Scirtes diversenotatus Pic, 1930

Ruta, Rafał & Libonatti, María Laura, 2016, Redescriptions of Scirtidae (Coleoptera: Scirtoidea) described by Carl Henrik Boheman (1796 – 1868) with notes on Scirtes adustus diversenotatus Pic, 1930, Zootaxa 4072 (2), pp. 203-216 : 212-214

Scirtes diversenotatus Pic, 1930 stat. nov.

( Figs 10 , 11 , 12 )

Scirtes adustus var. diversenotatus Pic, 1930: 43 (type locality: Argentina: La Paz, Córdoba)

Type material (1 specimen, BR). Holotype, male. “LA PAZ (Dep. San Javier) \ Córdoba. \ 15-31.XII.1928. C. Bruch” [white label, printed]; “ Typus ” [green label, handwritten by Bruch]; “ Scirtes \ adustus var. \ diversenotatus Pic ” [white label, handwritten by Bruch]; “ Scirtes adustus \ v. nov . \ diversenotatus ” [white label, handwritten by Pic].

Additional material studied. 17 specimens ( MLLC): 1 ♂, Jujuy Province, Calilegua National Park, La Lagunita, 7.XII.2011, sweep netting, M. L. Libonatti; 12 specimens, same locality except they were collected as larvae: 4 ♂ and 1 ♀, emerged 14.XII.2011; 1 ♀, emerged 15.XII.2011; 2 ♀, emerged 18.XII.2011; 1 ♂, emerged 20.XII.2011; 1 ♀, emerged 22.XII.2011; 2 ♀, emerged 27.XII.2011; 4 specimens, Jujuy Province, Calilegua National Park, Piletón, collected as larvae 8.XII.2011: 1 ♀, emerged 17.XII.2011; 1 ♂, emerged 23.XII.2011; 1 ♂, emerged 24.XII.2011; 1 ♀, emerged 31.XII.2011.

Redescription. Holotype, male. Body oval, slightly convex, shining, densely covered with white-yellow setae. Head brown with reddish-yellow inner eye margin, pronotum with dark brown central portion and reddish-yellow sides, scutellum reddish-yellow with brownish basal part, elytra brown, with a longitudinal portion lighter in colour than sides. Antennomeres 2 and 3 yellowish, remaining brown. Ventral surface and legs brown, except apices of fore and middle femora, base and apex of tibiae and tarsi, which are yellowish.

Head moderately convex, covered with very fine punctures which are separated by ca. 1.0–2.0 diameters; clypeus moderately long, transversely rectangular, front margin shallowly arcuate. Eyes moderately large, HW/IS 1.8. Antennae filiform. Pronotum slightly convex, punctures similar to those on head; anterolateral angles slightly projecting anteriorly; posterolateral angles almost right-angled; posterior margin very subtly bisinuate; PW/PL 2.3. Scutellar shield finely punctate, like head and pronotum, equilateral-triangular. Elytra oblong-oval, sides rounded, punctures a little coarser than on head and pronotum, separated by ca. 2.0–3.0 diameters; humeri slightly elevated; EL/EW 1.1; EL/PL 3.6; EW/PW 1.4; TL/EW 1.4. Hind tibial spurs slightly curved, dorsal one ca. 0.6 X as long as tarsomere 1, ventral one 0.5 X as long as dorsal one.

Penis asymmetrical, elongated, flat in posterior 2/3, with serrate right margin; tegmen symmetrical, central part parallel-sided, with a single basal apodeme and broad triangular apical parameres; sternites absent; tergite 8 with very broad subrectangular apical plate, which extends laterally and ventrally and surrounds tergite 9, tegmen and penis, lateral and basal margins sclerotized, the latter connected to a pair of short, parallel apodemes.

Female. TL 2.75–3.67, body brownish. Tergite 8 broad, lateral parts extending ventrally and surrounding part of the ovipositor and sternite 8. Prehensor half-moon-shaped; bursal sclerite subrectangular, with two spines.

Sexually dimorphic characters. Apical third of elytra with longer setae in females (absent in males). Tergite 7 with microtrichia on lateral parts only (completely covered with microtrichia in males), posterior margin parabolic (rounded in males). Ventrite 5 with a pair of foveae (absent in males).

Measurements. Male, n = 1. TL 3.24 mm, PL 0.73 mm, PW 1.59 mm, EL 2.63 mm, EW 2.30 mm.

Variability. TL in additional studied specimens: males (n = 8): 2.66–3.21 (mean 2.94) mm; females (n = 9): 2.75–3.67 (mean 3.26) mm. As in S. adustus , males of this species vary in the degree of dark colouration on elytra and in the size of the pronotal area covered by a brownish mark.

Distribution. Argentina: Córdoba and Jujuy Provinces.

Remarks. Pic described Scirtes adustus var. diversenotatus before 1961, he expressly used the term “variety” and his work does not unambiguously reveal that the name was proposed for an infrasubspecific entity, and accordingly diversenotatus has subspecific rank from its original publication (ICZN, article 45.6). Despite their superficial resemblance, however, upon close examination of type material of each subspecies together with newly collected material, we found several differences to support the recognition of diversenotatus at specific rank. Scirtes diversenotatus differs from S. adustus in the following: subrectangular plate of tergite 8 (subtrapezoidal in S. adustus ), tegmen with central part parallel-sided (sides very curved, widened at middle, narrowing gradually towards the apex in S. adustus ), larger parameres than in S. adustus , penis lacking hook-like projection (present in S. adustus ), bursal sclerite with two spines (three spines in S. adustus ), long setae on female elytra extended over a larger area than in S. adustus . Moreover, S. diversenotatus was found at approx. 700 m elevation whereas S.

adustus was collected at localities near sea level. Some specimens of both species are also very similar in colouration to Scirtes testaceicollis Pic, 1913 (from Brazil) and S. boliviensis Pic, 1915 (from Bolivia), but the genitalic morphology of these species is very different (Libonatti, in prep.).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Scirtes diversenotatus. A) holotype, male; B) male from Calilegua National Park; C) elytron of female from Calilegua National Park. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 11. Scirtes diversenotatus, male genitalia. A) terminalia and genitalia; B) penis, ventral aspect; C) penis, lateral aspect; D) tegmen, dorsal aspect; E) tergite 8; F) tergite 9. Scale bar = 0.50 mm.

FIGURE 12. Scirtes diversenotatus, female genitalia. A) tergite 8, sternite 8 and ovipositor, ventral aspect; B) tergite 8, sternite 8 and ovipositor, close-up; C) genital organs (except ovaries), dorsal aspect; D) bursal sclerite; E) prehensor. Scale bar = 0.50 mm (A, B, C), 0.10 mm (D, E). Abbreviations: bsa: bursa, bscl: bursal sclerite, bsl: bursella, gla: accessory gland, op: ovipositor, pr: prehensor, st 8: sternite 8; tg 8: tergite 8.