Embates leucopleura (Champion) Prena, 2005

Prena, Jens, 2005, The Middle American species of Embates Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Baridinae), Zootaxa 1100 (1), pp. 1-151 : 1-151

62. Embates leucopleura (Champion) , comb. n.

(Fig. 210–216, 251)

Ambates leucopleura Champion 1907: 158 . Lectotype male, Panama, here designated, labeled: “sp. figured”, “ Type ”, “ ♂ ”, “V. de Chiriqui,/ 25–4000 ft. / Champion.”, “ Genus / Cholinambates ” (BMNH). Paralectotype 1, Costa Rica, here designated: Carrillo (now E. leucopleura discolor ssp. n., BMNH) ; 6 specimens labeled as variety (now E. aliquantulus ) are not considered to be type specimens ( BMNH 5 , NMNH)

Drepanambates leucopleura ; Champion 1907: 155 (footnote). Hustache 1938 (cat.); O’Brien & Wibmer 1982 (cat.)

Cholinambates leucopleura . Casey 1922: 6

Redescription. Habitus: Fig. 210 (Pacific side of Cordillera de Talamanca) and Fig. 214 (elsewhere), total length 5.2–9.9 mm (m=7.3, n=56). Color: integument piceous to black, antenna and legs may be partially rufous; basic vestiture of minute to moderate cupreous scales, clusters of yellow scales along elytral striae and mid­line of pronotum or not, light yellow scales variously condensed in dorsolateral vitta between head and elytral apices; venter with light yellow scales on prosternum, along flank and on last ventrite (large specimens only). Head: frontal fovea absent, rostrum slender, subcylindrical (Fig. 211), sides attenuated between apex and antennal insertion, costate dorsomedially, basolateral margin moderately edged, length of rostrum ♂♂ 1.10–1.28 x (m=1.20, n=34), ♀♀ 1.14–1.28 x (m=1.23, n=22) pronotal length, length of ante­antennal portion ♂♂ 0.41–0.47 x (m=0.44, n=34), ♀♀ 0.41–0.48 x (m=0.46, n=22) total rostral length, dorsal margin of antennal scrobe reaching rostral base well before eye; funicular segment 2 slightly longer than 1, club oblong ovate. Pronotum: length 0.88–1.00 x (m=0.95, n=56) maximum width, sides rounded, widest in basal half, anterior portion tubulate; disk densely punctate, intervals granulose, often confluent dorsomedially. Elytra: length 1.75–1.94 x (m=1.83, n=56) width at humeri, width 1.25–1.36 x (m=1.30, n=56) maximum pronotal width, sides converging shortly behind humeri, apices rounded conjointly, preapical callus developed moderately, striae fine, punctures indistinct, interstriae flat, 9 (7 frequently near callus) costate. Legs: tibiae nearly straight, metatibia bisinuate, distally with cluster of cupreous hairs, tarsal claws arcuate and separate at base. Male: apex of aedeagus rounded narrowly, middle sclerotized, anterolateral portion membranous (Fig. 212), body of aedeagus of moderate length, basal third angular in lateral view, apodemes 2.2 x longer than body of aedeagus, flagellum thin, slightly shorter than apodemes, transition to curved base gradual, basal appendage elongate, curved, fused laterally with base of flagellum, projecting beyond base (Fig. 213).

Discussion. The type series of Ambates leucopleura encompasses two specimens, each of them representing a distinct, allopatric taxon. The one occurs from the Pacific side of the Cordillera de Talamanca down to the Pacific side of Colombia, and is recognizable by the usually indistinct basic vestiture of minute scales and the sharply limited dorsolateral vitta. The other taxon occurs in Atlantic Costa Rica, and exhibits a more fuzzy color­pattern, with the dorsolateral vitta ill­defined or reduced. Here, I select the male specimen from Volcán de Chiriquí, illustrated in Champion (1907), as lectotype of Ambates leucopleura . It should be noted, that the specimens from high elevations of the Pacific side of the Cordillera de Talamanca are more slender than those from central Panama and Colombia. The Atlantic population from Costa Rica is regarded a subspecies of E. leucopleura . The specimens of Champion’s “small variety” belong to E. aliquantulus .