Brachiacantha mimica Nestor-Arriola & Toledo-Hernandez, 2021

Nestor-Arriola, Jorge Ismael, Toledo-Hernandez, Victor Hugo, Solis, Angel, Gonzalez, Guillermo & Vetrovec, Jaroslav, 2021, The Brachiacantha Dejean, 1837 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of Central America, ZooKeys 1024, pp. 157-196 : 157

Brachiacantha mimica Nestor-Arriola & Toledo-Hernandez sp. nov. Figure 11

Holotype.

Female , pinned. Original labels: " GUATEMALA, ANTIGUA, 1500-1600 m, 01-VII-1980, col. N. L. H. Krauss " (USNMNH).

Diagnosis.

Dorsal color black with three pale yellow spots. Protibial tooth small. Apical elytral suture dentiform.

Description.

Holotype. Female. Length 2.8 mm, width 2.2 mm; body oval rounded, convex. Dorsal color black except head pale yellow; pronotum with lateral angles and sides yellow; each elytron with three yellow spots in discal, mid-lateral and sub-apical positions (Fig. 11 ). Ventral surface with head, prostermum, and metaventrite brown; abdomen yellowish brown; legs, mouthparts, and antennae yellow. Head punctures small, separated by their diameter or less, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by their diameter or less; elytral punctures as large as pronotum punctures, separated by their diameter; metaventral punctures as large as head punctures, separated by their diameter to two diameters. Elytral suture with apex dentiform. Clypeus curved. Carinae on prosternal process convergent, joined near the anterior prosternal border, larger than half prosternum. Protibia not flanged, basal tooth small. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite slightly flattened along posterior ventrite margin, ventrite with sparse, long pubescence and small, dense punctures. Genitalia not examined.

Male. Unknown.

Variation.

Unknown.

Etiology.

The name refers to its similarity to other Brachiacantha species.

Type locality.

GUATEMALA, Sacatepequez: Antigua Guatemala, 14°33'N, 90°44'W .

Distribution.

Guatemala.

Discussion.

This species is very similar to B. bistripustulata and allies, but the pale-colored head and the yellowish ventral color of Brachiacantha mimica marks the difference. The apical dentate elytral suture is shared only with B. papiliona .

Figures

Figures 9 - 12. Brachiacantha sp. 9 Brachiacantha guatemalensis comb. nov., male 10 Brachiacantha papiliona sp. nov., female 11 Brachiacantha mimica sp. nov., female 12 Brachiacantha gorhami comb. nov., female.