Cyrea hexastigma (Mulsant) Canepari & Gordon & Hanley, 2016

Canepari, Claudio, Gordon, Robert D. & Hanley, Guy A., 2016, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XVII: Systematic revision of the genera Cyrea Gordon and Canepari and Tiphysa Mulsant (Hyperaspidinae: Brachiacanthini), Insecta Mundi 2016 (486), pp. 1-180 : 45-46

30. Cyrea hexastigma (Mulsant) , new combination

Cleothera hexastigma Mulsant, 1850:556 .

Hyperaspis hexastigma: Crotch 1874:217 ; Korschefsky 1931:190; Blackwelder 1945:447; Gordon 1987:27. Cleothera gracilis Mulsant, 1850:558 . NEW SYNONYM.

Hyperaspis gracilis: Crotch 1874:219 ; Korschefsky 1931:189; Blackwelder 1945:447.

Description. Male. Length 3.8 mm, width 3.0 mm; body rounded, slightly oval, convex. Dorsal surface with head weakly alutaceous, feebly shiny, pronotum and elytron smooth, shiny. Color reddish yellow except pronotum with darker reddish basomedian macula extended 2/3 distance to anterior pronotal margin, apex of macula deeply, narrowly emarginate with reddish yellow, small, dark brown spot on each side of middle in basal 1/3; elytron reddish yellow with 3 small, dark brown spots, humeral spot elongate, extended from humeral callus posteriorly, discal spot near suture in anterior 1/2 rounded, apical spot on apical declivity irregularly transversely oval. ( Fig. 165 ); ventral surface reddish yellow except metaventrite dark brown; abdomen yellow except median 1/3 darker reddish brown. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture about as large as 2 eye facets; pronotal punctures slightly larger than head punctures, separated by a diameter or less, elytral punctures as large as on pronotum, separated by 1 to 2 times a diameter; metaventral punctures larger than on elytron, separated by less than a diameter medially, becoming larger and separated by a diameter or less than a diameter in lateral 1/3. Clypeus emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 5 eye facets long, slightly angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin weakly rounded, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron wide, grooved, slightly descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia with narrow oblique angle, outer margin slightly curved, smooth, sponda slightly extended beyond angle. Carinae on prosternal process widely separated at apex, convergent toward base, joined at basal 1/4 of prosternum, single carina extended to prosternal base. Metaventrite with sparse setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite rounded throughout, extended forward at apex, ventrite with small, dense punctures; ventrites 2-6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; 5th ventrite weakly depressed medially, apical margin broadly, feebly emarginate; 6th ventrite short, narrow, depressed medially, apical margin weakly emarginate, angle on each side of emargination rounded. Apical tergite finely, densely punctured, apex emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe longer than paramere, asymmetrical, sides convergent in basal 7/ 8, apical 1/8 rounded to abruptly curved apex; paramere Pem, widened from base to apex, apex deeply, broadly emarginate, upper margin with apex broadly rounded, lower margin apically curved to rounded apex ( Fig. 166, 167 ); sipho strongly curved in basal 2/3, with trace of visible alae at apical 1/10, basal capsule with inner arm short, narrowed medially, apex widened, obliquely truncate, outer arm wider and slightly longer than inner arm, with accessory piece, basal border widely, shallowly emarginate ( Fig. 168, 169 ).

Female. Similar to male except head with clypeus dark brown, pronotum lacking dark brown spots. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule long, slender; bursal cap oval, with 2 sclerotized arms, apical strut short, apically spatulate ( Fig. 170 ).

Variation. Length 3.5 to 3.8 mm, width 2.7 to 3.0 mm. Pronotum with dark brown spots present or absent, elytron sometimes with dark brown spots reduced to faint, brownish traces difficult to see.

Type locality. Of hexastigma and gracilis , Brazil.

Type depository. Of hexastigma, UMZC (lectotype designated by Gordon 1987); of gracilis, ZMHB (holotype).

Geographical distribution. Brazil.

Specimens examined. 6. Brazil. “Brasil;” Rio de Janiero. ( BMNH) ( ZMHB).

Remarks. This large species, usually with 3 dark brown spots on a pale elytron, is easily recognized, although the color pattern is somewhat variable. The only other species with which it might be confused is C. gracilis which has a black head and mostly black pronotum. Only 2 specimens of C. gracilis were available for examination, the female holotype and another female specimen in the ZMHB collection. These two names seem to refer to the same species because female genitalia do not differ between them. Therefore C. gracilis is considered a junior synonym. Both C. june and C. hexastigma are placed in the same group because of the similar male genitalia, but they differ widely in structure of the terminalia of the male abdominal ventrites, so may not be closely related.

In addition to the UMZC lectotype, additional type specimens have been examined and are designated as paralectotypes. These are a male in the DEI labeled “ Brasil Schaum (handwritten)/Coll.Haag/ Syntypus (pink paper)/ hexastigma Mls Typ (handwritten)/Coll. DEI Müncheberg.”, and 2 specimens, male and female, in the ZMHB labeled “55696/ hexastigma Muls. Bras. (handwritten)/Hist.-Coll. ( Coleoptera ), Nr. 5696, Exochomus hexastigma Muls. , Brasil, Zool. Mus. Berlin.”

Figures

Figures 153-170. Cyrea spp. 153-157) Cyrea stella. 153) Habitus. 154) Phallobase ventral. 155) Phallobase lateral.156) Sipho. 157) Enlarged siphonal apex. 158-164) Cyrea june. 158) Habitus. 159) Phallobase ventral. 160) Enlarged lateral view of basal lobe apex. 161) Phallobase lateral. 162) Sipho. 163) Enlarged siphonal apex. 164) Female genitalia. 165-170) Cyrea hexastigma. 165) Habitus. 166) Phallobase ventral. 167 Phallobase lateral. 168) Sipho. 169) Enlarged siphonal apex. 170) Female genitalia.