Byrsopolis castanea Burmeister, 1844

Medeiros, Rone A. F., Seidel, Matthias & Grossi, Paschoal C., 2022, Revision of the genus Byrsopolis Burmeister, 1844 (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini), with the description of six new species endemic to Brazil and Paraguay, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 56 (29 - 32), pp. 1315-1364 : 1320-1323

Byrsopolis castanea Burmeister, 1844 ( Figures 1 (a–g), 5(a–h))

Byrsopolis castanea Burmeister, 1844: 425 (original description); Burmeister 1855: 523 (female diagnosis); Lacordaire 1856: 364 (citation); Castelnau and Lucas 1857: 130 (distribution and illustration); Gemminger and Harold 1869: 1226 (checklist); Heyne and Taschenberg 1908: 88 (diagnosis), 356 (illustration); Ohaus 1908: 251 (distribution); 1912: 312 (citation); Hardy 1971: 236 (citation); Machatschke 1972: 3 (catalogue, distribution); Krajcik 2008: 58 (checklist); Grossi and Vaz-de-Mello 2015: 223 (biology, distribution); Ferreira 2016: 112 (illustration); Carvalho and Grossi 2018: 372 (checklist, distribution); Vazde-Mello and Grossi 2022 (online catalogue).

Cotalpa (Byrsopolis) castanea ( Burmeister, 1844) : Ohaus 1915: 257 (citation); 1918: 10 (catalogue, distribution); 1934: 37 (citation, checklist), 173 (illustration); Blackwelder 1944: 235 (checklist).

Type locality. Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Type material. Lectotype male, here designated. (a) ‘ Byrsopolis *’, (b) ‘castanea *./Bras. Bsk. [handwritten by Burmeister]’ (1♂ ZMHB) ( Figure 1 (a,b)).

Paralectotypes. (a) ‘ Byrsopolis *’, (b) ‘castanea *./Bras. Bsk. [handwritten by Burmeister]’ (1♀, 1♂ ZMHB) ( Figure 1 (c–1)) .

Additional material. [22 specimens] Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. ‘ Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Nova/ Friburgo, Macaé de Cima,/ i.2004, 1500 m, luz, D. & I./Miller legs’ (1♀, 7♂ CERPE); same, except ‘Conquista,/ 850 m – XII.2004 /E. & P. Grossi Leg’. // ‘COLEÇÃO E./ & P. GROSSI’ (1♀, 2♂ EPGC); ‘ BRASIL, RJ, Teresópolis, 600 m / 01 a 31.xii.2006 /E. & P. Grossi Legs’. // ‘COLEÇÃO E. & P. GROSSI’ (1♂ EPGC); ‘Brasília/Cantagallo’ // ‘castanea Brm’ // ‘ Byrsopolis / castanea Burmeister /Museum f. Naturkunde/Berlin’ (2♂ ZMHB). Minas Gerais. ‘BR, MG, Alto Caparaó/PARNA Caparaó/Coleta noturna/ 05-06.xii.2016 /A. Orsetti & S. Alóquio legs’ (1♂ CERPE). Espírito Santo. ‘ BRASIL: Espírito Santo. Conceição do Castelo./Ribeirão do Meio. 20° 18’/31’S: 41°14 ʹ 17”W. 880 m /Light. ii.2011. R. Falqueto’ (1♂ CEMT). No collection data. ‘ Byrsopolis /castanea Burm’ (1♀ ZMHB); ‘ ♂ ’ // ‘11,445’ // ‘Hist. – Coll. ( Coleoptera )/ Nr.11445/ Byrsopolis castanea Burm. /Brasília, Riehl’ (2♂ ZMHB); ‘43,114’ // ‘ ♀ ’ // ‘Hist. – Coll. ( Coleoptera )/Nr. 43,114/ Byrsopolis castanea Burm. /Brasília, Coll. Schaum’ (1♀, 1♂ ZMHB); ‘ Castanea Burm. Brésil’ // ‘Coll. Höhne’ // ‘ Byrsopolis /castanea Burmeister’ (1♂ ZMHB).

Diagnosis. Body brown, reddish-brown to dark brown with metallic green reflections; clypeus subrectangular, anterior margin weakly emarginate; antennal club about 1.5x (female) to 2x (male) longer than antennomeres II–VII combined; scutellar plate with moderately rounded base; elytra with very distinct striae, densely punctate on the humeri; elytral apex truncated; protibial spur about 8x longer than wide; aedeagus with asymmetrical parameres, weakly to moderately divergent, weakly angulate laterally, apex of parameres weakly rounded.

Description of the lectotype. Male. Body. Shape elongated, oval, with rounded sides; brown, reddish-brown to black colouration ( Figure 1 (a–b)); frontoclypeal suture darker than clypeus and frons; body with marginal areas from dark brown to black; metallic green and reddish reflections. Length 25.89–29.07 mm. Humeral width 12.82–15.02 mm. Elytral width 15.03–16.54 mm. Head. Clypeus about 2x wider than long, subrectangular, with angles weakly rounded, anterior margin weakly emarginate, surface weakly concave near the apex; frontoclypeal suture weakly bisinuate; surface strongly rugose; punctures small to moderately large, glabrous; frons as long as clypeus, punctures small to moderately large; moderately to densely punctate; glabrous; mandibles moderately sinuous at the border, scissorial region C-shaped ( Figure 5 (e)), rounded apex, small punctures, sparsely to densely punctate in the transverse median region; setae small to moderate in size near scissorial region, sparse to moderately distributed; lacinia with three teeth, equidistant; apical tooth longer and wider than basal one, basal tooth longer and wider than medium one ( Figure 5 (f)); basal tooth with long setae; last maxillary palpomere subrectangular sensorial area; premental apex moderately emarginated ( Figure 5 (g)); last labial palpomere about 1.5x longer than palpomere II ( Figure 5 (g)); labrum moderately emarginate, moderately setose ( Figure 5 (h)); antennomere III subcylindrical, antennomeres IV and V subquadrate, antennomeres VI and VII subconical; antennal club about 2x longer than antennomeres II–VII combined. Thorax. Pronotum transverse, about 1.5x wider than long ( Figure 5 (a)); punctures small to moderately large, moderately to densely punctate, sparsely punctate at marginal areas, glabrous, two elongate oblique concavities at base, one on each side; scutellar plate subtriangular, sides straight, base moderately rounded; apex with punctures and setae small to moderate, disc moderately to densely punctate, marginal areas sparsely to moderately punctate. Elytra. About 1.25x longer than wide; surface glabrous, strongly striate and punctate, punctures small to large, moderately to densely punctate ( Figure 5 (a)); interstriae with strong coalescent punctures; apex truncate; glabrous. Legs. Protibial spur about 8x longer than wide; mesotibiae with one carina, metatibiae with two carinae. Aedeagus. Parameres with proximal margin moderately rounded; lateral margins excavated, forming a carina from near base to apex; apexes rounded and weakly sinuate internally, weakly divergent, dorsally symmetrical, laterally and ventrally asymmetrical; left paramere longer than righr paramere ( Figure 5 (b)).

Female. Similar to male, varying in the aspects described below.

Body. Length 29.70–37.81 mm. Humeral width 18.79–20.73 mm. Elytral width 20.50– 22.37 mm ( Figures 1 (e–f), 5(c-d)). Head. Clypeus about 2x wider than long, apical angles rounded with slight concavity near the apex; punctures small to large, densely punctate; frons with small to moderate punctures, moderately to densely punctate; in last maxillary palpomere with excavated area larger; antennal club about 1.5x as long as antennomeres II–VII combined. Thorax. Pronotum transverse about 2x wider than long; small punctures. Elytra. About 1.40x longer than wide; convex; punctures small to large, moderately to densely punctate.

Variation. Some specimens exhibit variation in colour, from reddish-brown to black, especially on marginal areas; apex of clypeus weakly to moderately emarginate; apex of parameres weakly to moderately divergent.

Etymology. The species name castanea is derived from Latin, in reference to the brown colouration of the specimens.

Distribution. Minas Gerais (Alto Caparaó), Espírito Santo (Conceição do Castelo), Rio de Janeiro (Nova Friburgo [Conquista, Macaé de Cima] and Teresópolis) ( Figure 19 ).

Remarks. This species is restricted to the Atlantic Forest of Serra do Mar and Serra dos Órgãos mountains in Rio de Janeiro state (near the cities of Nova Friburgo and Teresópolis), Serra de Conceição do Castelo in Espírito Santo state and Caparaó in Minas Gerais state. The locations of Alto Caparaó in Minas Gerais and Conceição do Castelo in Espírito Santo are new state records. Some specimens were collected in Nova Friburgo (Rio de Janeiro) using light traps.

Figures

Figure 1. Byrsopolis castanea Burmeister dorsal habitus (a, c, e) and lateral habitus (b, d, f). Byrsopolis castanea lectotype male (a–b) and paralectotype male and female (c–f), box series label (g). Images from Karla Schneider (MLUH).

Figure 5. Byrsopolis castanea Burmeister, Rio de Janeiro,Nova Friburgo. Male dorsal habitus (a); caudal view of aedeagus (b); female dorsal and lateral habitus (c–d); dorsal view of male left mandible (e); ventral view of left maxilla (f); ventral view of mentum (g); and dorsal view of labrum (h). Scale bars: a, c, d = 5 mm; b, e–h = 1 mm.

Figure 19. Distribution map of Byrsopolis species.