Astylopsis fascipennis Schiefer, 2001

Schiefer, Terence L., 2000, A New Species Of Astylopsis Casey (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Acanthocinini) From The Southeastern United States, The Coleopterists Bulletin 54 (4), pp. 533-539 : 533-537

Astylopsis fascipennis Schiefer , new species

Fig. 1

Description. Male. Form relatively small to moderate­sized; integument pale reddish brown to dark brown, partially infuscated on head, antennae, pronotum, elytra, legs, and underside; pubescence fine, dense, appressed, grayish, light and dark brownish. Head with front convex, densely micropunctate, moderately densely clothed with appressed pale brownish and grayish mottled pubescence; genae subequal to or slightly longer than lower eye lobes; upper eye lobes small, separated by more than diameter of antennal scape; antennae slightly longer than body, segments dark annulate at apices, segments six to eleven often narrowly dark annulate at base, basal segments to about fifth with numerous dark spots, pubescence short, fine, grayish and brownish, third segment longer than first, fourth subequal to first. Pronotum with sides obtusely tuberculate behind middle; disk with calluses not prominent, anterior pair larger; apical impression narrow, shallow; basal impression broad, deeper; punctures moderately dense, fine, coarser on sides and in apical and basal impressions, absent below lateral tubercle; pubescence short, dense, appressed, pale brownish and grayish; disk with a medially interrupted longitu­

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dinal dark vitta each side of middle, with a longitudinal dark vitta at middle which occasionally is reduced and confined to median callus, often with a dark spot on median face of anterior calluses; sides often with a broad dark vitta extending from below lateral tubercle to posterior margin; prosternum with intercoxal process less than half as broad as coxal cavities; mesosternum with intercoxal process less broad than coxal cavities; metasternum with grayish and brownish pubescence interrupted laterally by numerous dark spots. Elytra about 1.75 times as long as broad, sides tapering behind middle; basal gibbosities moderate, costae distinct, weakly tufted dark tubercles irregularly placed on costae; punctures coarse, dense, becoming finer toward apex; pubescence fine, dense, appressed, mottled pale brownish and grayish; disk frequently with a transverse, black fascia at basal one­fourth, with a diffuse, grayish, transverse fascia behind middle, bordered posteriorly at apical one­third by a narrow, oblique, black fascia; the oblique fascia usually of nearly uniform width or narrowing toward suture, extending back from suture and usually onto epipleura, occasionally interrupted between costae and above epipleura; humeri black on anterior face; epipleura frequently with a dark oblique fascia at basal third; apices narrowly truncate to shallowly emarginate­truncate. Legs stout; femora and tibiae with fine grayish or pale brownish pubescence interrupted by small brownish spots; mid­ and hind­femora usually dark annulate; tibiae dark biannulate; tarsi dark, ultimate segment often paler basally, two basal segments frequently grayish pubescent. Abdomen with fine, grayish and light brownish pubescence with dark spots interspersed laterally; fifth sternite about half longer than fourth, apex broadly subtruncate to shallowly emarginate. Length, 5.3–8.7 mm (mean 5 7.2 mm, n 5 27).

Female. Form similar. Antennae slightly longer than body, shorter than in male. Legs with hind­femora less strongly clavate. Abdomen with fifth sternite twice as long as fourth, apex narrow, shallowly emarginate. Length, 5.6–9.2 mm (mean 5 7.7 mm, n 5 33).

Holotype. Male. MISSISSIPPI, Oktibbeha Co., 3 mi. W. of Adaton , 338299000N 888589130W, 9 June 1995, T. L. Schiefer, blacklight trap. The type locality is the author’s yard . Holotype from MEM, deposited in National Museum of Natural History ( USNM) .

Paratypes (59). Alabama: Baldwin Co.: Gulf Shores St. Pk. , 18 June 1984, R . L. & B.B. Brown (2 females) [ MEM]. Dale Co.: Ft. Rucker Mil. Res., 2 June 1986, R . Turnbow (1 female) [ RHT]. Mobile Co.: Grand Bay, H.P. Löding (1 female) [ ALNH]; Magazine Pt., H.P. Löding (1 male) [ ALNH]; Calvert , 16 July 1926, H.P. Löding (1 female) [ ALNH]; Spring Hill, 5 July 1913, H.P. Löding (1 female) [ ALNH]; Mobile, 5 July 1909, H.P. Löding (1 male) , same data except, 1 June 1917, beating (1 female) [ ALNH] . Arkansas: Mississippi Co. : 11 June 1971 (1 male) , same data except, 30 June 1972, cotton­corn strip: check, malaise trap (1 female) [ UAAM] . Florida: Highlands Co.: Highlands Hammock St. Pk., 23 April 1982, M.C. Thomas (1 male) , same data except, 17 April 1989 (1 male) [ FSCA]. Jackson Co.: Marianna, 4 June 1994, Androw & Brattain (1 male, 1 female) [ RAA]. Jefferson Co. : Aucilla Wldlf. Mgt. Area , jct. hwys. 59 & 98, 30 May 1988, R . Turnbow (2 males) [ RHT]. Santa Rosa Co.: Black Water River nr. Harold , 308429000N 868549360W, 28 May 1995, K. Will & R . Androw, MV light (1 female) [ RAA]. Taylor Co.: 3 mi. S. Salem , 30 April 1976, R . L. Penrose (1 male) [ RLP]. Volusia Co. : Lake Ashby , 3 May 1979, R . L. Penrose (3 males, 4 females) [ RLP] , same data except, F. Hovore (2 males, 1 female) [ FTH] , same data except, F. Hovore, beaten ex Ulmus (2 males, 2 females) [ FTH]; Enterprise , 3 May 1979, R . L. Penrose, beaten from dead branches of sweet gum (1 male) [ RLP]. Wakulla Co. : 2.9 mi. E. Newport , 12 May 1986, R . Turnbow (1 male) [ RHT]; 6 mi. E. Newport, 4 June 1988, R . Turnbow (3 females) [ RHT] . Georgia: Clark Co.: Whitehall Forest , 25 June –1 July, 1977, R . Turnbow, malaise trap (1 male), same data except, 1– 10 July 1978 (1 female) [ RHT]. Clinch Co.: 23 June 1984, Roy Morris (1 female) [ RFM]. Tift Co.: Alapaha River at Hwy. 319, 1 June 1981, F. Hovore (1 female) , same data except, beaten ex Ulmus (1 female) [ FTH] . Louisiana: Bossier Parish: Barksdale Air Force Base, 328289470N 938359360W, 12 June 1996, D.M. Pollock, blacklight in calcareous forest (1 male) [ MEM]. East Baton Rouge Parish : Baton Rouge, 20 June 1986, E.G. Riley, emerged from miscellaneous dead limbs (1 male, 1 female) [ EGR] . Mississippi: Forrest Co.: 5 mi. NNW Hattiesburg, 1 June 1973, W.H. Cross, in Leggett trap (1 female) [ MEM]. Grenada Co. : 2 mi. W. Grenada at I­55, 26 June 1986, R . Androw, MV light (1 female) [ RAA]. Holmes Co.: Holmes Co. St. Pk. , 8 June 1994, T . L. Schiefer, blacklight trap (1 female) [ MEM]. Oktibbeha Co.: Starkville , 20 June 1977, G. Snodgrass, incandescent light (1 female) [ MEM] ; same data as holotype except, 10 June 1995 (1 male), 8 August 1997 (1 female), 27 August 1998 (1 female), 16 June 1996, at house light (1 male) [ MEM]. Stone Co.: Flint Creek Water Park , 24 May 1995, R . A. Androw & K.W. Will, UV light (1 male) [ RAA] . Washington Co.: Delta Experimental Forest ‘‘ Clearing’ ’, 33828932.50N 90854903.40W, 3–16 August 1997, Nathan M. Schiff, malaise trap (1 male) [ LGB] ; same data except, Delta Experimental Forest , Stoneville, Compound, 33827918.30N 90855928.10W (1 female) [ LGB] ; same data except, Leroy Percy St. Pk., 5 mi. W. Hollandale , 33810901.650N 90856912.170W, 7– 20 July 1997 (1 male) [ LGB]. Webster Co.: Dorroh Lake , T21 N, R9 E, Sec. 10 NE, 8 August 1992, R . L. Brown, blacklight trap (1 female) [ MEM] .

Etymology. The name fascipennis is derived from the Latin fascia, meaning band, and the Latin penna, meaning wing, and refers to the dark, oblique band on each elytron.

Diagnosis. Astylopsis fascipennis is easily separated from all other members of the genus except A. perplexa (Haldeman) by the presence of an impunctate area on the pronotum below the lateral tubercle. Additionally, A. fascipennis differs from A. arcuata (LeConte) by lacking a dark vitta on the epipleura and from A. macula (Say) by lacking contrasting white pubescence on the lateral areas of the pronotum. The oblique dark fascia that is directed back from the elytral suture in A. fascipennis is absent in A. arcuata and A. collaris (Haldeman) , is weakly indicated in a minority of specimens of A. macula and A. sexguttata (Say) , and is variably present in A. perplexa . Astylopsis fascipennis can be differentiated from A. perplexa by the characters given in the key. There appears to be very little overlap in the range of total body lengths exhibited by these two species. Of the specimens examined, only the smallest individual of A. perplexa , a male, and the two largest individuals of A. fascipennis , both females, fall within the other species’ overall body length range.

Geographic Variation. No consistent pattern of geographic variation was noted, although specimens from Florida and Georgia tend to have the integument paler, the pubescent pattern less contrasting, and the oblique elytral fascia more frequently interrupted.

Distribution. The known distribution of A. fascipennis is the southeastern United States from Georgia and Florida west to Arkansas and Louisiana. All known specimens are from the Coastal Plain physiographic region except for two from Clark County, Georgia, which is in the Piedmont.

Bionomics. Specimens of A. fascipennis have been collected from mid­April through late August. The period of adult activity appears to occur earlier in the southern portion of its range with all April and May records being from Florida and southern Mississippi and all August records being from northern Mississippi. The larval host of A. fascipennis is unknown. Adults have been reared from ‘‘miscellaneous dead limbs’’ and beaten from elm ( Ulmus sp. ) and dead branches of sweetgum (Liquidamber styraciflua), suggesting that the larvae might feed in dead hardwoods. This is in contrast to the somewhat similar appearing A. perplexa which is a stem borer in the woody shrub Baccharis halimifolia . Astylopsis fascipennis has been collected in a variety of forest types including bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi River floodplain, upland mixed forests in Mississippi’s North Central Hills and Flatwoods physiographic provinces, and maritime forests on the Gulf Coast. The habitat at the type locality is mixed forest dominated by oak (including Quercus alba , Q. falcata , Q. laurifolia , Q. nigra , Q. pagoda , Q. phellos , Q. stellata , and Q. velutina ) and hickory (including Carya glabra , C. illinoensis , C. ovata , and C. tomentosa ). Other trees present include Acer rubrum , Celtis laevigata, Cornus florida, Diospyros virginiana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Gleditsia triacanthos, Juniperus virginiana, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, Morus rubra, Nyssa sylvatica, Pinus taeda, Prunus mexicana , P. serotina, Salix nigra, Sassafras albidum, Ulmus alata , and U. americana . Astylopsis fascipennis has been collected by beating, in malaise and Leggett traps, and at ultraviolet, mercury vapor, and incandescent lights.

Remarks. During the course of this study I attempted to locate and examine the type material of the five Amniscus (5 Astylopsis ) species described by Haldeman. Specimens labeled as types of Amniscus perplexus Haldeman and Amniscus commixtus Haldeman (5 Astylopsis sexguttata (Say)) were located in the LeConte collection at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). The other three Haldeman types were not located, but specimens identified as Amniscus collaris Haldeman , Amniscus interruptus Haldeman (5 Astylopsis collaris (Haldeman)) , and Amniscus sticticus Haldeman (5 Astylopsis macula (Say)) are present in the LeConte collection. Current species concepts and synonymies within Astylopsis as given in Linsley and Chemsak (1995) are supported by these specimens.

It should be noted that some specimens of Astylopsis will not key to the correct genus in the key to genera of Acanthocinini given in Linsley and Chemsak (1995). Couplet 17 in their key separates out Astylopsis and five other genera based on the character ‘‘prothorax with intercoxal process more than half as broad as coxal cavities.’’ However, A. perplexa , A. sexguttata , and A. fascipennis all have the prothorax with intercoxal process less than half as broad as coxal cavities. This character state is given correctly by Linsley and Chemsak (1995) in their generic description of Astylopsis and in their species descriptions of A. perplexa and A. sexguttata .

Figures

Fig. 1. Habitus of Astylopsis fascipennis Schiefer, new species. Scale bar 5 1 mm.