Conognatha (Pithiscus) continua, Pineda & Koike & Barros, 2022

Pineda, Cristian R., Koike, Ricardo M. & Barros, Rafael C., 2022, A new species of Conognatha (Pithiscus) from Minas Gerais State in Brazil (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Zootaxa 5134 (2), pp. 297-300 : 298

Conognatha (Pithiscus) continua sp. nov.

( Figs 1–3, 4 left, 5–9)

Type locality. Brasil, Minas Gerais, Delfim Moreira .

Type material. Male holotype: “ BRASIL, Minas Gerais, / Delfim Moreira , / 30.xii.1990, / Ricardo Koike leg. ” [white label printed] // “ HOLOTYPE / Conognatha (P.) continua / Pineda, Koike & Barros” [red label printed] ( MZUEL) .

Description. Holotype male: Total length, 18.5 mm; pronotum length, 3.4 mm; pronotum width at its widest point, 5.8 mm; elytral length, 14.5 mm; humeral width, 6.6 mm.

Coloration. Pronotum and head orange to dark brown; elytra black with yellow orange pattern. Venter lime green to light blue; Setae light yellow.

Head. Coarsely and densely punctate with punctures joined or separated by about 1-3 puncture diameters, except at middle of clypeus, and antennal tubercles where it is mostly free of punctures. Frons with pubescence conspicuous composed of numerous fine, long, and tangled setae. Vertex without median longitudinal groove. Antennae serrated from antennomere 4. Clypeus very sparsely setose, with anterior margin distinctly concave. Last maxillary palpomere oval ( Fig. 9 ).

Pronotum. 1.7 wider than long; much narrower than base of elytra; with sides narrowed from base, feebly arcuate at middle, then narrowed to anterior angle. Finer and less densely punctate than head, with punctures separated by about 1-3 puncture diameters. Pubescence not very conspicuous but composed of numerous fine and long setae.

Scutellum. Small; pentagonal, with anterior margin straight; 1.3 times wider than long; impunctate.

Elytra. 2.2 times as long as wide. Interstriae convex from base to apex; striae impunctate. Elytral pattern composed of a rounded spot on each side of the scutellum, and two sinuous transverse bands near middle (median) and before the apex (pre-apical); the median band extends along the lateral margin to below the humeral angle. Apical margin strongly dentate, with 14 teeth on each elytron, of which the two most apical are stouter and longer than the rest and separated by a distinct notch.

Venter. Pubescence as on pronotum. Fine and densely punctate with punctures separated by more than four times a puncture width. Punctures along midline of prosternum thicker and more conspicuous than on rest of the surface. Prosternal process flat and without anterior prominence ( Fig. 2 ).

Aedeagus. Parameres finger-like in apical third, apex rounded bearing around six long setae. Median lobe wide basally, gradually narrowing to the apex which is pointed and markedly exceeds the apex of the parameres. Visible part of ventral surface with vertical wrinkles at the base, centrally depressed surrounded by raised borders ( Figs. 6–7 ).

Female. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis: The new taxon is similar to C. (P.) coffeatus Portela & Mermudes, 2014 , C. (P.) puris Portela & Mermudes, 2014 , and C. (P.) caparaoensis Pineda & Barros, 2017 by dark elytral coloration with yellow orange, reddish or reddish-brown pattern (warm colors); and by having all interstriae convex from base to apex. C. (P.) continua can be distinguished by characters given in the table 1.

Etymology: From Latin “ continuus ” (uninterrupted), in reference to the two uninterrupted elytral bands, one of the differential characters to separate the new taxon from the other three similar species.

Note. The recently described species C. (P.) coffeatus and C. (P.) puris are known only from their holotypes, which unfortunately seem to be lost in the fire that destroyed the Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ) in 2018. If this is the case, a neotype designation will be required.

Other material examined: Conognatha (P.) caparaoensis Pineda & Barros, 2017 ( Fig. 4 , right): BRASIL, MG, Espera Feliz , Parque Nacional do Caparaó , Pico da Bandeira, Casa Queimada, 20º27’7.03”S 41º48’4.79”W, 2447 m a.s.l. 21–25.i.2017, C.G.C. Mielke & E. Joelke leg. (1 male in CPCP) .

Figures

FIGURES 1–9. Conognatha (Pithiscus) spp. 1–3, Holotype male of C. (P.) continua sp. nov. 1, Dorsal view. 2, Ventral view. 3, Lateral view. 4, Size comparison between C. (P.) continua (left), and C. (P.) caparaoensis (right). Scale bars = 5 mm. 5–9, Holotype male of C. (P.) continua sp. nov. 5, Holotype labels. 6–7, Aedeagus, ventral and dorsal view. 8, Elytral detail. 9, Head, frontal view.