Serratitibia Gordon and Canepari, 2013

Gordon, Robert D., Canepari, Claudio & Hanley, Guy A., 2013, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XII: New name for Cyra Mulsant, review of Brachiacanthini genera, and systematic revision of Cleothera Mulsant, Hinda Mulsant and Serratitibia Gordon and Canepari, new genus, Insecta Mundi 2013 (278), pp. 1-150 : 16

Serratitibia Gordon and Canepari , new genus

Type species: Cleothera decemsignata Mulsant, 1850 , by present designation.

Description. Form oval, convex, occasionally elongate. Elytral color usually dark with pale maculation, or pale with dark maculation, rarely vittate. Antenna with 11 articles, basal article 2 times as long as wide, antennal insertion exposed. Clypeus with apical margin nearly truncate or distinctly emarginate. Labrum rectangular. Apical maxillary palpomere securiform with sides slightly diverging. Scutellum large, transverse. Prosternal process slightly convex, with two carinae ( Fig. 6 ). Male mesepimeron pale; female mesepimeron dark. Protibia with narrow, slightly arcuate, outwardly serrate flange ( Fig. 10 , 61 ), except Section III, with protibia flanged or not, without serrations ( Fig. 10 , 493 ). Abdomen with visible primary pores between ventrites 4–5 present in members of Section I, pores absent in members of Section II. Tarsal claw with subquadrate basal tooth. Male 5th abdominal ventrite with tubercle on each side of median apical emargination bearing setal tuft, tubercle at least partially concealed by setal tuft ( Fig. 19 ); 6th ventrite angulate on each side of median emargination, with or without median tubercle, angle bearing setal tuft ( Fig. 21 ); apices of female 5th and 6th ventrites curved or truncate, unmodified. Male genitalia with basal lobe asymmetrical, paramere unmodified, usually wide, apically rounded or truncate in lateral view ( Fig. 62 , 283 ); sipho with or without visible lateral or ventral spicules in apical 1/2, spicules apparently always present but usually aligned with siphonal axis, so not visible. Female genitalia with spermathecal capsule usually long, slender ( Fig. 65 ).

Etymology. Named for the serrate outer protibial margin present in nearly all species.

Remarks. Serratitibia differs from Hinda by the protibia narrowly flanged, flange nearly always outwardly serrate, rarely with smooth outer margin, male 5th abdominal ventrite with small tubercle on each side of the apical emargination, and male genitalia with basal lobe asymmetrical.

Almeida and Milléo (2000) included some species herein moved to Serratitibia in their generic review of Hinda : S. joeli (Almeida and Milléo) , S. humerata (Mulsant) , S. modesta (Weise) , and S. regularis (Weise) , all of which have the protibial and genitalic characteristics of Serratitibia .

Genitalia of both sexes are unusually uniform within Serratitibia , but some degree of grouping is possible based on type of male genitalia. Species arrangement in the text is based on these genitalic similarities, although “groups” are not formally defined. Examples of how these groups are defined are “paramere apically truncate,” “paramere apically rounded,” etc. Both genitalia and external color pattern are monotonously similar in parts of the genus, particularly those species with dark elytra and 4 or 5 pale spots on each elytron.

Nearly all species of Serratitibia have protibiae with a narrow, outwardly serrate flange, but 7 species have completely smooth protibiae, flanged or not. These species were originally thought to belong to Dilatitibialis , but the male 5th abdominal ventrite with a ciliate tubercle on each side of middle and unmodified parameres of male genitalia are characters found only in Serratitibia . The combination of a tubercle and setal tuft on each side of the apex of the male 5th abdominal ventrite, and male genitalia with paramere Unm, consistently unmodified, distinguish, this genus

Most Serratitibia have visible primary abdominal pores, but many lack them. Those with pores are placed in Section I, those without in Section II. Dissection is almost imperative to determine the presence or absence of primary pores, many species have very small pores that are detected only by examination of the abdomen from the internal surface.

Figures

Figures 1–15. Brachiacanthini stuctures. 1) Hinda sp. head. 2) Serratitibia sp. head. 3) Serratitibia sp. head. 4) Cyrea sp. head. 5) Cyrea sp. head. 6) Cyrea sp. prosternum. 7) Cyrea sp. prosternum. 8) Brachiacantha sp. prosternum. 9) Hinda sp. protibia. 10) Serratitibia sp. protibia. 11) Cyrea sp. protibia. 12) Cyrea sp. protibia 13) Dilatitibialis sp. protibia. 14) Dilatitibialis sp. protibia. 15) Brachiacantha sp. protibia.

Figures 60–77. 60–65) Serratitibia regularis. 60) Habitus. 61) Protibia. 62) Phallobase, ventral. 63) Phallobase, lateral. 64) Sipho. 65) Female genitalia, tube connecting spermathecal capsule to bursa missing. 66–72) Serratitibia donna. 66) Habitus. 67) Phallobase ventral. 68) Phallobase, lateral. 69) Enlarged siphonal apex. 70) Sipho. 71) Male abdomen. 72) Female genitalia. 73–77) Serratitibia lividipes. 73) Habitus. 74) Phallobase, ventral. 75) Phallobase lateral. 76) Enlarged siphal apex. 77) Sipho.

Figures 492–509. 492–497) Serratitibia aliciae. 492) Habitus. 493) Proleg. 494) Phallobase ventral. 495) Phallobase lateral. 496) Enlarged siphonal apex. 497) Sipho. 498–503) Serratitibia andrea. 498) Habitus. 499) Phallobase ventral. 500) Phallobase lateral. 501) Enlarged siphonal apex. 502) Sipho. 503) Female genitalia. 504–509) Serratitibia louise. 504) Habitus. 505) Phallobase ventral. 506) Phallobase lateral. 507) Enlarged siphonal apex. 508) Sipho. 509) Female genitalia.

Figures 16–29. Brachiacanthini structures. 16) Brachiacantha sp. protibia. 17) Hinda sp. abdomen. 18) Serratitibia sp. abdomen. 19) Serratitibia sp. abdomen. 20) Serratitibia sp. abdomen. 21) Serratitibia sp. abdomen. 22) Dilatitibialis sp. abdomen. 23) Dilatitibialis sp abdomen. 24) Dilatitibialis sp. abdomen. 25) Dilatitibialis sp. abdomen. 26) Cyrea sp. abdomen. 27) Cyrea sp. abdomen. 28) Cyrea sp. abdomen. 29) Brachiacantha sp. abdomen.

Figures 270–285. 270–274) Serratitibia abendrothi. 270) Habitus. 271) Phallobase ventral. 272) Enlarged siphonal apex. 273) Sipho. 274) Female genitalia. 275–280) Serratitibia quincemil. 275) Habitus. 276) Phallobase ventral. 277) Phallobase lateral. 278) Enlarged siphonal apex. 279) Sipho. 280) Male abdomen. 281–285) Serratitibia teresa. 281) Habitus. 282) Phallobase ventral. 283) Phallobase lateral. 284) Enlarged siphonal apex. 285) Sipho.