Isopedhispa ferruginea Spaeth, 1936

Borowiec, Lech, Świętojańska, Jolanta & Sekerka, Lukáš, 2019, Revision of the tribe Cryptonychini (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) of New Caledonia, Zootaxa 4690 (1), pp. 1-71 : 33-35

Isopedhispa ferruginea Spaeth, 1936

( Figs 108–116 , 227)

Isopedhispa ferruginea Spaeth, 1936: 292 (original description); Gressitt 1957: 265 (noted), 1960a: 66 (noted), 1960b: 111 (revision); Uhmann 1952: 73 (noted), 1958: 206 (catalogue), 1964: 452 (catalogue).

Type locality. New Caledonia, Mt. Paniè .

Diagnosis. Very characteristic species by its strongly flattened and uniformly pale brown body; vertex and pronotum smooth only with fine, shallow and hardly visible punctures, pronotum punctate only in anterior half. The other species of Isopedhispa have pitch brown to black body and coarsely punctate vertex and pronotum.

Description. Length 7.25–7.75 mm, width 2.30–2.40 mm.

Entire body ferrugineous to ochraceous including antennae, legs and underside ( Fig. 108 ). Body glabrous except for yellowish hairs on frontoclypeus, short golden brown pubescence on distal antennomeres and golden orange pubescence on tarsal pads and apices of tibiae. Head transverse 2.2 × as wide as long, interocular plate rectangular, slightly convex flat, separated from vertex by deep sulcus, anterior corners of interocular plate forming straight angles, anterior and lateral margins not elevated, along each lateral margin with moderately deep sulcus. Surface of interocular plate finely and sparsely punctate with a few moderate punctures, not rugose, with deep median sulcus along whole length or extending only to ¾ length of plate, and transverse sulcus along anterior margin thus sulci forming T-shaped figure; interantennal process very short, in form of sharp triangular spine, flattened laterally, keelshaped, acute apically, without sulcus dorsally ( Fig. 111 ). Frontoclypeus elongate, 1.3 × as long as broad (including interantennal process), angulate apically, anterior corners forming triangular angulations, surface flat with a few moderately coarse and sparsely disposed punctures, without median keel, along sides with row of long gold hairs, and along middle with two rows of long golden hairs ( Fig. 110 ). Antennae 0.32 × as long as body, slightly compressed apically; antennomere I large, approximately 1.5 × as long as broad; antennomere II short, 1.5 × as long as broad, approximately 0.6 × as long as I; antennomeres III–V elongate, 1.2–1.3 × as long as II; antennomeres VI–X from as long as to slightly longer than antennomere II; antennomere XI 1.5 × as long as X, subangulate apically ( Fig. 109 ). Pronotum approximately as broad as long, subpentagonal, in anterior part with broad anterolateral projections, sides behyond projections shallowly concave, and in basal ⅓ length almost parallel, anterior margin strongly convex, basal margin very shallowly bisinuate to truncate; anterior angles obtuse without anterior tubercle, basal angles bearing small, sharp tooth or simple ( Fig. 112 ); disc flattened, without impressions, without median sulcus, in less punctate specimens only with two groups of a few punctures on sides of convex area above head, in more punctate specimens with two oblique groups of shallow, moderately large and moderately dense punctures running from posterolateral sides of convex area above head to half length of pronotum and several small punctures close to anterolateral and posterolateral corners, rest of pronotum smooth and shiny. Elytra 2.3–2.4 × as long as broad, subparallel-sided basally, slightly broadened posteriorly and widest somewhat behind middle. Apex of elytra rounded, without marked sutural and lateral angles. Disc with 9–11 punctures in scutellar row; eigth rows in posthumeral part, ten rows behind middle and ten rows apically; intervals mostly flat, narrower than rows, only interval 7 slightly elevated apically and humeral interval more or less elevated on whole length, on slope intervals 3 and 5 slightly elevated only on short distance and interval 7 more or less costate. Ventral surface mostly shiny, pronotal hypomera mostly smooth only close to anterior coxae with a few coarse punctures; prosternum smooth with extremely fine and sparse punctation, between coxae as wide as ⅓ width of coxa, without elevated anterior margin and sulcus along margin, expanded apex centrally flat, without impression, mesoventrite smooth and shiny, metaventrite along lateral sides with single row of coarse and dense punctures, central part smooth and shiny, anterior process without striation; abdomen mostly smooth and shiny only last ventrite with fine pricks. Legs stout, sexually dimorphic ( Figs 113–116 ).

Sexual dimorphism distinct, in males apical half of mid and hind tibiae with large expanded plate on inner margin ( Fig. 116 ) with distinct black spine apically and apex of last ventrite deeply emarginate; in females mid and hind tibiae stouter than in males but with convex inner margin, without expanded plate ( Fig. 115 ), apex of mid tibiae with minute black spine and apex of last ventrite shallowly emarginate.

Type material. Spaeth (1936) described I. ferruginea explicitly from a single specimen deposited in BMNH. Gressitt (1957, 1960a, 1960b) studied only the type specimen, which however, is not presently found in BMNH collection and is missing since 1974 (M. Geiser, pers. comm.). The present material from the type locality perfectly matches the description and therefore there is currently no need of neotype designation.

Additional material examined. NEW CALEDONIA: Mt. Paniè , 950 m, 16.v.1984, 9 ♂, 3 ♀, G. Monteith & D. Cook leg. ( QMBA, LS); Mt. Paniè, E trail, -20.5886, 164.7702, 1350–1629 m, 24.xi.2010, 1 ♂, 2 ♀, R. Ruta & M. Wanat leg. ( WMNH) .

Figures

FIGURES 108–116. Isopedhispa ferruginea Spaeth, 1936. 108. Body dorsal, 109. Antenna, 110. Frontoclypeus and prosternum, 111. Head dorsal, 112. Pronotum, 113. Fore leg of male, 114. Fore leg of female, 115. Mid leg of female, 116. Mid leg of male.