Sphallopterus batesi Fragoso, 1982

Taboada-Verona, Carlos, Torrez, Antonio Rodriguez & Arana, Marcelo D., 2018, Description of the male of Sphallopterus batesi Fragoso, 1982 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycini), with biogeographical considerations, Zootaxa 4370 (3), pp. 262-266 : 262-265

Sphallopterus batesi Fragoso, 1982

Description. Male ( Fig. 1 ). Head, thorax, and elytra reddish wine; antennae black; femora orange except for black basal and distal areas (basal black area very short); tibiae black at about basal half, orange on distal half, except for narrow black apex

Head. With fine reddish orange pubescence. Area between frontal plate and vertex with deep, transverse, moderately wide sulcus on each side of the center. Area between antennal tubercles and upper eye lobes with yellowish setae. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.48 times length of scape; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 1.34 times length of scape. Frontoclypeal sulcus indistinct. Clypeus transversely striate, truncate, with yellowish setae throughout. Labrum slightly concave at distal margin, punctate. Mandibles sparsely punctate; with short, sparse, yellowish setae. Antennal tubercles glabrous. Antennae surpassing elytral apex at base of antennomere VIII. Scape punctate, with fine yellowish pubescence. Antennomeres I-IV slightly pubescents; V-X with a few reddish setae. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.39; pedicel = 0.14; IV = 0.56; V = 0.78; VI = 0.86; VII = 0.86; VIII = 0.89; IX = 0.86; X = 0.88; XI = 1.52.

Thorax. Prothorax wider than long, with wrinkles dorsally and laterally, without spinous projection. Prosternum with fine yellowish pubescence (more abundant laterally). Metasternum pubescent laterally, nearly glabrous on wide triangular central area. Metepisternum with fine yellowish pubescence. Scutellum with yellowish pubescence. Elytra. Reddish wine; minutely punctate throughout, apex truncate, bispinose, outer spine longer than inner spine. Legs. Femora fusiform; meso- and metafemora with internal spine. Tibiae with external spine. Abdomen. Urosternites with a few yellowish setae laterally. Apex of urosternite V rounded.

Dimensions, male (mm) (only male from Bolivia measured). Total length, 23.85; prothorax: length, 4.35; anterior width, 4.15; posterior width, 4.45; widest prothoracic width, 5.00; humeral width, 5.25; elytral length, 16.15.

Material Examined: BOLIVIA, Departamento de Pando: Provincia Nicolás Suarez, Estación Biológica Tahuamanu (11º24’40.8’’S – 69º01’41.3’’W), colecta manual, 1 male, 21.XI.2016, A. Torrez col. ( CBF) (new country record). BRASIL, Rondônia: Jirau, Rio Madeira, Margem direita interior, 1 male, light trap, 30.X.2004, no collector indicated ( MZSP) (new state record).

Biogeography. Sphallopterus batesi was originally described from two localities in northern Brazil (state of Pará): Óbidos (holotype) and Mocajuba (paratype). According to recent biogeographical scheme of Neotropical region ( Morrone 2017), Óbidos is located in Roraima biogeographic province and Mocajuba in Pará biogeographic province.

With the new records the individual track obtained ( Fig. 3 ) links the known area of distribution of S. batesi (Roraima and Pará biogeographic provinces) with the biogeographic provinces of Madeira (where Jirau in Brazil is located) and Rondônia, where the new record of Pando ( Bolivia) is located. The four biogeographic provinces belong to the Brazilian subregion of the Neotropical region, although Roraima and Pará belong to the Boreal Brazilian dominion and Madeira and Rondônia belongs to the South Brazilian dominion ( Morrone, 2017).

Discussion

Examination of the female holotype ( Fig. 2 ) shows that the most significant difference between female and male of S. batesi is the shorter antennae in female, reaching elytral apex at about basal quarter of antennomere XI (holotype). According to Martins & Monné (2005), S. batesi is similar to species of Xestiodion Fragoso, 1981 , due to femora and tibiae bicolorous, but Sphallopterus can be differentiated from Xestiodion by the reddish and unicolorous elytra.

Biogeography. Sphallopterus batesi was previously reported as endemic to Roraima and Pará biogeographic provinces in Brazil (Boreal Brazilian dominion), and is now additionally known from Madeira biogeographic province in Brazil and Rondônia biogeographic province in Bolivia (South Brazilian dominion), this last area constitutes the western limit of the distribution of the species. The Brazilian subregion comprises central and southern Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America ( Morrone, 2014). The dominions of the Brazilian subregion split following the sequence (Boreal Brazilian [South Brazilian (Pacific, Mesoamerican)]), and the vicariance between the Boreal Brazilian dominion (the type area of Sphallopterus batesi ) and the remaining areas (specially the South Brazilian dominion, where the new records of the species are located) can be associated with the Romeral Fault Zone and/or the final uplift of the northern Andes ( Morrone, 2017).

The biogeographic relationship between Roraima and Pará biogeographic provinces, the first basically formed by savannas and gallery forests and the second by moist forests and flooded grasslands, was not considered previously ( Morrone 2017); the individual track obtained in this work is the first contribution linking both biogeographic provinces. The Pará province was related previously with Rondônia province with biogeographic analysis based on avian taxa ( Bates et al. 1998, Borges 2007) and primate species ( Silva & Oren 1996). This last work also relates the Pará province with Madeira province. Therefore, our work is the first study linking all these biogeographic provinces using an insect species. All biogeographic provinces connected with the individual track share similar habitats: a wide range of forest types which includes a mosaic of flooded grasslands and gallery forests, so it is probably that the gallery forests along rivers would be the preferred habitat of Sphallopterus batesi .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Sphallopterus batesi Fragoso,1982, dorsal(A), ventral (B) andlateral (C) views of the male.Scale bar:11.0 mm

FIGURE 2. Holotype (female) of Sphallopterus batesi, dorsal view. MNRJ Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio Janeiro. Scale bar:11.0 mm

FIGURE 3. Individual trackof Sphallopterus batesi.