Notaepytus fulvitarsis (Lacordaire) Skelley, 2009

Skelley, Paul E., 2009, Pleasing fungus beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (82), pp. 1-94 : 69-71

Notaepytus fulvitarsis (Lacordaire) , new combination

Figure 1b , 87 , 95 , 115-117 , 126-127 , 139 , 149-151

Ischyrus fulvitarsis Lacordaire 1842: 129 ~ Crotch 1876: 432 (56); Gemminger and Harold 1876: 3690; Gorham 1898: 335; Kuhnt 1909: 62; Kuhnt 1911: 42; Leng and Mutchler 1914: 412; Blackwelder 1945: 465; Skelley 1998b: 14.

“ Episcapha fulvitarsis Mannerheim ” in Lacordaire 1842: 129 [nomen nudum].

Oocyanus fulvitarsis (Lacordaire) ~ Curran 1944: 3-4.

Epytus fulvitarsis (Lacordaire) ~ Alvarenga 1994: 18; Perez-Gelabert 2008: 108.

Diagnosis. This species is distinguished by: apical and subapical orangish marks on elytra with a variable transverse band on the basal third, long metasternum, fully-developed wings, orangish marks of pronotal anterior angle not extending posteriorly past middle of pronotum ( Fig. 95 , 126-127 ), and male genitalia with flagellum possessing broad subapical ventral processes.

Description. Length: 5.5-9.2 mm; width: 2.6-4.5 mm. Body elongate, somewhat flattened; surface weakly microreticulate, glossy or satiny. Color black except as noted: antennae, palpi, and legs red-brown; antennomere XI always paler than antennomeres IX-X; pronotal hypomeron usually red-brown; pronotal anterior angles with red-brown to orangish spot, restricted to anterior half of pronotal sides, spot occasionally separated from lateral margin by narrow extension of black, rarely with small vague spot in middle of pronotal disc; elytra with orangish jagged bands of variable development at basal third and apical quarter, in addition to the orangish apical spot, subapical band and apical spot usually separated; elytral epipleuron reddish beyond basal quarter; abdominal ventrites laterally red-brown, apical abdominal ventrites entirely red-brown.

Head interocular width = 3.0-3.5 x ocular width; vertex and epistome finely punctate, puncture size = 0.33 x ocular facet diameter, separated by 2-3 x their diameter, vertex punctures becoming coarser at base; epistome anterior margin truncate to shallowly concave. Eyes moderately to coarsely faceted. Antennomere III length = 3-4 x width, antennomere III length slightly less than length of antennomeres IV+V combined; antennomeres IV-VIII equal in length, each with length = 2 x width; antennomere IX triangular, length = 1.0-1.5 x width; antennomere XI circular to slightly elongate. Terminal maxillary palpomere triangular, slightly asymmetrical, slightly wider than long. Terminal labial palpomere triangular, asymmetrical, width = 2 x length, expanded medially, width = 1.2 x terminal maxillary palpomere.

Pronotum transverse; punctures on disc equal to those on vertex in size and distribution; often with small group of indistinct larger punctures at each side of base. Scutellum pentagonal, length = 0.5-0.75 x width. Elytral striae punctures weak, often obscure; intervals with fine punctures indistinct or obscured in microreticulations; surface glossy or satiny with extremely fine, short pubescence. Wings present, fully developed.

Prosternum flat to slightly convex, length = 2.0-2.5 x intercoxal width; sternal punctures fine and obscure, surface occasionally with long, fine pubescence; sternal lines usually continuous around coxal cavity; base shallowly concave. Mesosternal lines parallel to slightly divergent anteriorly, not continuous around coxal cavity. Metasternum long, distance between meso- and metacoxae = 1.6-1.8 x intermesocoxal width; anterior lines usually meeting medially; continuous or not around mesocoxal cavity, occasionally with short coxal line; punctures fine, obscured, widely scattered. Abdomen with coxal lines not meeting medially; line continuous or not around metacoxal cavity, often with short coxa line; general punctation fine and indistinct. Male genitalia with flagellum bearing a dorsal, elongate oval, cartilaginous mass on apical quarter; apex acute with a thickened ventral subapical process that projects caudally ( Fig. 87 , 115- 117 ).

Distribution. Found on Hispaniola in various mountain ranges ( Fig. 139 ).

Type Material. Lacordaire described Ischyrus fulvitarsis and stated it was from “De Haïty. Je l’ai recu de M. Reiche [...]”. The specimen in Crotch’s collection ( CUMZ) is labeled “/ [green paper, hand written] Haïty / [blue paper] TYPE / [white paper] TYPE [hand written] fulvitarsis R /” ( Fig. 151 ). Skelley (1998b) discussed that the ‘R’ on Crotch’s labels indicated specimens came from Reiche’s collection. Lacordaire (1842) made no indication in the description that there was more than one specimen. In other descriptions he indicated variations or made statements about specimens studied, but in this description he used the term “it” at least twice. Thus, he likely had a single specimen on which the description is based. The specimen in CUMZ ( Fig. 149-151 ) fits the description and has data showing it was part of the material Lacordaire studied. Therefore, that specimen should be considered the holotype (which is unfortunate, see remarks below), and a red holotype label has been placed on it: “/ [red paper] HOLOTYPE Ischyrus fulvitarsis Lac. , det. P.Skelley-08 /”.

Specimens Examined. A total of 115 specimens presently considered N. fulvitarsis were studied. Their label data are presented in the Appendix.

Variation. Much variation occurs in several characters, most notably the color pattern and body size. Members show regional variations which warrant mentioning below.

One variation is represented only by the holotype. This specimen has large anterior pronotal spots, larger general body size (length 8.9 mm), and solid black legs that are the same color as venter, which may be discolored due to age or preservation. Unfortunately, the holotype is female, so male genitalic features are not available, and its locality of capture is unclear.

A second variation is widespread in the Cordillera Central and similar to the holotype in most respects: generally larger anterior pronotal spots ( Fig. 126 ), generally larger body size (length 7.0- 9.2 mm), and male flagellum with thickened subapical process well separated from the acute apex (10 males dissected) ( Fig. 116 ). However, these differs from the holotype in leg color which varies from entirely pale reddish-brown contrasting with the venter to having darker bases of the femora and tibiae. Discoloration of leg color is obvious in some specimens.

A third variation occurs in specimens from the western part of the Cordillera Central in Dajabon Province, the Cordillera Septentrional, and the Cordillera Oriental. These specimens differ from specimens in the main part of the Cordillera Central in being smaller in body size (length 5.5-7.5 mm) and having slightly smaller orangish dorsal markings ( Fig. 127 ). Otherwise, these smaller specimens are similar in leg color and male genitalia (8 males dissected, Fig. 115 ).

A single female specimen from the eastern Cordillera Central (Monseñor Noel Province) is similar to those from the rest of the Cordillera Central with darkened femoral bases, but this female has an entirely black pronotal hypomeron. All other variations have an orangish hypomeron. Considering the darker legs, the possibility exists that the pronotal hypomeron and legs are simply discolored.

A small series of specimens is known from the eastern Sierra de Baoruco. These specimens are externally similar to specimens from the Cordillera Central, with larger body size, larger anterior pronotal spots, and entirely pale reddish-brown legs contrasting with the venter. However, the single available male from the Sierra de Baoruco has the thickened subapical process on the flagellum narrowly separated from acute apex ( Fig. 117 ).

Remarks. The holotype and the majority of those from the Cordillera Central differ only in leg color. Individuals from the Cordillera Central differ enough to consider the holotype a discolored specimen. In fact, in strong lighting, the forelegs of the holotype appear to be entirely reddish-brown. The holotype is suspected to be from the same geographic region, possibly in the vicinity of Santo Domingo.

Other problems are associated with the holotype female. This specimen was in poor condition when first studied while cataloguing Crotch’s collection ( Skelley 1998b). The specimen had originally been pinned, but was placed on a small card with excessive glue. The specimen became disarticulated when relaxed for cleaning and study. The resultant pieces were placed on larger cards, and arranged in a manner which should facilitate future studies without removal ( Fig. 150 ). Secondly, the type locality is given only as Haiti in the original 1842 description, 2 years before the Dominican Republic was formed. All that can be confidently said is that it is from Hispaniola. If it is truly from present-day Haiti, this is the only known specimen of N. fulvitarsis from that part of Hispaniola. Lastly, being a female, no male characters are available for comparison with other species or populations. These problems will continue to hinder studies regarding the true identity and type locality of N. fulvitarsis .

While specimens from the Sierra de Baoruco appear geographically isolated and the only available male has slightly different genitalia, all other character states fall well within the range of variation seen in N. fulvitarsis from the Cordillera Central. Before considering this population distinct, even as a subspecies, at least one additional male is needed to confirm a consistent genitalic difference before proposing a name.

Figures

Figure 1. West Indian maps. 1a) Map of West Indian countries mentioned in the text. 1b) Map indicating species occurring on specific islands with distribution of Notaepytus flavitarsis (Lacordaire) indicated by the white triangles.

Figure 85-88. Notaeptyus spp., key characters. 85) N. flavitarsis, normal long metasternum. 86) N. cubanacan, shortened metasternum of wingless form. 87) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega) male genitalia with flagellum everted. 88) N. lavegaensis male genitalia, with flagellum inverted. Genitalic scale line = 1 mm.

Figure 89-104. Notaepytus spp., habitus drawings. 89) N. flavitarsis. 90) N. tarsatus. 91) N. cubanacan. 92) N. modestus. 93) N. cyclosignatus. 94) N. elongatus. 95) N. fulvitarsis. 96) N. decoregens. 97) N. ignotensis. 98) N. haitensis. 99) N. inversus. 100) N. baorucoensis. 101) N. neibaensis. 102) N. lavegaensis. 103) N. cyanoros. 104) N. elateroides.

Figure 105-120. Notaepytus spp., male genital flagella. 105) N. flavitarsis. 106) N. tarsatus. 107) N. modestus. 108) N. elateroides. 109) N. cyanoros. 110) N. cyclosignatus. 111) N. inversus. 112) N. neibaensis. 113) N. haitensis.114) N. ignotensis. 115) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Hato Mayor). 116) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega). 117) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Barahona). 118) N. decoregens. 119) N. baorucoensis. 120) N. lavegaensis. All reproduced to same scale, scale line = 1 mm.

Figure 126-131. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Hispaniola. 126) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega). 127) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Hato Mayor). 128) N. decoregens, paratype. 129) N. lavegaensis, paratype. 130) N. neibaensis, holotype. 131) N. baorucoensis, holotype.

Figure 138-140. Distribution maps of Notaepytus spp. on Hispaniola. 138) Circle = N. modestus; triangle = N. elongatus. 139) Circle = N. fulvitarsis; triangle = N. decoregens; square = N. haitensis; square with ‘X’ = N. inversus. 140) Circle = N. cyclosignatus; triangle = N. lavegaensis; square = N. neibaensis; square with ‘X’ = N. baorucoensis.

Figure 148-155. Lectotypes, holotype and labels. 148) Lectotype Ischyrus flavitarsis Lacordaire. 149-151) Holotype Ischyrus fulvitarsis Lacordaire. 149) Dorsal habitus. 150) Final card mounting of I. fulvitarsis holotype parts. 151) Labels for holotype of I. fulvitarsis. 152) Notaepytus ignotensis type collection labels. 153-155) Lectotype Erotylus modestus Olivier labels, dorsal and lateral habitus.