Epicauta (Macrobasis) sorjuanae Pinto, 2019

Pinto, John D., 2019, Two New Species of Meloidae (Coleoptera) from Mexico, The Coleopterists Bulletin 73 (4), pp. 1007-1012 : 1008-1009

Epicauta (Macrobasis) sorjuanae Pinto , new species

Zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F7A6E176-FC2E-42C4-BD8C-1D49B11AE50A ( Figs. 1, 2, 4 )

Description. Male. Moderately slender; length = 9–13 mm (mean = 10.3 mm). Black except head capsule orange with black restricted to gula and area between base of antennae and below eyes. Vestiture short, decumbent, dense except on head, dark brown to black, not affecting body color. Head: Subquadrate, widest at eyes, length 0.78X (0.75–0.81) width at eyes, 0.83X (0.79–0.88) width immediately above eyes; interocular distance half head width at eyes; head capsule bisected by a fine line extending from vertex to base of occiput; punctures fine, relatively dense on frons, becoming sparser on vertex and occiput, both areas with numerous punctures separated by a distance exceeding their diameter. Eyes moderately bulged, narrowly, distinctly emarginate with dorsal lobe much shorter and narrower than ventral lobe, ventral lobe extending to outer margin of maxilla on underside of head, maximum eye width ca. 0.40X head length. Antennae moderately robust, subfiliform, tapering slightly to apex, moderately long with apex of antennomere 3 reaching top of head and antennomere 1 very slightly impressed anteroapically; antennomeres subcylindrical with antennomere 2 about half the length of antennomere 3; exserted setae very short, inconspicuous; length/width ratios of antennomeres (in holotype): 40/15, 16/12, 35/16, 23/16, 27/15, 26/15, 26/14, 25/13, 25/13, 24/13, 33/ 11. Mandibles strongly curved to apex, not extending beyond apex of labrum. Maxillary and labial palpi slightly enlarged, broadened; last maxillary palpomere without setae on ventral surface. Thorax: Pronotum subcampaniform, widest across basal margin, length and width subequal [mean length/ width ratio = 1.03 (0.98–1.08)], width at apical third 0.92X (0.90–0.96) basal width; disk with shallow median depression at base and obsolescent longitudinal median line; punctures relatively small, very dense, crowded. Wing membrane dark. Protibia unicalcarate; posterior apical spur exserted, curved slightly, anterior apical spur absent; metatibia with a well-developed apical comb of 6 teeth on medial surface; metatibial spurs similar, bladelike, apex acute and slightly pallid; tarsi with light-colored pads ventrally on all segments but restricted to apex of tarsomere 1 on middle and hind legs; tarsomeres 1 and 2 of protarsi subequal in length. Abdomen: Last ventrite broadly, shallowly emarginate.

Female. Unknown.

Types. Holotype ♂: MEXICO: Puebla: Las Pe ~ nas, 4.5 mi. SE; ix-5-1972; Byers and Thornhill ; deposited in SEMC. Five paratypes: MEXICO: Oaxaca: Huajuapan, 21 km NW; x-14-1978; E. Giesbert; 1♂; UCRC. Teotitlán, 12.8 mi. S; viii-4-1975; Taylor and Sullivan; 1♂; UCRC. Valerio Trujano; vii-28-1937; 1♂; CAS. Petalcingo; xi-25-1963; A. E. and M. M. Michelbacher; 2♂; EMEC.

Additional Material. Dr. Mario Garc´ıa-Par´ıs, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales , Madrid, Spain, informed me of the following additional records of E. sorjuanae . Puebla: San José Axuxco (Petlanco); xi-5-1988; [in the collection of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Estación de Biolog´ıa (Chamela]. Oaxaca: Cuicatlán, 26 km SSE; 17°36.988’N, 96°55.392’W; x-17-1998 [in the collection of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México México, DF]. Dr. Garc´ıa-Par´ıs provided a photograph of a specimen from San José Axuxco. Requests to the collections involved to borrow this additional material either were not received or went unanswered.

Geographic Distribution. Known only from Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico .

Seasonal Distribution. Seven records from 4 August 4 to 17 October.

Etymology. Named after Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 17 th century Mexican nun, scholar, dramatist, and early feminist.

Remarks. Subgeneric placement of E. sorjuanae is indicated by the structure of antennomere 1 (arcuate posterior surface) and presence of an apical metatibial comb, two features found only in Macrobasis (Selander and Mathieu 1969; Pinto 1991). The single protibial spur and slightly modified antennomere 1 in males as well as the relatively short antennomere 2 best places the new species in the Funesta Group. Within Macrobasis , coloration alone separates E. sorjuanae from all described species ( Fig. 1 ). The only other North American Epicauta with an orange head and remainder of the body black is a form of Epicauta atrata (Fabricius) of the nominate subgenus. That species occurs predominantly in eastern USA and extends south only into northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León) ( Pinto 1991).

Within the Funesta group, E. sorjuanae is most similar to Epicauta atripilis Champion , also from southern Mexico, and it keys to that species in Pinto (1991). Coloration and certain more subtle features easily separate the two species. The predominantly orange head capsule, fine, relatively sparse punctation on the head ( Fig. 2 ), and in males, the subequal first and second tarsomeres, exserted apical protibial spur ( Fig. 4 ), and slightly enlarged palpi characterize E. sorjuanae . In E. atripilis , cuticle coloration, including that of the head, is black, punctation on the vertex and occiput is coarser and considerably more dense ( Fig. 3 ), and in males the first tarsomere is distinctly longer than the second, the apical protibial spur is straight ( Fig. 5 ), and the maxillary and labial palpi are unmodified. The male genitalia are similar in both species.

Figures

Figs. 1–5. Epicauta species. 1) E. sorjuanae, holotype ♂ habitus (body length = 13 mm); 2) E. sorjuanae, head; 3) E. atripilis, head; 4) E. sorjuanae, ♂ protibia; 5) E. atripilis, ♂ protibia.