Meibomeus dirli Romero and Johnson

Romero, Jesús & Johnson, Clarence Dan, 2002, Five New Species Of Meibomeus Bridwell From The New World With Host Records For Them And Six Named Species (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 56 (2), pp. 182-202 : 183-187

Meibomeus dirli Romero and Johnson , new species

Male. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.5–1.6 mm. Width 0.7–0.8 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.5–0.6 mm.

Integument color. Integument black, not metallic; antennal segments, front legs, two thirds of mesofemur, mesotibia, mesotarsus, and two thirds of metatarsus and tip yellowish; eyes shiny black.

Vestiture. Moderately dense, pronotum with mixed golden and whitish hairs, with more dense golden hairs surrounding dense patch of white hairs on median basal lobe; scutellum covered with dense white hairs; elytra with moderately dense mixed golden and white hairs; dense white hairs on small apical portion of mesepisternum and ocular sinus; pygidium with moderately dense, short white and golden hairs, but with dense basal band of white somewhat longer hairs.

Structure. Head. Frons with fine medial longitudinal carina; eyes about 2.5 times as long as width of frons, in some specimens facets coarse, about two to three rows of facets behind ocular sinus; interocular ratio about 0.75–0.80; antenna extended to 0.25 to 0.30 length of elytron, pedicel about 0.75 of scape length and about 0.83–0.95 as long as segment 3, segment 11 about 1.5 times more elongate than 10, acuminate at apex.

Prothorax. Disk subcampanulate with many punctations in no apparent pattern; cervical sulcus deep, extending from near coxal cavity to 0.5 distance to pronotal midline;

Meibomeus apicicornis (Pic) : Desmodium incanum DC. : Panama. Canal Zone: 2 km S. Summit Gardens, III­28­80 ( CDJ # 2179­80 ). Mexico. Quintana Roo: 34 km NW Felipe Carrillo Puerto , III­9­1980 ( CDJ # 1804­80 ) .

M. howdeni Kingsolver and Whitehead : Indigofera platycarpa Rose : Mexico. Michoacan: 31 km N. Playa Azul , XII­30­1979 ( CDJ # 1233­79 ).

M. mitchelli Kingsolver and Whitehead : Desmodium sp. : Mexico. Oaxaca: 55 km SE Oaxaca, I­5­1979 ( CDJ # 578­79 ).

M. panamensis Kingsolver and Whitehead : Desmodium incanum : Panama. Canal

Zone: 2 km S. Summit Gardens, III­28­80 ( CDJ # 2179­80 ). Desmodium sp. : Colombia: Valle del Cauca: 46 km N. Roldanillo, VIII­20­1983 ( CDJ # 2582­83 ) .

M. ptinoides (Sharp) : Coursetia caribaea (Jacquin) Lavin var. caribaea : Mexico. Yucatan: 11 km SW Uman, I­1­1979 (CDJ # 498­79); Michoacan: 13 km W Playa Azul, XII­29­1979 (CDJ # 1187­79). Coursetia caribaea var. trifoliolata (Rydberg) Lavin : Mexico. Oaxaca: Tamazulapan, A. Delgado, Collector.

M. surrubresus (Pic) : Aeschynomene Americana L. : Mexico. Campeche : 29 km N. Francisco Escarcega, III­3­1980 ( CDJ # 1623­80 ); Michoacan: 13 km W Playa

Azul, XII­29­1979 (CDJ # 1174­79). Honduras. Corte : 17 km S. San Pedro Sula, III­20­1980 ( CDJ # 2025­80 ) ; Atlantida: 22 km SW LaCeiba , III­21­1980 ( CDJ # 2071­80 ) , 41 km ESE Tela , III­21­1980 ( CDJ # 2068­80 ) . Panama. Canal Zone : 1 km NE Gamboa, III­27­1980 ( CDJ # 2133­80 ) ; Herrera: 7 km S Ocu , III­30­1980 ( CDJ # 2216­80 ) , 11 km E Las Minas , III­30­1980 ( CDJ # 2226­80 ) ; Panama: 3 km W Chepo , IV­2­80 ( CDJ # 2272­80 ) . Colombia. Valle del Cauca: Bosque Choco , ca. 26 km NE Buenaventura, VIII­22­1983 ( CDJ # 2607­83 ) , ca. 30 km E Buenaventura , VIII­23­83 ( CDJ # 2620­80 ) , 5 km S Buga , VII­20­1982 ( CDJ # 2507­82 ) ; Cundinamarca: Manta , 1700 m, X­20­1983 ( CDJ # 3053­83 ) . Venezuela. Tachira: 23 km N San Cristobal, IX­25­1983 ( CDJ # 2901­83 ) ; Miranda : ca. 300’, Sta. Teresa, I­16­ 85 ( CDJ # 3634­85 ) , Cua , II­6­1989 ( CDJ # 4388­89 ) . Aeschynomene sp. : Ecuador. El Oro: Portovelo , VIII­31­1983 ( CDJ # 2683­83 ) . Venezuela. Portuguesa: ca. 400’, 4 km S Turen , I­22­1985 ( CDJ # 3749­85 ) ; Lara: ca. 900’, 30 km S Barquisimeto , I­22­1985 ( CDJ # 3735­85 ) ; Monagas: 7 km SE San Antonio de Maturin , III­9­1989 ( CDJ # 4683­89 ) . Colombia. Cundinamarca: 2500’, 25 km NE Tocaima , VIII­16­ 1984 ( CDJ # 3484­84 . Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC .: Mexico. Oaxaca: 28 km N Pochutla , I­4­1980 ( CDJ # 1355­80 ) . Rhynchosia calycosa Hemsl. : Panama. Canal Zone: Pipeline Road , 2 km NE Gamboa, III­27­1980 ( CDJ # 2136­80 ) .

lateral prothoracic carina vague, extending from base to about 0.3 distance to coxal cavity; prosternum separating procoxae for about 0.6 their length; short median basal line on median basal lobe often obscured by dense white hairs; a deep, broad, gentle, diagonal sulcus on either side of midline near base.

Mesothorax and Metathorax. Scutellum quadrate, bifurcate at apex; elytron without distinct basal gibbosity; stria 4 only slightly abbreviated basally by a smooth area, not ended by strong tooth, striae 3 and 5 slightly less abbreviated by smooth area; other striae subequal at base; elytron about twice as long as broad; striae deep, punctate; strial intervals punctulate; metasternum deep, rounded in profile; metasternum separated medially at apex by vague, short sulcus, without two strong spines projecting ventrally on either side of sulcus near apex; hind femur constricted basally and apically, expanded medially to slightly more than width of coxa ( Fig. 1); inner ventral surface without longitudinal carina; lateral margin of femur in a long gentle curve to apex; lateral margin without minute spines from near base to a single spine about 0.60 from base, spine about 0.5 as long as width of tibial base; inner margin with 3 subapical acuminate spines beginning about 0.3 from apex; each spine about 0.6 as long as width of tibial base; tibia with ventral, lateroventral, lateral and dorsomesal glabrous carinae; dorsal surface of tibia rugulose, without fossa; tibial corona with one vague lateral spinule, mucro small, about 0.1 as long as first tarsomere; tarsomere 1 with vague ventral, lateral and mesal longitudinal carinae.

Abdomen. First abdominal sternum with polished lateral apical band, sternum flattened medially; sterna 2–4 unmodified, fifth sternum elongate, 3.0 times as long as fourth, gently curved at apex, not emarginate, apex produced ventrally. Pygidium with many fine punctations, narrow, apex narrow, curved ventrad at apex.

Genitalia. Median lobe very thin, elongate, apex broad, about 2 times wider than remainder of median lobe; ventral valve broadly Y­shaped, apex bent ventrally, emarginate at apex; dorsal valve less sclerotized, blunt apically; apical one­half of internal sac lined with fine spicules ( Fig. 2 ). Lateral lobes elongate, cleft to one­fifth their length, apex of lobes more strongly sclerotized, with strong setae at apex of lobes, apices strongly bent ventrad ( Fig. 3 ).

Female. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.5–1.6 mm. Width 0.7–0.8 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.5–0.6 mm.

Similar to male except antenna with segments 6–10 dark brown; antenna extended to about 0.25 length of elytron; lateral margin of femur in a long gentle curve to apex, with a single spine about 0.60 from base, spine about 0.3 as long as width of tibial base; inner margin with 3–4 subapical acuminate spines beginning about 0.3 from apex; fifth abdominal sternum small, about 2.0 as long as fourth, apex not produced ventrally.

Host Plants. Desmodium cajanifolium (Kunth) DC. : Panama: Canal Zone: Pipeline Road, 2 km NE Gamboa, 27­III­80, C.D. Johnson collector (CDJ #2137­80).

Type Series. Holotype male, allotype female and paratypes: Panama: Canal Zone: Pipeline Road, 2 km NE Gamboa , 27­III­80, reared seeds no. 2137–80, C.D. Johnson collector . Holotype, allotype, and several paratypes deposited in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History , Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Paratypes deposited in the CDJ, JRN, AT, CIB, and FDA collections.

Distribution. Panama (Canal Zone).

Discussion. Meibomeus dirli is very similar to M. campbelli Kingsolver and Whitehead in its structures and keys to that species in Kingsolver and Whitehead (1976). Meibomeus campbelli has apical spines at the apex of the metasternum that M. dirli lacks. M. campbelli has minute spines from near the base on the lateral margin of the hind femur that M. dirli lacks ( Fig. 1). The inner margin of the hind femur has three subapical acuminate spines of M. dirli but the femur of M. campbelli has four. The very complex apex of the median lobe of M. campbelli is very similar to the male genitalia of this species but the median lobe of M. dirli is more narrow. See the discussion of M. rodneyi for more information on this group of species.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Dirl Lee Johnson, father of the second author.

Figures

Figs. 2–3. Meibomeus dirli male genitalia. 2) Median lobe; 3) lateral lobes.