Brachiacantha octopustulata (Fabricius, 1801)

Gordon, Robert D., Canepari, Claudio & Hanley, Guy A., 2014, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XVI: systematic revision of Brachiacantha Dejean (Coccinellinae: Hyperaspidini), Insecta Mundi 2014 (390), pp. 1-76 : 25-26

16. Brachiacantha octopustulata (F.), new combination

Coccinella octopustulata Fabricius, 1801: 383 .

Cleothera octopustulata: Mulsant 1850: 636 .

Hyperaspis octopustulata: Crotch 1874: 222 ; Korschefsky 1931: 193; Blackwelder 1945: 447.

Description. Male. Length 3.1 mm, width 2.5 mm; body oval, convex. Dorsal surface with head weakly alutaceous, slightly shiny, pronotum and elytron smooth, shiny. Color yellow except pronotum with large, black basomedian macula extended anteriorly 2/3 distance to anterior pronotal margin, apex of macula not emarginate, lateral 1/3 of pronotum yellow; elytron black with 4 large, mostly round yellow spots in posterior 7/8 of elytron ( Fig. 88 ); ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrites dark reddish brown; abdomen with median 1/3 of ventrites 1–4 dark brown, remainder of abdomen yellowish brown. Head punctures small, separated by about a diameter, each puncture slightly smaller than an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by less than to 2 times a diameter, elytral punctures slightly larger than on pronotum, separated by 1 to 4 times a diameter; metaventral punctures slightly larger than on elytron, separated by less than to a diameter. Clypeus emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 6 eye facets long, slightly angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin weakly rounded, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron narrow, descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia narrowly flanged, flange about 1/2 as wide as remainder of protibia, outer margin straight, smooth, basal tooth small, length about 1/6 width of tibia at base, sponda extended beyond protibial flange. Carinae on prosternal process narrowly separated at apex, slightly convergent toward base, joined at basal 1/3 of prosternum, connected to prosternal base with single carina. Metaventrite without setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite slightly flattened along posterior ventrite margin, extended forward apically, ventrite with sparse, long pubescence and small, dense punctures; ventrites 2–6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; ventrite 3 without cusp on each side of middle; 5th ventrite depressed in median 1/3, apex broadly, weakly emarginate; 6th ventrite depressed medially, apex shallowly emarginate. Apical tergite densely punctured, apex slightly rounded. Genitalia with basal lobe about as long as paramere, slender, symmetrical, sides weakly convergent from base to weakly acute apex; paramere strongly Psc, slightly widened from base to apex, apex rounded ( Fig. 89, 90 ); sipho robust, strongly curved in basal 3/4 with lateral alae at apical 1/6, basal capsule heavily sclerotized, inner arm long, medially “pinched,” apex widely bifid, outer arm slightly wider and longer than inner arm, curved, with small accessory piece, basal border broadly, shallowly emarginate ( Fig. 91–93 ).

Female. Similar to male except head with lateral brown band on frons next to eye, pronotum with mediobasal macula extended to apical pronotal border medially. Genitalia with spermatheca long, slender, basal 1/4 not enlarged, cornu abruptly enlarged apically, bulbous; bursal cap oval, with 3 sclerotized arms, median arm faint, apical strut short, same width from base to apex ( Fig. 94 ).

Variation. Length 2.3 to 3.6 mm, width 1.6 to 2.8 mm. Elytron with anterior spot next to scutellum usually larger than other spots, and reddish yellow, but it is often not larger and may be yellow. Three USNM specimens labeled “Kolumb.( Colombia), Cundinamarca, Monterredondo, 1400 m., 20.7, leg. Schneble 1961” differ from typical C. octopustulata by having pronotum with a large, obliquely oval, mediobasal yellow spot on each side of middle. Male genitalia also have the basal lobe noticeably longer than typical.

Type locality. Not known.

Type depository. ZMUC (lectotype here designated).

Geographical distribution. Brazil, Bolivia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela.

Specimens examined. 24. Brazil. AM, Barcelos ; AM, Maturaca, alto Rio Cauaburi ; AM, Manaus; Obidos; “Para”; Santarém. Bolivia. Saauedra. French Guiana. “Cayen.”; Cayenne. Guyana. Georgetown; Lusignan. Peru. Loreto, Picuruyacu , 160 m. Surinam. “Surinam.” Venezuela. Suapure, Caura R. ( BMNH) ( CMNH) ( GGC) ( MKRB) ( USNM) ( ZMHB) ( ZMUC) .

Remarks. Brachiacantha octopustulata is distinguished by having 4 large, pale spots on the apical 7/8 of the elytron. There is no humeral spot, and no scutellar spot in the strict sense, a combination not seen elsewhere in this genus. The very small protibial tooth typical of this group was overlooked by previous authors. Therefore this species was not placed in Brachiacantha . Both male and female genitalia put it in the juanita group.

The lectotype female in the ZMUC is labeled “C. 8pustulata, ex Am. mer. Schmidt (handwritten) TYPE (red paper).” One other specimen, a male labeled “TYPE” without further labels is designated a paralectotype.

This is the only species of Brachiacanthini known to have associated host data. See explanatory comments in the “Biology” section.

Figures

Figures 88–107. 88–94. Brachiacantha octopustulata. 88) Habitus. 89) Phallobase ventral. 80) Phallobase lateral. 91) Sipho. 92) Enlarged siphonal apex lateral. 93) Enlarged siphonal apex dorsal. 94) Female genitalia. 95–102. Brachiacantha loricata. 95) Habitus. 96) Phallobase ventral. 97) Phallobase lateral. 98) Sipho. 99) Enlarged siphonal apex lateral. 100) Enlarged siphonal apex dorsal. 101) Enlarged siphonal apex dorsal. 102) Female genitalia. 103–107. Brachiacantha lynn. 103) Habitus. 104) Phallobase ventral. 104) Phallobase lateral. 106) Sipho. 107) Enlarged siphonal apex.