Caraguata onca Moura

Moura, Luciano De A., 2016, New species, new combinations and synonymies of Neotropical Galerucini (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae), Zootaxa 4066 (1), pp. 63-70 : 68-69

Caraguata onca Moura , sp. nov.

( Figs 9–13)

Types. Holotype male, BRAZIL, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Itaúba, 07.IV.1978, H. Bischoff col., MCN 27212 (MCNZ). Paratype female, ARGENTINA, Province of Chaco, Resistencia, XI.1935 (MLPA).

Description. Measurements, respectively male/female: body length, 5.9/ 6.9 mm; elytral length 4.5/ 5.6 mm; humeral width 2.3/ 2.7 mm.

Head surface rugosely punctate, with short hairs sparsely distributed; antennal tubercles weakly developed, separated by longitudinal sulcus that reaches base of subtriangular clypeus; a weakly developed tubercle present above each antennal tubercle, close to superior internal margin of eye. Eyes globose, small, greatest diameter subequal to length of gena. Labrum yellow, shiny, slightly emarginate medially, with four hairs directed toward ventral margin. Insertion of each antenna positioned at level of inferior portion of the eyes. Interocular distance approximately three times as great as space between antennal insertions. Antennae black, except for yellowtestaceous base and the ventral face of the scape, pedicel, and base and ventral basal half of antennomere III (in paratype ♀, also yellow-testaceous on ventral face of X and XI). Hairs sparsely distributed on first four antennomeres and, beginning with antennomere V, pubescence short and dense, interspersed with longer, erect hairs. Scape somewhat dilated towards apex, twice as long as pedicel; antennomere III longest; antennomere IV slightly longer than the V; antennomeres VI to X subequal in length with V, mildly enlarged in comparison with previous antennomeres. Antennomere XI slightly longer than X, acuminate.

Thorax yellow-testaceous, with the following pattern of black maculae on pronotum: one central spot with irregular shape (in female paratype, this spot Y-shaped, Fig. 9); on each side of central spot, a thin, long, curved stripe; a macula on lateral margin at mid-length. Surface of pronotum densely, rugosely punctate, with deep depression on each side of middle, with shallower medial impression next to the anterior margin. Lateral prothoracic margins sub-rounded; width almost twice as great as length, with greatest width at mid-length. One seta present on each anterior and posterior angle of pronotum. Short hairs present, sparsely distributed. Borders of the anterior, lateral and posterior margins enlarged. Anterior coxal cavities closed. Procoxae subcontiguous, not separated by visible invisible prosternal process. Mesosternum subtrapezoidal, with pubescence uniformly distributed, reaching middle of intermediate coxae; metasternum with shiny integument coated by dense pubescence. Femora fusiform, subequal in length to tibiae; tibiae somewhat dilated apically. Legs yellow with black median ring, apex of femora, and base and apical half of tibiae and tarsi. Male with small, acute tubercle apically on intermediate tibia and a small basal tubercle on the ventral face of protarsomere I; female without such tubercles. Pubescence of legs sparsely distributed, denser towards apex of tibiae. Tarsal claws bifid, with internal tooth somewhat convergent and slightly shorter than external tooth. Scutellum yellow-testaceous; punctation weakly marked; short hairs sparsely distributed. Elytra oval, convex, yellow-testaceous with small, black, circular spots throughout ( Fig. 9); dense punctation well-marked, interspersed with short, sparse pubescence. Epipleural margin cariniform, somewhat elevated, extending from the humerus to apex; epipleura well developed, subconcave, apically almost reaching sutural margin, covered by short, sparse hairs. Apical sutural margin of elytra round in male, with small, acute tooth in female.

Abdomen light-brown, with pubescence sparsely distributed; sternum I about twice as long as II; II to V subequal in length; V with deep, subtriangular, central emargination in male.

Aedeagus with median lobe sclerotized, curved in lateral view, with basal spurs thickened, well developed ( Fig. 11). Apex of median lobe pointed ( Fig. 12). Tegmen ( Fig. 13) hastiform and bifurcated near extremity forming two divergent arms, each arm with apex directed downward.

Distribution. Brazil (state of Rio Grande do Sul) and Argentina (province of Chaco).

Etymology. The specific name, from the Latin onca ( onça in Portuguese), means jaguar and refers to the pattern of round maculae on the elytra, similar to the fur of a jaguar.

Remarks. Caraguata onca sp. nov. bears a small basal tubercle on the ventral face of protarsomere I in males (females lack this structure) and an acute tooth at the posterior sutural angle of the elytra of females (round in males). To date, there have been no records of sexual dimorphism for these structures in the section Coelomerites, which includes the genus Caraguata . Such sexual dimorphism has however been observed in the section Schematizites: protarsomere I has a ventral tubercle in males of Yingaresca holosericea (Bowditch, 1923) , Y. difficilis (Bowditch, 1923) , Y. amazonica (Weise, 1921) , Schematiza flavofasciata (Klug, 1829) , and Brucita marmorata ( Jacoby, 1886) ( Wilcox 1965; Bechyné & Bechyné 1969; L. de A. Moura, unpublished data); and females have acuminate sutural angles of the elytra in the species of Neolochmaea ( Moura 1998c) , Iucetima ( Moura 1998b) , and Chlorolochmaea ( Bechyné & Bechyné 1969; Moura 1998a). Caraguata onca sp. nov. differs from all other species of the genus by the maculate pattern of the elytra, and by the sexually dimorphic characters of the anterior tarsi of males and the elytral apices of females.