Hemicladus buqueti Tavakilian, Touroult & Dalens

Tavakilian, Gérard Luc, Touroult, Julien & Dalens, Pierre-Henri, 2010, Revision of the genus Hemicladus Buquet, 1857 with a special focus on the species from French Guiana (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae), Zootaxa 2358, pp. 39-48 : 41-43

Hemicladus buqueti Tavakilian, Touroult & Dalens , new species

( Figs 1, 2, 3 & 4)

Hemicladus dejeani ; Tavakilian in Hequet, 1996: pl. XVIII, fig. 7 (male) (misapplied); Tavakilian et al., 1997, (nec Buquet, 1857): 338 (Host plant, misapplied).

Material examined. Holotype: male, with the label: “ GUYANE F. Matoury, Lac des Américains, battage, 30- XI-1982, Gérard Tavakilian leg.” and a red label: “ HOLOTYPE Hemicladus buqueti Tavakilian, Touroult & Dalens , det. Touroult 2010” (from IRD, deposited in MNHN).

Paratypes (all from French Guiana): Montsinéry, a female caught on trunk, in the daytime 16-viii-1984, Christian Lestrade leg. (IRD); Piste de Kaw, pk 27, one male and three females obtained by beating 07-xi- 1982, Patrick Debost leg. (IRD); idem, pk 29, a male and a female, obtained by beating 20-viii-2007 and 22- viii-2007, Jean-Philippe Roguet leg. ( JPRC, n° 9758 and n° 9762); idem, ten specimens, near Camp Caiman, 6 to 12/08/2007, Herbert Schmid, Alex & Alfred Puchner leg. (3 in HSCW and 7 in A& APCW); idem, pk 36, a female caught on trunk, by day 10-ix-1999, Julien Touroult leg. (JTC); idem, pk 37, a male and a female obtained by beating 12-ix-1993, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg. (IRD), two specimens obtained by beating vegetation 25-x-1996, Jean-Louis Giuglaris leg. ( JLGC), four females obtained by beating 21-vii-2000 and 23-vii-2000, Denis Faure leg. (DFC), one specimen caught at light trap viii-1992, Daniel Camus leg. (DCC); idem, pk 37.5, a female and a male obtained by beating Pausandra , 22-viii-2003 and 15-viii-2005 respectively, Jean- Philippe Roguet leg. ( JPRC, n° 6223 and n° 8312), two males and one female obtained by beating 23-viii- 2003, Denis Faure leg. (DFC), one specimen obtained by beating 27-viii-1993, Daniel Camus leg. (DCC); idem, pk 38, a male and a female obtained by beating 14-viii-1996 and 16-viii-1996, Julien Touroult leg. (JTC), one specimen caught on trunk, by day 17-viii-1993, Jean-Louis Giuglaris leg. ( JLGC); idem, pk 40, one female caught on trunk, at night 30-viii-2002, Denis Faure leg. (DFC); Route forestière de Bélizon, eight specimens obtained ex larva, 15-viii-2006, Jean-Louis Giuglaris leg. ( JLGC); Saül, Mont Galbao, two specimens obtained by beating, 24 & 25-viii-2006, Pierre-Henri Dalens leg. ( PHDC); Belvédère de Saül, two specimens 27-vii-2006, two 29-vii-2006 and two 25-viii-2006, Pierre-Henri Dalens leg. (4 in PHDC, 2 in JTC); Saül, Les Eaux Claires, one specimen obtained by beating 14-xi-2007, Julien Touroult leg. (JTC); Kourou, piste des Campagnons Réunis, a female taken at malaise trap, 25-viii-2003, Denis Faure leg. (DFC); Haut-Maroni, Antécume Pata, two specimens obtained ex larva, 16-v-2007 and 20-v-2008, Pierre- Henri Dalens leg. ( PHDC).

Additional non-type material (collected in French Guiana, by beating vegetation, or otherwise stated): Piste de Kaw, pk 29, a male and a female, viii-2006 and eight males and five females, viii-2007, Jean- Philippe Roguet leg.; idem, pk 37, a female caught on branches, by day, 08-viii-1990, Michel Vialard leg., a female 20-viii-1992, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg., a male and a female 24-ix-1992, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg., a male and a female 28-ix-1992, Franklin Thomas Hovore leg., a male 06-x-1992, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg., a female 17-viii-1993, Jean-Louis Giuglaris leg., a male and three females 17-viii-1993, 25-viii-1993 and 27-viii-1993, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg., a male 15-ix-1993, Jean-Aimé Cerda leg., three females 12-xi-1993, Franklin Thomas Hovore leg., a female 08-viii-1996, Frank Hovore & Darren Pollock leg.; idem, pk 37,5 three males and one female, viii-2003 and ten males and one female, viii-2005, Jean-Philippe Roguet leg.; idem pk 38, a female, viii-2006, Jean-Philippe Roguet leg.; Kourou, Route de Degrad Saramaca, pk 6, a male 04-ix-1992, Michel Duranton leg.; Crique Plomb, a female 24-ix-1992, Franklin Thomas Hovore leg.

Six specimens from the MNHN Collection: three from Thomson’s collection, two with a simple label “male”, the other with a label indicating “Amazone, Obydos, Hahnel, 1880”. Two from the Gounelle’s collection, one female “Maroni, Guyane ”, and another one with labels: “Cayenne, Soubirou.96” and “ Dejeani Buq.”. A male with the labels: “Maroni Guyane ” and “ Hemicladus dejeani Guyane, U. Martins det. 1982.”

Diagnosis. The new species is closely related to H. dejeanii Buquet, 1857 with which it has sometimes been confused. The main differences relate to the pronotum, which is more wrinkled transversally, less punctate, always without punctures in the centre of the disc and with a stronger lateral tubercle in H. buqueti sp. n. ( Fig. 3). The fourth antennomere is regularly widened in a triangle shape from base to apex in H. dejeanii , whereas it is pedunculate before strongly widening at the middle of its length in H. buqueti sp. n. ( Fig. 2).

Description. Length 10-16 mm; width 3.4-4.8 mm (measured across humeri). Habitus as in Fig. 1.

Head with black integument, finely punctured, covered by recumbent, short pubescence, more concentrated on the jugum. Mandibles arched and with a slight groove at their base. Labrum quadrangular, its integument clearer on the apical half, fringed by gold coloured setae. Palpi spindle-shaped, slightly truncate at the apex. Clypeus without any setae, smooth and shining. Front weakly convex; antennal tubercles prominent. Vertex with a thin groove that ends at the middle of the frons. Eyes finely margined, surrounded by a few long erected black setae. Antennae black with some purplish glint; with small punctures; covered with short, thin and recumbent pubescence, except the internal side of the first four antennomeres, which are covered with a whitish pubescence, especially at their base. Antennomeres 4 to 7 with apical angles projected forward, the internal projection rounded and more marked than the external. Antennomere 4 with parallel sides up to the middle, then suddenly expanded toward the apex.

Pronotum 1.4 times wider than long, finely margined, the basal edge slightly indented at the middle; with a lateral tubercle that forms a small spine. Pronotum covered by recumbent, short, light brown pubescence. Structure clearly transversely wrinkled and with some punctures, these punctures more scattered on the disc. Scutellum trapezoid, concave and fringed with yellow pubescence.

Elytra 2.1 times longer than wide, shoulders marked; with a small concavity around the scutellum; apices rounded. Integument covered with pubescence similar to that of the pronotum, with rows of punctures that converge towards the apex. Underside with integument dark reddish brown, covered with greyish pubescence.

Legs dark brown, with greyish pubescence. Femora swollen, tibiae lacking spines with some half-erect black setae, more concentrated on the metatibiae. Tarsomeres of the front tarsus of equal length; tarsomeres of meso- and metatarsus with first segment longer but still shorter than the combined length of tarsomeres 2 and 3.

Genitalia as in Fig. 4.

Sexual dimorphism very weak: only the examination of the last urosternite enables identification of the sex.

Etymology. This species is named after Jean-Baptiste Lucien Buquet, who first described and studied the genus Hemicladus .

Biology. This new species is by far the most common Hemicladus in the region, in both old and recent collections. It is a diurnal species, rather commonly caught by beating dead branches and creepers all over French Guiana ( Fig. 5). It is a species occurring mostly during the dry season; 97 % of specimens have been taken between July and November ( Fig. 6). When caught, the longhorn adopts a typical position with the antennas joined together and outstretched in front of the beetle. Host-plant: Pausandra martinii Baillon (Euphorbiaceae) D. Sabatier & M.F. Prévost 4164 (herbarium sample). This species has sometimes been collected together with H. dejeanii Buquet, 1857 on the same host-plant.

Hemicladus buqueti new species Hemicladus dejeanii Buquet (104 specimens) (57 specimens)

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