Leptostylus LeConte, 1852

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Bezark, Larry G., 2024, New species, notes and record of New World Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), Zootaxa 5551 (1), pp. 167-185 : 168

Leptostylus LeConte, 1852

Leptostylus LeConte, 1852: 168 .

Remarks. Leptostylus is one of the most problematic genera within Acanthocinini . Several features are extremely variable, especially the shape and width of the prosternal and mesoventral processes ( Figs 2–11 ). Additionally, there are intermediate forms between distinctly narrow and distinctly wide processes, making it impossible to use them to attempt to divide Leptostylus . The same situation occurs with other very variable features in this genus, as for example the body shape and the length of lower eye lobes and genae. Currently, Leptostylus includes 95 species ( Bezark 2024), of which we examined 46 species. Among the species examined, some of them have narrow thoracic processes, but none with them as narrow as in the new species described here ( Fig. 2 ). Even so, we prefer not to establish a new genus based solely on the width of the thoracic processes, precisely because of the enormous variation found in the genus.

Figures

FIGURES 2–11. Leptostylus, prosternal and mesoventral processes: 2) L. arcuatus sp. nov., holotype male; 3) L. skillmani Santos-Silva, 2022, holotype female; 4) L. quintalbus Bates, 1885, male; 5) L. panamensis Heffern & Santos-Silva, 2022, holotype female; 6) L. densepunctatus Botero, Pérez-Flores & Santos-Silva, 2024, holotype male; 7) L. xanthopygus Bates, 1880, female; 8) L. bicolor Heffern & Santos-Silva, 2023, holotype female; 9) L. carinatus Santos-Silva & Botero, 2023, holotype female; 10) L. perniciosus Monné & Hoffman, 1981, paratype male; 11) L. obrienorum Nascimento & Heffern, 2018, holotype male.