Prionodera adiastola Flowers

Flowers, R. Wills, 2004, A review of the Neotropical genus Prionodera Chevrolat (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae) with description of a new genus, Zootaxa 631, pp. 1-54 : 9-10

Prionodera adiastola Flowers , new species

( Figs 13 , 15–18, 60–62, 97, 100)

Holotype Male. Body elongate­oval, dorsally convex; length 8.9 mm. Head, pronotum and elytra metallic bluish green; antenna with segments 1–6 piceous, 7–11 brown. Underside and legs shining piceous with dark blue reflex. Head with clypeus coarsely punctate, punctures separated by distance greater than their diameters, surface between punctures smooth, apex of clypeus emarginate. Frons finely punctate, punctures separated by distance greater than their diameters; surface between punctures smooth, shining; vertex with a fait median impressed line; antennal calli smooth, shining, and slightly swollen. Eyes oval, shallowly and broadly emarginate at antennal insertion; ocular sulci present. Mouthparts piceous. Prothorax distinctly wider than long, L/W = 0.81; pronotum with diagonal submedian depressions weak; lateral margin narrow, undulate, forming two weak teeth at the mid­point, with widest part of pronotum anterior to middle; disc almost impunctate in anterior third, distinctly, regularly punctate behind middle ( Fig. 13 ), with punctures separated by a distance greater than their diameters; surface between punctures smooth, shining. Undersurface of thorax smooth. Prosternum with long setae, rugosely punctate, longitudinally strongly inclined behind coxae, transversely flat; posterior margin of intercoxal process very shallowly concave, lateral angles of intercoxal process swollen, width of intercoxal process 0.60 x diameter of procoxa. Lateral arms of prosternum with surface glabrous, wrinkled. Proepimeron with a few punctures scattered in posterior half, with surface smooth, shiny. Mesosternum flat between coxae, surface finely punctate, with sparse short yellow setae. Metasternum finely wrinkled, with two pairs of long yellow setae. Trochanters with strong seta on apical angles. Protibiae abruptly widened in apical third. Basal tarsomere of fore­ and middle legs weakly expanded, distinctly longer than wide. Elytra punctate­striate, fourth stria irregularly geminate in basal third; with punctures in striae separated by distance greater than their diameters; intervals flat on disc, becoming convex apically and laterally, intervals forming low costae laterally; interval III swollen and protruding above apical declivity, intervals IV and VIII swollen and united at top of apical declivity; intervals V and VIII broadly united in angle of intervals IV and VIII (as in Prionodera costata , Fig. 11 ). Surface between punctures smooth with scattered small punctulae; humeri prominent, rounded, width across humeri 1.4 x width across pronotum; basal calli obsolete; postbasal depression lacking, sides subparallel, convergent; apices strongly declivous, conjointly rounded, basal margin costate to scutellum. Male sternite VII with lateral margins smooth, a weak depression in center. Median lobe in lateral view smoothly curved (Fig. 15); apex bifid (Fig. 18). Partly everted endophallus membranous, with small lateral lobes (Fig. 17). Apical sclerite, straight, slightly twisted (Fig. 16).

Allotype Female. Body oval; length 11.6 mm; head, and pronotum dark metallic green, elytra metallic green with a strong red­purple reflex on disc, and underside piceous with metallic green reflex; antennae with segments 1–7 piceous, 8–11 reddish brown; legs piceous with bluish reflex. Prothorax distinctly wider than long, L/W = 0.79; pronotum with two weak teeth on lateral margin; sparsely and irregularly punctate on disc, impunctate in apical fourth at middle; with punctures separated by distance equal to or slightly greater than their diameters, punctures more dense near anterior angles. Lateral arms of prosternum and proepimeron as in male; prosternum similar to male, but with width of intercoxal process 0.9 x diameter of procoxa, broadened behind coxae, posterior angles slightly swollen, posterior margin straight and weakly crenulate. Legs similar in form to male, basal tarsomere of fore­ and middle legs not expanded. Elytra loosely geminiatepunctate­striate, lateral intervals more convex than in male, apical intervals as in male, but with interval III more strongly inflated above apical declivity. Abdominal sternites sparsely covered with short setae, setae longer laterally; sternites III to VI with three or four long setae on each side of midline. Sternite VII with apical margin weakly emarginate, and with numerous long lateral and apical setae. Segments VIII–XI forming short, robust ovipositor (Fig. 60); sternite VIII with short strap­like basal apodeme; apicolateral arms present only as several setae; tergite of segment VIII weakly sclerotized laterally (Fig. 61). Segment IX with hemisternites with short broad basal rods; paraprocts separated into pair of slender, curved dorsal rods, apically forming hood­like projection above gential orifice; baculum indistinct, apical, shorter than gonocoxae. Gonocoxae short, robust, with long setae in apical half; coxostyli very small, with several long apical setae. Spermatheca as in Fig. 62; spermathecal duct thin, sclerotized, not coiled.

Etymology. Adiastolos, from Greek, meaning confused.

Specimens examined. Male HOLOTYPE labeled “ ECUADOR: Limacocha 0°23'S 76°38'W, 31 Mar. '74, EL 300m, H.P. Stockwell” (HPS). Female ALLOTYPE labeled “ ECUADOR: Limacocha 0°23'S 76o38'W, 31 Mar. '74, EL 300m, H.P. Stockwell” (HPS). PARATYPES (7ɗɗ, 6ΨΨ): ECUADOR: 1Ψ "Chiquindo" 80–14 (NHM); 1Ψ 42149/Buckley/ Ecuador, Macas/Frey Coll., 1905.100 (NHM); 6ɗɗ, 1Ψ Napo Prov. Estación Cientifica Yasuní, 8–10­IX­ 1999. 215m. Coll. E.G. Riley (EGR); 1ɗ Limacocha 0°23'S 76°38'W, 31­III­1974, EL 300m, H.P. Stockwell (HPS); 1Ψ Macas; F. Monrós Collection 1959 (det. " Prionodera metallica Jac., J. Bechyné ) (NMNH); 1Ψ El Presidio, Ecuador (NMNH). BRASIL (?): 1Ψ Amazonas, Fonteboa, Dr. Hahnel; F. Monrós Collection 1959 (NMNH). Paratypes in NHM, NMNH, HPS.

Remarks. This species closely resembles Prionodera costata (Baly) , but can be distinguished externally by the more sparsely punctate pronotum ( Fig. 13 ). One of the NMNH specimens is labeled “ Prionodera metallica det. Bechyné”, and I have seen similar determinations on specimens in other collections (Flowers 2003b).

Figures

FIGURES 6 – 14. 6. P. merana Bechyné, fore femur; 7. P. es mera ld a Flowers, pygidium; 8. P. cy a ­ nea (Lefèvre), dorsal outline; 9. P. furcada Flowers, basitarsi: left, foretarsus; right, mesotarsus; 10. P. m e r a n a Bechyné, prosternum, three­quarter view; Figs. 11 – 12, elytral apices, 11. P. c o s t a t a (Baly); 12. P. e s m e r a l d a Flowers; Figs. 13 – 14, pronota, 13. P. adiastola Flowers; 14. P. costata (Baly).