Cassida penelope Boheman, 1862

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 : 124-125

Cassida penelope Boheman, 1862

( figs. 34 , 320–321)

Cassida Penelope Boheman, 1862: 324 ; Gemminger & Harold, 1876: 3657; Spaeth, 1933 a: 348; Borowiec, 1999 a: 272. Cassida (Cassida) Penelope: Spaeth, 1914 b: 119 .

Description. L: 5.40 mm, W: 3.80 mm, Lp: 2.00 mm, Wp: 3.25 mm, L/W: 1.42, Wp/Lp: 1.63. Body oval (fig. 320).

Dorsum yellow (figs. 320, 321), head and thorax yellow only posterior corners of metathorax infuscate. Legs and antennae yellow.

Pronotum elliptical, with maximum width in the middle, anterior margin regularly convex, sides subangulate, no basal corners. Disc indistinctly bordered from explanate margin except short lateral impressions, without lateral lobes. Surface of disc shiny, with fine and sparse punctation. Distance between punctures two to four times wider than puncture diameter, interspaces regular. Explanate margin broad, indistinctly, shallowly punctate, shiny, transparent with well visible honeycomb structure its surface from slightly alutaceous to slightly shiny, slightly irregular.

Base of elytra only slightly wider than base of pronotum, humeral angles moderately protruding anterad, subangulate. Disc regularly convex in profile (fig. 321), with shallow postscutellar and principal impressions, well marked H–shaped elevation and convex second interval. Punctation coarse and dense, arranged in completely regular rows, punctures in rows almost touching each other. Marginal row distinct, its punctures twice coarser than punctures in submarginal rows. Intervals mostly linear, except convex second interval which is as wide as rows, marginal interval distinct, with broad humeral and lateral folds. Explanate margin narrow, moderately declivous, in the widest part six times narrower than disc, surface shiny with shallow, but coarse and dense punctation, punctures of various size, surface appears irregular.

Eyes very large, gena obsolete. Clypeus broad, approximately 1.2 times as wide as long. Clypeal grooves fine but well marked, converging in triangle with obtuse top, surface of clypeus flat apically with two small impressions, its surface shiny, impunctate. Labrum broadly emarginate to 1/6 length. Antennae stout, segments 9–10 slightly transverse. Length ratio of antennal segments: 100:59:79:59:53:47:59:59:59:63:120. Segment 3 approximately 1.3 times as long as segment 2 and approximately 1.3 times as long as segment 4.

Prosternum moderately broad in the middle, strongly expanded apically, area between coxa flat, without special sculpture, expanded apex slightly convex, shiny, impunctate.

Claws with large basal tooth.

Distribution. Namibia and South Africa ( fig. 34 ).

Remarks. A very distinct species, at first glance more similar to some Palearctic members of the nominotypical subgenus than to any African species except C. oromiaensis . In general body shape and sculpture, C. penelope is similar to the East Palearctic species close to Cassida fuscorufa Motschulsky, 1866 but differs in an almost uniformly yellow body while Palearctic species have the dorsum reddish brown, brown to almost black and ventrites mostly black. Cassida oromiaensis at first glance is also similar to Palearctic members of the nominotypical subgenus but differs from C. penelope in the sides of the pronotum with irregular sculpture of punctures and wrinkles and explanate margin of pronotum and elytra deeply punctate with the surface appearing distinctly irregular while in C. penelope pronotal sides are only finely punctate without wrinkles, explanate margin of pronotum and elytra has very shallow punctures and the surface appears only slightly irregular. In C. penelope the posterolateral parts of the elytral disc are regularly punctate (fig. 321) while in C. oromiaensis additional punctures on the intervals disturb the regularity ( fig. 253 ). Both species are separated geographically as C. penelope is known only from southern Africa while C. oromianesis occurs in Ethiopia.

Type examined. Holotype: [ SOUTH AFRICA]: Cap. B. Spei, 1, Victorin. ( NRS).

Other specimens examined. NAMIBIA: Waterberg Plateau Park , 21 III 1992, 1, C.W. & L.B. O’Brien & G.B. Marshall ( LS) .

Figures

FIGURE 34. Distribution of Cassida penelope (black square), Cassida spatiosa (black circles) and Cassida spatiosiformis (black diamonds). FIGURE 35. Distribution of Cassida sphaerula (black circles) and Cassida oxylepiformia (black diamond).

FIGURES 252–253. Cassida oromiaensis. 254–255. Cassida patruelis. 252, 254. Dorsal; 253, 255. Lateral.