Ceratophila (Vovidesa) chipjonesi Tang & Gomez Dominguez, 2022

Tang, William & Dominguez, Hector Gomez, 2022, Two new species of Pharaxonothinae beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) inhabiting cones of the cycad Ceratozamia santillanii Pérez-Farr. & Vovides (Cycadales: Zamiaceae) in Mexico, Zootaxa 5150 (3), pp. 428-442 : 432-434

Ceratophila (Vovidesa) chipjonesi Tang & Gomez Dominguez , new species

( Figs. 4A–J , 5A–H )

Adult diagnosis. Distinguished from other Ceratophila (Vovidesa) species by male with subapical emarginations on tibiae, submentum of both sexes with dense punctures and setae, male submental setae projecting laterally, pronotum relatively long and narrow with pronotal width to pronotal width = 0.78–0.86; male genitalia with median lobe nearly laterally flattened and curved, parameres triangular in lateral view, and with a known distribution in Mexico, state of Chiapas, on Ceratozamia santillanii .

Adult male description. Length 3.83–5.04 mm, width 1.45–1.83 mm (n = 10). Body in dorsal view elongateoval, greatest width at middle of elytra; in lateral view convex dorsally. General body color brown ( Figs. 4A–F ), head, pronotum and elytra concolorous; dorsal surface punctate, shining, short procumbent hairs associated with punctation; ventrally shining except meso- and metaventrites and oval areas on the lateral portions of the abdominal ventrites subshining to alutaceous, appearing glabrous except meso- and metaventrites and shining portions of abdomen covered with long procumbent setae.

Head in dorsal view conical, gradually narrowed anteriorly, surface flat to slightly convex, finely, moderately punctured ( Figs. 4A, D ), average distance between closest punctures 2× width of puncture; width 0.75–0.90 mm; dorsal interocular distance 0.47–0.57 mm, head width/dorsal interocular distance ratio 1.55–1.63, ventral interocular distance 0.35–0.42 mm, head width/ventral interocular distance ratio 2.07–2.24. Eye with large black facets. Antennal length approximately equal to pronotal width, 1.5× head width; antennomere I (scape) fairly large, slightly elongate, antennomere II subequal to III; IV–VIII small, width equals length; club fairly large, IX and X similar in length, XI slightly longer, globular with acuminate apex. Clypeus truncate anteriorly, moderately punctate, with narrow margin. Mentum with moderate punctation, distance between nearest punctures ~ 1× own width; submentum finely, densely punctate, each puncture with a long seta ~ 2–3× width of eye facet, setae projecting laterally ( Figs. 4E–F ). Gular area smooth, without punctation or setae, border with submentum usually marked with a shallow depression without punctation. Mandibles arcuate-triangular, apically with 3 teeth ( Figs. 4D–E ).

Thorax with pronotum moderately transverse in dorsal view with marginal beads basally and laterally, anterior margin with weak bead, reduced to absent medially; length/width ratio (PL/PW) = 0.81–0.86, rectangular; anterior and posterior angles present, anterior angles projecting; lateral carinae expanding in basal 1/10 to parallel sides, sometimes slightly emarginated, parallel for 50% of length, then gradually converging to anterior angles; posterior margin slightly projecting medially, projection beginning approximately by pair of small, dark pores located 1/5 length of posterior margin from posterior corners and touching and just anterior to marginal bead, pores mark base of longitudinal furrows onto disc. Prosternum in ventral view convex; anterior margin slightly emarginate, finely denticulate with row of long, anteriorly directed setae, longest setae ~ 1/3 length of eye. Hypomeron laterally apparently lacking punctures; medially with longitudinal striations. Elytra in dorsal view elongate-oval, convex; length/width 1.74–1.90, greatest width near midlength; without marginal line basally; 10 complete striae of moderate puncture size, scutellary striole extending ¼ elytral length, with 9–14 punctures; intervals of striae with fine, shallow punctures of similar size to strial punctures. All punctures of elytra bearing a single fine, procumbent seta; seta often only visible in profile (often abraded), due to poor preservation unclear whether interval puncture setae are longer than strial puncture setae as in other members of the subgenus. Punctation on meso- and metaventrite moderate to dense, distance between nearest punctures 1–2× width of punctures, puncture depth shallow. Metaventrite long, convex laterally, slightly impressed medially, metathoracic discrimen extending slightly over 3/4 metaventrite length. Legs with procoxa oval; mesocoxa globular; metacoxa transversely elongate-oval; trochanters obliquely truncate apically; in males all femora swollen, stout, dorso-ventral width greater than eye length ( Figs. 4A–C ); protibia with shallow medial subapical emargination, meso- and metatibia with a distinct medial subapical emargination Figs. 4A, C ); all tibiae obliquely truncate at apex, with complete fringe of fine spinules on anterior and posterior margins; protibia swollen, not flattened in cross section notably larger than other tibiae, triangularly dilated to apex; mesotibia weakly swollen, moderately triangularly dilated to apex; metatibia narrowed, weakly dilating to midlength then slightly narrowing to apex; pro- and mesotarsi greatly enlarged, corresponding tarsomere I width ~ 3× own length, metatarsomere I width ~ own length.

Abdomen. Ventrite I with intercoxal process narrow, with triangular point anteromedially, lateral edges slightly projected, lateral and posterior margins arcuate, converging posteriorly; anterior and posterior margins of ventrites more or less straight; ventrite I longer medially than II; II–IV subequal in length; V slightly longer than IV with lateral margins converging posteriorly to a rounded apex; apical margin bearing short, dense setae; all ventrites strongly alutaceous laterally, less so and glossy medially, bearing dense, moderate, shallow punctation, distance to nearest puncture ~ 1× width of puncture, punctures bearing mostly reclining setae; ventrites I–V with setae length ~ 2–3× width of puncture; I–V each with 2 or more median pairs of longer, semi-erect sensory hairs obscured in dense setation, V with additional 4–5 pairs of long semi-erect hairs located postero-laterally, but not at submargin. Male genitalia (n=3) with genital capsule fringed with fine setae ( Fig. 4H ); as in all other known members of the genus, tegmen and median lobe held upside down in body ( Tang et al. 2018a,b), tegmen sclerotized, triangular, ( Figs. 4G ); parameres in dorso-ventral view approximately parallel-sided, length/width ratio = 2.3–2.7, rounded apex with 6+ setae, 1 or 2 setae also visibly projecting just posteriad of center of inner margins, length of all setae <width of paramere, in lateral view parameres triangular ( Figs. 4I–J ); median lobe laterally compressed, sclerotized, in lateral view strongly curved, apex tapering to a point. Ratio of penile strut length to median lobe length 1.65–1.82 ( Fig. 4G ).

Female. Generally similar to male, except for sexual dimorphism ( Figs. 5A–F ). Length 3.69–4.84 mm, width 1.42–1.77 mm (n = 13). Head width 0.72–0.87 mm; dorsal interocular distance 0.46–0.54 mm, head width/dorsal interocular distance ratio 1.55–1.63, ventral interocular distance 0.33–0.39 mm, head width/ventral interocular distance ratio 2.09–2.33; submentum densely punctate, but unlike male setae short, not projecting ( Figs. 5E–F ). Pronotum on average slightly wider than in male, PL/PW = 0.78–0.82; elytra length/width 1.70–1.80, on average shorter than male; legs unmodified, fore and middle legs not swollen, femora dorso-ventral width about equal to eye length, all tibia gradually dilating to narrowly triangular apex; tibia lacking median subapical emarginations; all legs with tarsomere I width ~ own length; metaventrite flattened medially, not impressed; metaventrite and abdomen less densely punctate and setose than in male. Genitalia (n = 3): gonostylus set apically on gonocoxite, gonostylus cylindrical, slightly tapering toward apex, length = 2.6–3.3× width ( Fig. 5G ); spermatheca C-shaped, surface texture smooth throughout, apex rounded, arc of unsclerotized tissue appearing very small or absent in central third, spermathecal duct located at tip of base, glandular duct attached dorsally on basal third midway between apex and arc of unsclerotized tissue, short and connected to a spherical gland with diameter <width of spermatheca base ( Fig. 5H ).

Type locality. Mexico, Chiapas, near the border of Reserva de Biosfera Selva el Ocote [GPS and locality name omitted], forest understory on limestone .

Range. The original description of the host of this beetle species, Ceratozamia santillanii , indicates its range as the northern highlands of Chiapas State, including the Ocote Biosphere Reserve ( Pérez-Farrera et al. 2009).

Material examined. Holotype (by designation) male of C. chipjonesi with the following labels: 1) [rectangular; white; printed in black ink] “ MEXICO, Chis , [GPS and locality omitted], cone Ceratozamia santillanii ♂, 16- V-2021, H. Gomez Dominguez & M. Jones ”; 2) [rectangular; red; printed in black ink] HOLOTYPE ♂ Ceratophila chipjonesi Tang & Gomez Dominguez 2022 . Deposited in the FSCA . Allotype ( FSCA) and 38 adult paratypes (same data as holotype) deposited at ANIC, FSCA, IEXA, NHMUK, NZAC, UNAM, USNM .

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Malcolm “Chip” Jones for his contributions to cycad conservation and horticulture.

Remarks. This species is closely related to Ceratophila (Vovidesa) vazquezi , which, based on the principal component analysis ( Fig. 1 ), appears widely distributed in central Veracruz and Hidalgo. Both C. (V.) chipjonesi and C. (V.) vazquezi share the diagnostic characters of males with meso- and metatibia with a distinct medial subapical emargination and mentum with long setae projecting laterally. Ceratophila (V.) chipjonesi differs mainly in possessing a longer, narrower pronotum (see results of PCA above). On the one male cone of Ceratozamia santillanii sampled for this paper, C. (V.) chipjonesi accounted for 70% of adult Pharaxonothinae collected, while Pharaxonotha perezi (see below) accounted for 25% of adult Pharaxonothinae in the cone. A third undescribed Pharaxonotha , with a distribution that appears to extend north into Veracruz, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí (Tang, unpublished data) was also collected on the cone in small numbers (5%).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Scatter plot score derived from the functions produced by stepwise discriminant analysis of 3 anatomical characters from five populations of Ceratophila: A: males; B: females. PC1 is related to the two characters of: ratio of pronotal length to pronotal width (PL/PW) and ratio of pronotal length to elytra length (PL/EL). PC2 is related to the character: ratio of head width to ventral interocular distance (HW/VI)

FIGURE 4. Ceratophila chipjonesi male holotype: A–F: A–C) dorsal, lateral and ventral habitus; D–F) head dorsal, lateral and ventral views, arrow indicates tuff of setae projecting laterally from submentum; G) tegmen attached to median lobe, (top to bottom) ventral and lateral views; H) male genital capsule, ventral view; I) parameres of tegmen, ventral view; J) paramere, lateral view. Scale bars: white = 1 mm for A, B & C; brown = 0.5 mm for D, E & F; gray = 0.5 mm for G & H; black = 0.1 mm for I & J.

FIGURE 5. Ceratophila chipjonesi female: A–C) allotype dorsal, lateral and ventral habitus; D–F) head dorsal, lateral and ventral views; G) female genitalia, ventral view; H) spermatheca. Scale bars: white = 1 mm for A, B & C; brown = 0.5 mm for D, E & F; gray = 0.5 mm for G; black = 0.1 mm for H.