Hedwigiella Obenberger, 1941

Hespenheide, Henry A., 2014, A Reconsideration ofHylaeogenaObenberger, 1923 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), with Descriptions of a New Genus and New Species from Mexico and Central America, The Coleopterists Bulletin 68 (1), pp. 21-30 : 24

Hedwigiella Obenberger, 1941 , new status ( Figs. 4, 5 , 9 )

Hylaeogena (subgenus Hedwigiella ) Obenberger, 1941: 75.

Type Species. Hedwigiella jureceki Obenberger, 1941 , by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Front with epistoma more or less deeply emarginate, the ventral margin carinate only below antennal insertions, antennal insertions widely separated, not in distinct foveae; three pores above or just interior to each antennal insertion, not in grooves; head with broad, deep medial depression; prehumeral carina of pronotum more or less strong; setae on pronotum and elytra condensed in distinct lines and patches and forming designs.

Obenberger (1941) distinguished the subgenus Hedwigiella on the basis of two characters, the presence of three pores above each antenna and the presence of prehumeral carinae. Of these, the suprantennal pores and their arrangement are the more distinctive character ( Fig. 2 ). In Hylaeogena , there are two pores in a short groove above each antenna and a third pore in the antennal depression itself ( Fig. 1 ); in Hedwigiella , the antennal insertion is not in a distinct depression and the three pores are in the epistomal area separate from the antennal insertion and not in a groove. Close inspection of the type species of Hylaeogena reveals that there are weak prehumeral carinae present but hidden under the relatively dense setae of the pronotum. Visually, species of Hedwigiella look very different from those of most Hylaeogena species by the broad, deep medial depression on the head and irregular patterns of setae on the elytra, as well as by characters indicated in the key. The male genitalia for the two species for which they are known are very unusual in that the median lobe is bifid apically ( Figs. 5, 7 ). Two species are recognized in addition to the type, one of them new. Specimens of a fourth, undescribed species were reared in South America by the late George Vogt, but collection data are lacking and it will not be described at this time.

Figures

Figs. 1–7. 1) Hylaeogena speculum, front; 2) Hedwigiella jureceki, front; 3) Euhylaeogena byattae, front; 4) H. jureceki, male aedeagus; 5) Hedwigiella cbellamyi, male aedeagi; 6) E. byattae, male aedeagi; 7) Euhylaeogena clbellamyi, male aedeagi. Scale bars in Figs. 1–3 = 0.5 mm; in Figs. 4–7 = 0.2 mm.

Figs. 8–11. Habitus, dorsal views. 8) Hylaeogena bellamyi, holotype; 9) Hedwigiella cbellamyi, holotype; 10) Euhylaeogena byattae, male, INBIOCRI002275660; 11) Euhylaeogena clbellamyi, holotype.