Cassida weinmanni Chapuis, 1880

Borowiec, Lech & Świętojańska, Jolanta, 2022, A monograph of the Afrotropical Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Part 6. Revision of the tribe Cassidini 3, the genus Cassida L., Zootaxa 5171 (1), pp. 1-250 : 178-179

Cassida weinmanni Chapuis, 1880

( figs. 32 , 179–181)

Cassida Weinmanni Chapuis, 1880: 30 ; Spaeth, 1922: 1002; 1938 b: 63; Borowiec, 1986: 806, 1999 a: 296.

Cassida (Cassida) Weinmanni: Spaeth, 1914 b: 119 .

Cassida choana Fairmaire, 1893: 49 ; Spaeth, 1914 b: 119 (as syn. of weinmanni ).

Description. L: 5.20–6.10 mm, W: 3.60–4.20 mm, Lp: 1.70–2.00 mm, Wp: 3.05–3.55 mm, L/W: 1.41–1.49, Wp/ Lp: 1.72–1.87. Body elongate, almost parallel sided (figs. 179, 180).

Pronotum yellowish brown to brown, disc usually with three small dark brown to black spots, one in front of scutellum and one of each sides of disc, sometimes spot before scutellum obsolete, occasionally pronotum unspotted. Scutellum yellowish brown to brown, elytra the same colour with numerous dark brown to black spots and stripes arranged as in figs. 179–181, the number of spots varies and in the palest aberrations occur only stripes on elevated intervals 2 and 4. Explanate margin yellowish brown to brown always with narrow, dark brown to black sutural spot. Head yellowish to yellowish brown, usually with infuscate basal corners and elevated anterior margin of clypeal plate, thorax and abdomen black, sternites sometimes narrowly surrounded by yellow. Coxa, trochanters and basal half of femora black, rest of legs yellowish, fore tibiae sometimes in the middle with brownish ring. Antennal segments 1–6 yellow, segment 7 more or less infuscate, apical four segments gradually infuscate to mostly black.

Pronotum elliptical, with maximum width behind the middle, anterior margin regularly convex, sides broadly rounded, no basal corners. Disc indistinctly bordered from explanate margin, without lateral lobes, with short lateral impressions, area above head indistinctly marked. Surface of disc alutaceous, with fine irregular wrinkles, appears irregular to rugose. Explanate margin broad, alutaceous, with irregular sculpture of fine wrinkles or radial groove, semitransparent with more or less visible honeycomb structure.

Base of elytra slightly wider than base of pronotum, humeral angles moderately protruding anterad, rounded. Disc regularly convex in profile (fig. 181), with distinct postscutellar and principal and shallow posterolateral impressions, without H–shaped elevation or it is indistinct with only slightly elevated transverse fold but with elevated second interval, central part of fourth elevation, and posthumeral part of sixth interval, surface of disc more or less irregular with some elevated interspaces. Punctation moderately coarse, dense, irregular, only submarginal row more or less regular, distance between punctures from twice smaller to as wide as puncture diameter. Marginal row distinct, its punctures not coarser than punctures in central rows. Intervals except elevated parties invisible, marginal interval distinct, in humeral part as wide as submarginal interval and two submarginal rows combined, without humeral but with narrow lateral fold. Explanate margin narrow, strongly declivous, in the widest part five to six times narrower than disc, surface irregular with shallow punctures, wrinkles and grooves, semitransparent with more or less visible honeycomb structure.

Eyes very large, gena obsolete. Clypeus very broad, approximately 1.5 times as wide as long. Clypeal grooves well marked, converging in arch, anterior margin of clypeal plate elevated, surface of clypeus with shallow apical impression, surface microreticulate but shiny with few very small, setose punctures. Labrum narrowly emarginate to 1/3 length. Antennae moderately stout, segments 9–10 slightly longer than wide. Length ratio of antennal segments: 100:44:67:67:61:56:50:47:47:53:103. Segment 3 approximately 1.5 times as long as segment 2 and approximately as long as segment 4.

Prosternum moderately broad in the middle, strongly expanded apically, area between coxa flat, shiny, without special sculpture except few small, setose punctures, expanded apex convex in the middle, impressed laterally, central part shiny with few small punctures and oblique grooves but appears regular, impressed lateral lobes with dense punctation and grooves appears more or less irregular.

Claws simple.

Distribution. Ethiopia and Eritrea ( fig. 32 ).

Remarks. Cassida weinmanni and C. thomsoni form a group of moderately sized species (length above 5 mm, below 7 mm) with a slightly elongate body (L/W 1.29–1.49), alutaceous surface of dorsum, colouration of pronotum and elytra mostly from ochraceous to brown forming a marbled pattern or numerous, small dark spots ( figs. 176 –181). Cassida thomsoni differs in the angulate pronotal sides (broadly rounded in C. weinmanni ), surface of pronotum almost regular (more or less irregular and finely granulate in C. weinmanni ), elytral disc rather with marbled pattern or with only few dark spots (with numerous small brown spots in C. weinmanni ) and claws with a large basal tooth (simple in C. thomsoni ). Both species are widely separated geographically as C. thomsoni is distributed in southern Africa north to south Malawi while C. weinmanni is known from Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Types examined. Holotype of Cassida Weinmanni Chapuis, 1880 : [ ETHIOPIA]: Homasen, Raffray (MZSNG); holotype of Cassida choana Fairmaire, 1893 : [ ETHIOPIA]: Choa (MNHN).

Other specimens examined. ERITREA: Saganeiti, 1924, 1, L. Fossati (MCSNM).

ETHIOPIA: Arsi, Assella , 2400 m, 1 XI 1988, 1, S. Persson ( LU) ; Bulin riv., riv. Bouli Boulo, 11, Le Moult ( IRSN) ; Doukham , 20 X 1926, 1 ( LS) ; Eli, Masocco , VII–IX, 1 ( ZMHU) ; Erer Valley , 14, Kovács ( HNHM, MNHW) ; Harar, 5 ( LS, NMP, ZMHU) , 1, H. Babault ( MRAC) ; Lake Tana , 5, coll. Le Moult ( IRSN) ; Machi , 9 VI 1963, 1, R. Linnavuori ( ZMUH) ; Maraco , 40 ( IRSN, MNHW) ; Scioa, Cialalaki , 1881, 1, Antinori ( MZSNG) ; Scioa, distr. Marelia , 1880, 1, Antinori ( MZSNG) ; Shoa, debre Zeyt , V 1989, 1, K. Werner ( MZUF) ; Shoa Prov., Lake Langano , V–VI 1971, 7, G. de Rougemont ( MRAC, MNHW) , IV 1994, 1, Werner ( DS) .

Figures

FIGURE 32. Distribution of Cassida overlaeti (black squares), Cassida viridipennis (black circles) and Cassida weinmanni (black diamonds).

FIGURES 176–178. Cassida thomsoni. 179–181. Cassida weinmanni. 176–177, 179–180. Dorsal; 178, 181. Lateral.