Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott

Westcott, Richard L., Hespenheide, Henry A., N, Jesús Romero, Solorio, Armando Burgos & M, Armando Equihua, 2008, The Buprestidae (Coleoptera) of Morelos, Mexico, with description of six new species, and a partially annotated checklist, Zootaxa 1830, pp. 1-20 : 8-9

Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott , new species

( Figs. 9, 10 )

Holotype female: Length 10.15 mm, width 3.79 mm, moderately strongly shining above and below, head and antennae dark brownish-copper, clypeus reddish-copper; pronotum gray-black with slight coppery reflections laterally; elytra bluish gray-black with discal quadrate fovea-like areas brownish copper and with slight brownish-copper reflections elsewhere, notable at sides along apical fourth; beneath gray-black with light to moderate gray-blue or coppery reflections, the latter most notable on thorax; legs black with light coppery reflections; vestiture white. Head slightly, evenly convex, densely punctured, the punctures moderate in size above, becoming coarse and reticulate below, then much finer on clypeus; vertex with a fine bold black carina which extends barely onto frons where it branches slightly to either side; vestiture short, moderately dense, subrecumbent; front margin of clypeus broadly triangularly emarginate, broadly and shallowly rounded on either side; antennae similar to C. analis LeConte , the distal antennomeres quadrate and compact. Pronotum shallowly evenly convex, without depressions; surface with punctures moderate and dense on disc becoming slightly larger, more dense and reticulate laterally; setae indistinct except apicolaterally, where they are short and recumbent; front margin broadly shallowly lobed at middle; hind margin strongly bisinuate, truncate at middle; sides parallel from base to abrupt, slight expansion at about apical fifth, then strongly converging to narrowly triangular front angles; lateral margins bold, especially on basal 4/5, entire; hind angles broadly triangular. Scutellum with normally visible portion equilaterally triangular, black, smoothly microreticulate, the portion usually hidden by pronotum finely rugose and with greenish tints. Elytra shallowly, evenly convex, each elytron with a bold, strongly elevated subsutural carina extending from just anterior of median fovea to apex, a much smaller median carina extending from front margin of antemedian fovea, becoming sinuate at postmedian fovea and ending well before apex, and a feeble, partially developed third carina extending from the antemedian fovea through the postmedian fovea; basal margin broadly rounded, moderately angulate in front of basal pit; lateral margins serrate from just anterior to antemedian fovea, weakly at first, becoming coarsely serrate apically; suture distinctly yet finely elevated from before middle, terminating in a small spine; surface densely and distinctly punctured throughout, the punctures fine along suture, becoming moderately coarse and reticulate, somewhat rugose-punctate laterally, glabrate, a few tiny setae visible under high magnification at base and along sides. Eighth tergite black, broadly rounded apically, moderately and densely, somewhat rugosely punctate, without a trace of depressions or median carina. Underside: prosternum moderately depressed at middle behind front margin that bears a very well developed broadly rounded median lobe set with a line of tiny juxtaposed punctures, surface rather finely sparsely punctate, the punctures becoming more densely placed anteriorly, with short sparse pubescence on middle, the setae longer and much more densely placed laterally; propleurae very densely covered with long appressed setae; abdomen with lateral callosities large and well developed on ventrites 2–4, much smaller on ventrite 1, vaguely indicated on ventrite 5, median punctures fine and sparse on ventrite 1, becoming larger and apically elongated from middle of ventrite 2, on lateral ventrites fine and dense fine and dense except becoming larger and elongated from apical portion of ventrite 5; setae on middle short, sparse, subrecumbent, and on sides long, dense, mostly appressed; fourth ventrite shallowly sulcate on middle; last ventrite broadly, moderately deeply sulcate on middle, lateral margins entire, with a coarsely serrate subapical ridge, and apical margin bisinuate, lobed at middle, with a large spine on each side. Foreleg with femur very finely denticulate on inner margin, with a large stout, broadly triangular tooth that is denticulate on outer margin; tibia slightly arcuate.

Allotype male: Length 9.00 mm long, 3.60 mm wide, also differing from holotype in the following sexual characters: front margin of clypeus distinctly green laterally; foretibia with indistinct, elongate-rounded dilation just before apex; mesotibia with a small blunt tooth just before apex; abdomen beneath vaguely depressed along middle, more notably on ventrites 1 and 2, last ventrite broadly, moderately deeply semicircularly emarginate, with a short strongly and irregularly serrate ridge on either side laterally behind apical spine. Genitalia as in Fig. 10 .

Type specimens: Holotype ( UNAM) labeled “ MEXICO: Morelos, 2.5 km N, 4 km O Huautla, Estación CEAMISH, 11-VI-1996, Alt. 940 m, 18°27.671’N, 99°02.475’ O, Col. F.A. Noguera, s/troncos/ HOLOTYPE Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott. ” Allotype ( RLWE) from MICHOACAN, km 167.5, hwy. 37, 32 km S Cuatro Caminos, 230 m, 18°47.643’, 102°04.782’, 24-VII-2003, R. L. Westcott. One male paratype from PUE- BLA, 7 km SSE Acatlán, 1280 m, 15-VII-92, S. Bílÿ, RLWE.

Variation: The male paratype is 9.13 mm long. The only variation of note is that front margin of clypeus in this specimen is entirely bright green.

Comparison: This species superficially resembles the unrelated species C. exesa LeConte , but the latter has the elytra much more coarsely sculptured and with clearly defined, depressed punctured areas, and in Mexico is known only from Baja California and Sonora. It appears that C. tessellata may be most closely related to C. analis ; however, it bears little resemblance to that species, immediately differing by the patterned elytral sculpturing.

Etymology: The name is from the Latin tessellatus , referring to the vaguely mosaic pattern on the elytral surface.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. 1, Acmaeodera noguerai Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 2, Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 3 – 5, Agrilus cyphothoracoides Hespenheide, sp. nov.: 3, dorsal habitus; 4, lateral view; 5, dorsal view aedeagus. 6 – 7. Agrilus pseudosallei, Hespenheide sp. nov.: 6, dorsal habitus; 7 dorsal view aedeagus. 8, Brachys exquisitus Hespenheide, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 9 – 10. Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott, sp. nov.: 9, dorsal habitus; 10, dorsal view aedeagus.