Bogcia disjuncta Barr, 1978

Burke, Alan & Zolnerowich, Gregory, 2017, A taxonomic revision of the subfamily Tillinae Leach sensu lato (Coleoptera, Cleridae) in the New World, ZooKeys 179, pp. 75-157 : 92-96

Bogcia disjuncta Barr, 1978 Figs 1F, 2A, 7A, 8C, 16 E–F, 18 D–E

Synonyms.

Bogcia oaxacae Barr, 1978, syn. n. Taxonomy of the New World Clerid Genus Bogcia from Mexico, The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 54: 287-291.

Paratypes.

One male and one female examined.

Type locality.

Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Type depository: California Academy of Science (CASC).

Distribution.

Mexico: Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa; Central America: Nicaragua*

Differential diagnosis.

Bogcia disjuncta (Figs 1F, 2A) most closely resembles Cymatodera bogcioides Burke (Fig. 4F). The two species can be readily distinguished based on differences in the structure of the protarsal claw and the antennae. Bogcia disjuncta has the protarsal denticle in close proximity to the protarsal claw (Fig. 7A) and the antennae is strongly serrate (Fig. 8C). Cymatodera bogcioides has the protarsal claw conspicuously separated from the protarsal denticle (Fig. 7B) and the antennae is moderately serrate.

Redescription.

Male. Form: Rather robust, moderately wider posteriorly, elongate. Color: Head, antennae, mouthparts, thorax legs, elytra and abdomen testaceous to brown; posterior half of mandibles black 2-3 irregularly fuscous. Each elytron with a broad, black to brown oblique fascia located behind median region of elytron with varying degrees of extension, ranging from the epipleural fold to the elytral suture, to two reduced, dark maculae, this fascia is preceded by a narrow, pale region; in addition to the dark fascia there is one small, brown to black humeral macula, this spot is absent in some specimens examined (Figs 1F, 2A).

Head: Measured across eyes wider than pronotum; surface rugose; frons feebly bi-impressed; coarsely punctate; eyes medium-sized, somewhat rounded, inconspicuously longer than wide, emarginate in front, bulging laterally, separated by approximately 2.5 eye-widths; antennomeres 2-3 very slightly serrate; third antennomere about 2 × the length of second antennomere; fourth antennomere as long as third antennomere; antennomeres 4-10 strongly serrate, about the same length, as broad as long, posterior distal angle sharply pointed; eleventh antennomere about the same length as the tenth antennomere, with its distal margin moderately oblique (Fig. 8C).

Thorax: Pronotum rugose; widest behind middle; middle slightly wider than front margin; sides constricted subapically, more strongly constricted behind middle; disc flat, impressed in front of middle; subbasal tumescence somewhat pronounced. Prosternum smooth, slightly to moderately punctate. Mesoventrite rugulose, feebly to coarsely punctate. Scutellum subquadrate; wider than long; notched medially.

Legs: Femora shiny; finely transversally rugulose; indistinctly punctate. Tibiae coarsely, densely punctate; longitudinally rugose; clothed with long, erect setae and some short, recumbent setae.

Elytra: Anterior margin bisinuate, wider than pronotum; disc smooth, flattened above; humeri indicated; sides subparallel, widest behind middle; apices weakly dehiscent, triangular, covering sixth tergite; elytral declivity somewhat procurved, females slightly wider than males; sculpturing consisting of coarse punctations arranged in striae that gradually reduce in size behind middle; interstices smooth, about 2 × the width of punctation.

Abdomen: Six visible ventrites. Ventrites 1-4 smooth; finely punctate; posterior margins truncate. First visible ventrite with a longitudinal carina that reaches the posterolateral angles (Fig. 7E); ventrites 3-4 slightly convex; hind margins truncate. Fifth visible ventrite convex; lateral margins oblique; posterior margin broadly, relatively deeply emarginate; hind angles narrowly rounded. Sixth visible ventrite subtriangular; rugulose; surface puncticulate, feebly convex; broader than long; lateral margins broadly oblique; posterior margin narrow, truncate; hind angles rounded (Fig. 16F). Fifth tergite rugulose; surface moderately convex; finely punctate; posterior margin shallowly emarginate. Sixth tergite broadly triangular; rugulose; surface very slightly convex; lateral margins strongly oblique, narrowing apically, producing a constricted, somewhat acuminate posterior margin (Fig. 16E). Sixth tergite extending beyond apical margin of sixth visible ventrite.

Aedeagus: Phallobasic apodeme present; phallus with copulatory piece tapered at apex; phallic plate unarmed, devoid of denticles; intraspicular plate present, elongate; phallobasic apodeme short, not expanded distally; phallobase subparallel; parameres free; tegmen incomplete, partially covering phallus; parameres pointed anteriorly; endophallic struts long; endophallic struts slender distally (Fig. 18 D–E).

Sexual dimorphism: Females differ from males by having the posterior margin of the first and second visible ventrites truncate (Fig. 7E), and not acuminate (Fig. 7F) as observed in males. Additionally, females have the fifth visible ventrite rugose, with the lateral margins oblique and the posterior margin truncate; the sixth visible ventrite is rugulose, semicircular in shape, with the surface convex, and the lateral and posterior margins broadly rounded; the fifth tergite is rugulose, the lateral margins are oblique and the posterior margin is truncate; and the sixth tergite is rugulose, broader than long, with the surface inconspicuously convex, and the lateral and posterior margins strongly oblique and slightly acuminate posteriorly.

Material examined.

PARATYPES: 1 male, 1 female: 23 mi S of Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico, 6-IV-1962, F. D. Parker and L. A. Stange.

Additional material examined.

2 males, 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, VIII-21-1991, E. Ramirez; 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, trampa de luz, VII-15-1986, R. A. Usela; 1 female: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, trampa de luz, VII-13- 1986, R. A. Usela; 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, trampa de luz, VII-9- 1986, R. A. Usela; 2 males, 1 female: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, trampa de luz, VII-3- 1986, F. A. Noguera; 2 males, 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, VII-15- 1986, R. A. Usela; 2 males: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biologia Chamela, atraido a la luz, VII-15- 1986, F. A. Noguera; 3 males, 1 female: Jalisco, Mexico, Chamela, VI-17- 1990, A la luz, F. A. Noguera; 2 males, 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Chamela, VI-15- 1990, A la luz, F. A. Noguera; 1 male: Mexico, Jalisco, Chamela, atraido a la luz, VII-7- 1986, F. A. Noguera; 2 males, 2 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Estacion de Biol. Chamela, VII-15-23-1987, F. T. Hovore, at UV and MV light; 3 males, 2 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Chamela, vic. UNAM, VII-9-19-1993, J. E. Wappes; 3 females: Jalisco, Mexico, vic. Estacion de Biologia Chamela, UNAM, VII-9-14-1993, Black light, Morris, Huether, Wappes; 2 males, 4 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Est. Biol. Chamela, VII-10-20-1985, E. Giesbert; 3 males, 2 females: Jalisco, Mexico, Chamela, vic. UNAM, VII-9-19-1993, J. Wappes; 2 males: Mexico, Jalisco, Estacion Biologica Chamela, VII-10-10-1985, E. Giesbert; 3 males, 1 female male: Jalisco, Mexico, Est. Biologica Chamela, VII-9-1981, Curoecol, trampa de luz, no collector data.

Remarks.

Interspecific variation in integument color and fasciae arrangement is a very common condition among numerous clerid species, and various descriptive works ( Wolcott 1909, 1921, Rifkind 1993b, Leavengood 2008, Rifkind et al. 2010; Burke 2013, Burke and Zolnerowich 2014, 2015) have shown that abdominal and aedeagal differences are the most reliable morphological characters used for delineating interspecific boundaries within Cleridae . Barr (1978) described Bogcia disjuncta and B. oaxacae from the Pacific coast of Mexico, designating B. disjuncta as the type species. Differences in integument color and fascia pattern were the principal characters used by Barr to separate these species. The integument color and fasciae pattern from specimens examined here and identified as B. disjuncta and B. oaxacae , including one male and one female paratype of B. oaxacae , were highly variable and many intermediate forms were observed (Figs 1F, 2A). Additionally, the aedeagal and pygidial structures of these individuals were very similar and consistent (Fig. 18 D–E). Consequently, the characters provided by Barr to separate these species are not sufficient to retain them as separate entities, and we designate B. oaxacae as a junior synonym of B. disjuncta .