Embates caecus Chevrolat

Prena, Jens, 2005, The Middle American species of Embates Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Baridinae), Zootaxa 1100 (1), pp. 1-151 : 1-151

12. Embates caecus Chevrolat

( Fig. 1–10 , 242)

Embates caecus Chevrolat 1833 [1834]: 18. Lectotype male, here designated, upper of two specimens on same pin, Mexico, labeled: “Typus”, “ Ambates / caecus Chevr. / Prena det. 1996”, green label in box: “coecus Chevr. cit Mex/ caesus Boh. , Mexico “ (NHRS). Paralectotype 1, same pin underneath lectotype (NHRS). Alonso­Zarazaga & Lyal 1999 (cat.); Prena 2003a

Ambates caecus . Chevrolat 1835 [1834] (table in appendix); Dejean 1837 (cat.); Boheman in Schönherr 1843: 153 [as A. caesus ]; Lacordaire 1863: 513; Hustache 1938 (cat.); Blackwelder 1947 (cat.); O’Brien & Wibmer 1982 (cat.); Wibmer & O’Brien 1986 (cat.)

Redescription. Habitus: Fig. 1 , total length 5.6–7.7 mm (m=6.7, n=16). Color: integument piceous, basic vestiture of ochreous scales, pear­shaped elytral macula of black velvety scales behind middle, scales light yellow around elytral macula, in small clusters along elytral striae, and in indistinct dorsolateral pronotal vitta ( Fig. 1 ). Head: frontal fovea absent, rostrum moderately slender, subcylindrical ( Fig. 4 ), subcostate dorsomedially and dorsolaterally, basolateral margin edged, length of rostrum ♂♂ 1.16–1.28 x (m=1.21, n=10), ♀♀ 1.20–1.30 x (m=1.26, n=6) pronotal length, length of ante­antennal portion ♂♂ 0.35–0.39 x (m=0.37, n=10), ♀♀ 0.37–0.41 x (m=0.40, n=6) total rostral length, dorsal margin of antennal scrobe reaching rostral base well before eye; funicular segment 2 slightly longer than 1, club oblong ovate. Pronotum: length 0.84–0.92 x (m=0.89, n=16) maximum width, sides subparallel in basal third, then gradually rounded to front; disk densely and shallowly punctate, intervals variously confluent. Elytra: length 1.75–1.92 x (m=1.84, n=16) width at humeri, width 1.16–1.28 x (m=1.22, n=16) maximum pronotal width, sides subparallel in basal half, then increasingly narrowed toward apex, apices rounded conjointly, preapical callus developed moderately, striae fine, punctures moderate, interstriae flat, 9 costate in distal half. Legs: tibiae slightly curved, ventral margin slightly bisinuate, distally with cluster of cupreous hairs, tarsal claws flat and connate. Male: apex of aedeagus broadly rounded, middle sclerotized, anterolateral portion membranous ( Fig. 9 ), body of aedeagus relatively short, basal third angular in lateral view, apodemes 2.4 x longer than body of aedeagus, flagellum thin, shorter than apodemes, transition to curved base abrupt, basal appendage moderate, fused laterally with base of flagellum, projecting beyond base ( Fig. 10 ).

Plant association. Not known.

Distribution. Mexico, Atlantic side, west of Isthmus of Tehuantepec (Fig. 242).

Material examined. MEXICO. Hidalgo: 33 mi NE Jacala, 1200 m ( CWOB) ; Hwy 85, 40 mi NW Jacala, 1000 m ( CWOB) ; Santa Maria ( CMNC) . Oaxaca: Temescal ( CMNC 3 , CWOB 2 , NMNH) . Tamaulipas: Rancho del Cielo , near Gomzez Varias ( CMNC) . Veracruz: Córdoba ( HPSC, NMNH 2 ) ; 2.8 mi SE Tebanca, E of Catemaco ( CWOB) ; 5 mi S Lake Catemaco ( CWOB) ; 9.5 mi W Orizaba ( CNCI) ; Playa Vicente ( BMNH 14 , NMNH 2 , SNSD) ; Sontecomapan ( BMNH) ; Tuxpan ? [labeled Toxpam] ( BMNH 2 ) . Without location: ( BMNH 7 , DEIC, JPPC, MNHP, NHRS 2 , SNSD 6 ). COLOMBIA (suspect). Valle del Cauca: Buga, 1700 m ( CWOB) . Total 55 specimens .

Discussion. Embates caecus is the type species of Embates Chevrolat. The text includes a valid description and indication, a fact not acknowledged by Champion (1907) and Hustache (1938). The epithet used in the description ( Chevrolat 1833) and in the appendix of the same paper (Chevrolat 1835) is caecus . Other spellings, such as caesus or coecus, are unjustified emendations. The species has been collected in numbers at various locations in southern Atlantic Mexico. The single record from Colombia is suspect (identification correct, but provenance doubtful) and needs confirmation. Embates sagax (Voss) , a South American sibling species ( Fig. 26 ), differs from E. caecus through the dense, light­colored ventral vestiture and details of the male genitalia.

Figures

FIGURES 1–12. E. caecus: 1, habitus and color­pattern, dorsal; 2, thorax and abdomen, ventral; 3, posterior tergites, dorsal; 4, head and prothorax, lateral; 5, metafemur and tibia; 6, sternite 8, male; 7, sternite 9, male; 8, tegmen; 9, apex of aedeagus, dorsal; 10, aedeagus, lateral; 11, sternite 8, female; 12, female genital tract, lateral

FIGURES 26–33. Examples for dorsal color­patterns in species of Embates (for further explanations see in the text). 26–28, species with dark elytral macula preserved: 26, E. sagax, Peru, with elytral macula with circumferential line entire; 27, E. delicatulus, Bolivia, with elytral maculae and post­macular elements merged across suture, ante­macular element obliterated; 28, E. species #91, Colombia, with narrow ante­macular and wide post­macular elements. 29–33, species with dark elytral macula merged with basic vestiture: 29, E. obliquatus, Peru, with ante­macular element obliterated, post­macular element well­developed and humeral streak present; 30, E. rhombifer, Costa Rica, with ante­ and post­macular elements wide, fused with humeral streak and demarking rhomboid pseudo­macula on disk; 31, E. quadrilineatus, Guyana, with perfectly continuous vitta composed of ante­ and post­macular, humeral and apical elements; 32, E. species #75, Ecuador, with post­macular element obliterated, ante­macular and apical elements modified to fasciae; 33, E. species #101, Peru, with ante­macular, humeral and apical elements reduced to small spots, postmacular element disintegrated in two small spots.