 2013 (291), pp. 1-34 : 17

Alurnus mutabilis Waterhouse 1881

( Figure 15a, b)

Alurnus mutabilis Waterhouse 1881: 265 [lectotype (here designated): Ecuador, Sarayacu, C. Buckley, 91-97 (BMNH)]. Donckier 1899: 558 (catalog); Jacobson 1899: 248 (revision); Weise 1910: 103 (key), 1911a: 13 (catalog), 1911b: 19 (catalog); Fischer 1935: 267 (revision); Blackwelder 1946: 721 (faunal list); Papp 1953: 33 (catalog); Uhmann 1957a: 39 (catalog).

Alurnus mutabilis confluens Jacobson 1899: 248 [type: Ecuador?, depository unknown]. Weise 1911a: 13 (catalog), 1911b: 19 (catalog); Fischer 1935: 268 (revision).

Description. Head, antennae, scutellum, legs, and venter (except abdominal sterna paler laterally) black; pronotum yellow with disc black from base to apex; elytra yellow with black humeral vitta, apical margin black, suture black, and black spot on disc after middle; some specimens with large black spot on apical half of elytra. Head: vertex punctate, medial sulcus present, depressed between eyes; row of setae present in ocular sulcus; front punctate; clypeus punctate, each puncture with pale seta. Antenna: antennomere 1 subglobose, large; 2 small, transverse, 0.5x length of 1; 3 cylindrical, 2x length of 1 and 2 combined; 4-7 cylindrical, subequal in length, each 0.33x length of 3; 8-10 cylindrical, subequal in length, each 0.5x length of 7; 11 subequal in length to 10, bluntly rounded at apex; 1-10 punctate, with setae; 11 more densely punctate, each puncture with pale seta. Pronotum: slightly narrower anteriorly; lateral margin arcuate; anterior angle acute; posterior angle with small tooth; surface moderately, densely, irregularly punctate; slight transverse basal impression present medially; glabrous; pronotal length 4-5 mm; pronotal width 4-5 mm. Scutellum: large, cordate, rounded at apex; impunctate. Elytron: lateral and apical margins smooth, laminate; sutural angle acute; humerus prominent, rounded; surface densely but finely punctate; weak costa present, beginning at humerus, curving toward suture, ending after middle; elytral length 14-18 mm; elytral width 8-9 mm. Leg: femur and tibia punctate, with seta in each puncture; tibia with fringe of setae apically. Venter: pro-, meso-, and metasterna impunctate medially, punctate laterally; abdominal sterna sparsely punctate, each puncture with pale seta. Total length: 19-22 mm.

Larval host plant. Unknown.

Distribution. Ecuador.

Specimens examined. No data ( USNM, 4). Ecuador. No further data ( BMNH, 3; NMW, 1) ; 1880 ( USNM, 2), ix. x.1894 ( USNM, 1). Morona Santiago: Chiguenda ( PSUC, 3). Pastaza: Sarayacu ( BMNH, 5). Total : 19 .