Brasiella iviei, Acciavatti, Robert E., 2011

Acciavatti, Robert E., 2011, Taxonomic Revision of Hispaniola Tiger Beetles in the Genus Brasiella Rivalier 1954 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Cicindelinae), ZooKeys 147, pp. 99-182 : 127-132

Brasiella iviei sp. n. Figs 910

Holotype.

Male! labeled "DOM.REP.Prov.Pedernales / ca.35 km N Cabo Rojo / LasAbejas, 1250m / 26AUG1988 / mixed forest, M.Ivie,Philips & Johnson" [typeset black on white label]; "HOLOTYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on red label]. [Genitalia in glycerin in a microvial pinned beneath specimen.]

Allotype.

Female! labeled "DOMIN.REP.:Pedernales / Province, Las Abejas / ca.35 km N Cabo Rojo / 26AUG-9SEP1988,1250m" [typeset black on white label]; "M.A.Ivie / T.K.Philips & K.A.Johnson" [typeset black on white label]; "Trap: / Flight Intercept" [typeset black on white label]; Carnegie Museum / Specimen Number / CMNH-133,315" [typeset black on white label]; "ALLOTYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on red label].

Paratypes.

Specimens! as follows: 1) 1 female labeled with the same locality data format as the holotype; "PARATYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label]; 2) 2 males and 1 female labeled with the same locality data format as the allotype; "PARATYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label]. [Two of these paratypes (1 each sex) each labeled with Carnegie Museum Specimen Numbers: 133,315; 129,666]; 3) 5 females labeled "DOMIN.REP:Prov.Pedernales / ca.35km N Cabo Rojo, 1250m / LasAbejas, 26AUG-09SEP1988 / malaise trap, M.A.Ivie / T.K.Philips & K.A.Johnson" [typeset black on white label]; "PARATYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label][Two of these paratypes each labeled with Carnegie Museum Specimen Numbers: 514,606; 130,216]; 4) 1 female labeled "DOMIN.REP:Prov.Pedern. / LasAbejas-ElAccitillar / ca.35km NNW Cabo Rojo / 23AUG1988, 1250-1430m" [typeset black on white label]; "M.A.Ivie, T.K.Philips / & K.A.Johnson" [typeset black on white label]; "PARATYPE / Brasiella / iviei / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label].

Type Depositories.

Holotype, 7 paratypes (1 male, 6 females) at WIBP; allotype and 3 paratypes (1 male, 2 females) at CMNH, each with a Unique Number stored in data files at CMNH.

Type Locality.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales Province, Las Abejas, ca. 35 km N Cabo Rojo, 18°09'N, 71°38'W, 1250 m. An aerial view at this upper elevation along the southern slopes of the Sierra de Baoruco is shown in Fig. 20A.

Notes on Type Locality.

The label data on the type specimens do not provide coordinates for the site where the holotype originated. However, Las Abejas is a locality often visited by entomological expeditions to the Sierra de Baoruco, the mountains in the eastern area of the southernmost part of the Dominican Republic. The type locality is established here with coordinates shown above based on data published by Woodruff (2004) for Scarabaeidae specimens collected at Las Abejas by Robert L. Davidson and John E. Rawlins on their 1987 CMNH expedition to the Sierra de Baoruco, Dominican Republic. Fig. 20A depicts the ravines typically found at upper elevations on the southern slope of the Sierra de Baoruco; Las Abejas being one of the ravines accessible by a footpath from higher elevations (refer to Ecology below).

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from other Brasiella species on Hispaniola by the following combination of characters: 1) body size, males> 6.5 mm, females> 7.0 mm; 2) head longer than pronotum in female, similar in length in male; 3) eyes large, prominent and slightly bulging laterally; 4) head and pronotum shiny copper red, elytra dull cupreous to copper brown; 5) elytra with a complete pattern of pale, tawny markings in most specimens, especially females, or inconspicuous and obscured by ground color in others; 6) male genitalia apex short and wide, tip acutely bent and tapering gradually to an elongated point; 7) aedeagus inner sac stylet broad, tip recurved; 8) female 6th abdominal sternum lateral gibbosities small, posterior margin broadly rounded; 9) female 8th abdominal sternum median notch wide and deep.

Description.

General.Figs 9A, 10A. Body. Formelongate; head long and broad, eyes large, prominent and slightly bulging; pronotum square; elytra elongate only sightly broadened distad, apices separately rounded. Size.Males, length 6.6-6.7 mm, width 1.9-2.0 mm; females, length 7.1-7.5 mm; width 2.1-2.2 mm.

Head. Figs 9B, 9D, 10D, 10F. Shiny copper red dorsally and copper blue green ventrally; entire surface glabrous except for two pairs of supraorbital sensory setae. Frons finely and longitudinally rugose. Vertex more coarsely rugose, transverse rugae along anterior margin narrow and irregularly arranged, 15-18 more or less complete longitudinal rugae between eyes and middle where rugae converge into an arcuate pattern; rugae transition abruptly into a posterior area with a finely and irregularly granulate surface. Eyes large, prominent and slightly bulging in both sexes. Genae longitudinally rugose. Clypeus finely and irregularly granulate, narrowed mesad. Labrum testaceous with a dark brown margin, subrectangular, width to length ratio 3.5 in holotype male, ratio 2.8 in allotype female; anterior margin in female slightly sinuate, protruding at middle with a small bulge on either side of a small tooth; anterior margin in male less sinuate, not protruding and tooth minute in some specimens or indented mesad in others; posterior margin broadly arcuate mesad; medial carina narrowly and distinctly raised, very slight depression on each side near posterior margin; 6-10 setae in an irregular row near middle most often symmetrically arranged. Maxillae and labium mainly testaceous, only distal palpal segments dark brown with metallic blue green reflections. Mandibles sexually dimorphic; in male, surface mainly testaceous, only teeth metallic green; in female, surface only testaceous in basal half, apical half and teeth shiny brown; mandibles symmetrical, four teeth distad of molar, apical tooth longest, first and third tooth coequal in length, second tooth shortest; gaps between three intermediate teeth narrow in male, wide in female. Antennae 11 segmented; scape dorsally shiny green, ventrally testaceous with a single subapical sensory seta; antennomeres 2-4 shiny green, glabrous except for a few, short erect setae along their length and distally; antennomeres 5-11 dull brown, sheathed with dense short sensory setae.

Prothorax.Figs 9C, 9D, 10C, 10D. Pronotum shiny copper. Proepisterna shiny, dark copper brown, surface wrinkled dorsad. Prosternum shiny green. Pronotum glabrous except for short, decumbent, white setae distributed in several, irregular rows medially directed, originating close to, and lying in a narrow band slightly impinging on lateral suture, in a sparse narrow band transversely and anteriorly oriented within broad anterior margin, and in a sparse narrow band laterally oriented on each side of midline extending nearly to the narrow posterior margin; transverse submarginal sulci distinct, anterior sulcus shallow, posterior sulcus deeper and deepest at posterior angles; transverse rugae within broad anterior margin irregular and shallow, interrupted at middle by an irregularly arranged pattern, within posterior margin more distinctly and deeply engraved especially medially and extending onto midline; surface sculptured by fine, transverse rugae angled on disc and interrupted by a finely engraved longitudinal midline, and more finely and irregularly sculptured elsewhere. Proepisterna glabrous except for white, erect and appressed setae arising from small, setigerous punctures scattered over ventral and posterior surfaces in males, only near ventral margin in females. Prosternum glabrous, surface wrinkled.

Pterothorax.Figs 9C, 10C. Mesepisterna glabrous except for appressed setae near ventral margin; female coupling sulcus represented by an elongate depression medially situated with a slightly deeper center, a distinct groove extends only dorsally from center, surface smooth below center. Mesepimeron with sparse appressed setae. Metepisterna with scattered appressed setae, more abundant in male than female. Prosternum and mesosternum glabrous, smooth to slightly wrinkled; metasternum glabrous except for long, dense white appressed setae laterad, surface smooth mesad and coarsely sculpted laterad where setae originate. Scutellum triangular, cupreous.

Legs.Figs 9A, 10B. Segmentstestaceous brown with metallic brown green reflections. Coxae shiny metallic brown green; trochanters shiny testaceous brown; femora and tibiae entirely metallic green to partially metallic green except for testaceous distal ends and posterior margin; tarsomeres dark metallic brown; white, appressed setae on front and middle coxae, and laterally on hind coxae; erect setae and suberect closely spaced in several regular and irregular rows on all femora; setae widely spaced in a few rows on all tibiae; middle tibiae with patch of appressed setae dorsally along distal half; tarsomeres with short scattered setae on ventral surface; distal tarsomeres with two asymmetrical rows each with a few to several small, erect setae; an erect subapical seta present only on front trochanter, absent on middle and hind trochanters; males with dense pad of erect setae ventrally on proximal three tarsal segments; tarsal claws small.

Elytra.Figs 9A, 10A. Form elongate, narrow in male, broadened distad and broadest at outer apical angle in female; obliquely curved along posterior margins with apices separately rounded; sutural spine feebly withdrawn from apex; posterior margins finely microserrulate. Surface finely granulate, impunctate, numerous small, irregular, shiny green to copper green flecks of various sizes scattered over a dull, cupreous to copper brown background; pale elytral markings barely contrasting with the darker elytral ground color in most marked female specimens, or obscured by ground color in others of both sexes; setigerous punctures with short, erect, transparent setae indistinct in subsutural rows on disc, but distinct at elytral base, and at inner humeral angles, each surrounded by a metallic fleck slightly larger than flecks elsewhere on elytra; surface slightly depressed in humeral area and on disc creating a slight but distinct raised area basally. Elytra marked with a complete pattern of pale, tawny lunules and bands in most specimens, especially females, or inconspicuous and obscured by ground color in others; complete pattern consisting of humeral and apical lunules and middle band, but pattern wide or thin or broken or obscured depending on the specimen; in marked specimens humeral lunule complete terminating on disc in a slightly enlarged end or isolated spot, middle band slightly sinuate and slightly enlarged near suture and slightly expanded along lateral margin; apical lunule wide, complete and broadened along suture. Elytral epipleura testaceous except for narrow, metallic green to copper green band along dorsal margin.

Abdomen.Figs 10B, 10E. Surface of 1st-5th sterna shiny black with green reflections, sterna 6th entirely shiny black to black brown; posterior margins of male 3rd-5th sterna and female 3rd-4th sterna narrowly black; posterior margin female 5th sternum broadly black; sterna 3rd-5th medially smooth with scattered, fine, erect setae in both sexes; male 1st-6th sterna and female 1st-5th sterna laterally covered with dense, scattered, appressed white setae and roughened from setal punctures; male 6th sternum glabrous medially with a broad, deep concave notch; female 5th sternum with moderately raised, transverse wrinkles interrupted by a membranous band along midline extending anteriorly from a short transverse membranous wedge along posterior margin; female 6th sternum entirely glabrous, posterior margin with a row of 6-10 erect spines and a small lateral gibbosity on each side.

Male Genitalia.Figs 9E, 9F, 9G. Shape narrow near base, gradually wider and uniformly broad along most of its length, distally ending in a short, wide apical neck; apical tip acutely bent and tapering evenly to an elongated point. Aedeagus inner sac sclerites: stylet broad, tip wide and recurved; shield rounded distad; large tooth short, bluntly rounded at tip with large root and dark fields; arched piece short and wide; spine field within aedeagus neck long and narrow.

Ecology.

The type series was collected at 1250 m within Las Abejas, a deep ravine abruptly descending from the forests of Hispaniolan Pine, Pinus occidentalis Swartz 1788, that cover the higher elevations on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Baoruco ( Konstantinov and Chamorro-Lacayo 2006). The habitat at Las Abejas has a premon tane, wet forest, rich in epiphytes ( Fisher-Meerow and Judd 2008). As shown in Fig. 20A, these moist forests occur in ravines at upper elevations along the southern slopes of the Sierra de Baoruco. Fig. 20B depicts the highly erosive nature of the clay soils on these slopes, and Fig. 20C depicts the diverse nature of the vegetation along the footpath descending into the higher parts of Las Abejas. In these habitats, the adults of Brasiella iviei would appear to be rarely seen, and if they were seen, then to readily escape hand collecting by running into the vegetation. Indeed, nearly all the known adult specimens of this new species were collected with flight intercept or malaise traps. Fig. 20D shows a tropical malaise trap set up in an opening along a trail within the forest at Las Abejas during the 1987 CMNH expedition to the Sierra de Baoruco, Dominican Republic. Based on the type series of Brasiella iviei collected in August and September, this new species likely has its period of adult activity during the later summer months.

Distribution.

Fig. 22. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales Province, Las Abejas, ca. 35 km N Cabo Rojo, 1250 m, in moist ravines at higher elevations on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Baoruco.

Etymology.

This Latinized eponym, genitive case, is based on the family name of Michael A. Ivie, Department of Entomology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana. Ivie collected the first series of Brasiella specimens in 1988 from the Sierra de Baoruco, Pedernales Province, Dominican Republic, as part of his West Indian Beetle Fauna Project (WIBP). He previously considered these specimens to be only variants of Brasiella dominicana (Mandl). I am grateful for the opportunity he has provided for me to examine these WIBP specimens because it has led to the discovery of Brasiella iviei ,and other related new species in the Sierra de Baoruco, an area in the Dominican Republic known for its high endemism ( Woodruff 2004).

Remarks.

Brasiella iviei appears to be most closely related to Brasiella rawlinsi . However, their distinctiveness as separate species was established in this revision by differences presented in the key to their identification and under their descriptions. Adults of the former species are larger in body size with a proportionately longer head and pronotum than any known individuals of Brasiella rawlinsi in the Sierra de Baoruco. Also, elytral markings of Brasiella iviei , although still faint compared to other species on Hispaniola, are more obvious and wider than the majority of known Brasiella rawlinsi specimens. Males of these two species possess distinctive aedeagus inner sac sclerites, in particular, the form of the stylet. Additional differences between females of these two species are evident in the extent to which the membranous, longitudinal median band is developed on the 5th abdominal sternum, the size of the lateral gibbosities on the 6th abdominal sternum, along with the breadth and depth of the median notch on the 8th abdominal sternum. In addition to these morphological differences between Brasiella iviei and Brasiella rawlinsi , each species occurs in a markedly different habitat, despite their adjacent locations in the Sierra de Baoruco. As presented under Ecology for each species, Brasiella iviei is found in moist habitats of mixed deciduous forests, whereas Brasiella rawlinsi occurs in drier grassland habitats within pine forests.