Chrysobothris socialis socialis Waterhouse

Westcott, Richard L. & Barr, William F., 2007, Resurrection and review of the genus Knowltonia Fisher, with description of a new subspecies of Chrysobothris Eschscholtz and new species of Acmaeodera Eschscholtz from North America (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Zootaxa 1481, pp. 49-58 : 55

Chrysobothris socialis socialis Waterhouse , new status

( Fig. 2 )

Chrysobothris socialis Waterhouse, 1887:39 , Tab. 3, Figs. 10, 10a; Cazier, 1951:45.

One of us (RLW) examined the holotype (by monotypy), a male measuring 12.3 mm X 5.0 mm, labeled as follows: “Holo-type [red rimmed circle]/402 [h]/ Ventanas, Mex., 2000ft., Forrer/ Chrysobothris socialis (Type) Waterh.” Ventanas is in Durango ( Selander & Vaurie, 1962). The frons is entirely coppery, the occiput green. There is a vague median longitudinal depression extending from behind the clypeus to about mid-point. The sides of the pronotum are narrowly, yet boldly, coppery-red except near the base. The ventral surface is coppery bronze.

Cazier (1951) recorded C. socialis from Sinaloa, undoubtedly based on two specimens (AMNH) lacking additional data. He considered them female, but his description of the last visible abdominal sternite and our examination clearly show them to be male. We have compared them to the holotype and consider all three specimens conspecific. We examined another specimen from Sinaloa, Estuilla Dist., Alamosa, 2-X-33, H. S. Gentry, CASC. There is an “Alamos” in that state, near the coast, but we cannot find mention of “Estuilla” anywhere. The only published record ( Nelson et al., 1981) of this species from Sonora must be referred to the following new subspecies (see below). However, we examined two specimens of C. s. socialis from that state: Río Mayo, Arroyo Guajaray, 20 & 25-X-34, H. S. Gentry, CASC. The only female of this subspecies that we have seen is labeled “Nayarit, Mexico, XI-1917 ” (misidentified as C. trisignata Waterhouse ), CASC. The elytra bear distinct, extensive coppery reflections and reduced markings. However, in every other respect, notably the color of the underside, it matches the other specimens we examined. Including the holotype, the six males we saw range in length from 10.8–13.5 mm, the female is 14.3 mm long.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Dorsal habitus. 1, Knowltonia calida (Knull), female; 2, Chrysobothris socialis socialis Waterhouse, male; 3, Acmaeodera audreyae sp. nov., holotype.