Meibomeus jacki Romero and Johnson

Romero, Jesús & Johnson, Clarence Dan, 2002, Five New Species Of Meibomeus Bridwell From The New World With Host Records For Them And Six Named Species (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 56 (2), pp. 182-202 : 187-190

Meibomeus jacki Romero and Johnson , new species

Male. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.6 mm. Width 0.7 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.6 mm.

Integument color. Integument not metallic, all black except basal 4 antennal segments, front legs, apical 0.5 of mesofemur and remainder of mesoleg yellowish; eyes shiny black.

Vestiture. Moderately dense elongate white hairs over head, body, and appendages in no apparent pattern; with postocular patch of short, dense white hairs; patch of short white hairs surrounding median basal lobe of pronotum; scutellum covered with dense white hairs; short, dense white hairs on undersurfaces of thorax and ocular sinus.

Structure. Head. Frons with strong medial longitudinal carina extending through frons almost to base of head; eyes about 10 times as long as width of frons, facets coarse, two rows of facets behind ocular sinus; interocular ratio about 0.70; antenna extended to about 0.40 length of elytron, pedicel about 0.75 of scape length and about 0.95 as long as segment 3; segments 5–10 eccentric; segment 11 slightly more elongate than 10, acuminate at apex.

Prothorax. Disk subcampanulate with many punctations in no apparent pattern; cervical sulcus deep, extending from near coxal cavity to 0.5 distance to pronotal midline; lateral prothoracic carina extending from base to about 0.6 distance to coxal cavity; short median basal line on median basal lobe obscured by dense white hairs; without deep, broad, gentle, diagonal sulcus on either side of midline near base.

Mesothorax and Metathorax. Scutellum quadrate, bifurcate at apex; elytron without distinct basal gibbosity; stria 4 slightly abbreviated basally by a rugulose area, not ended by strong tooth, striae 3 and 5 slightly less abbreviated by rugulose area; base of striae 6 extended to base of elytron by large sulcus medial to humerus; humerus shiny black; other striae subequal at base; elytron about twice as long as broad; striae very wide and deep with large punctations; strial intervals narrow, punctulate; metasternum deep, round­ ed in profile; metasternum separated medially at apex by vague, short sulcus, without two strong spines projecting ventrally on either side of sulcus near apex; hind femur constricted basally and apically, expanded medially to about width of coxa ( Fig. 4); inner ventral surface with vague longitudinal carina; lateral margin of femur in a long gentle curve to apex; lateral margin without minute or large spines; inner margin with 5 subapical acuminate spines beginning about 0.3 from apex, larger spine about as long as width of tibial base followed by 4 spines about 0.5 as long as width of tibial base; tibia with ventral, lateroventral, lateral and dorsomesal glabrous carinae; dorsal surface of tibia with many small spines from base to apex, without fossa; tibial corona with one vague lateral spinule, small dorsal spine, mucro small, about 0.1 as long as first tarsomere; tarsomere 1 with vague ventral, lateral and mesal longitudinal carinae.

Abdomen. First abdominal sternum without polished lateral apical band, sternum flattened medially, 0.75 length of abdomen; sterna 2–5 unmodified, fifth sternum gently curved at apex, not emarginate, apex produced ventrally. Pygidium with many fine punctations, narrow, apex narrow, curved ventrad at apex.

Genitalia. Median lobe long, slightly constricted on lateral margins near apex, lateral margins sclerotized, especially near apex; in ventral view ventral valve about 0.8 as wide as apex of median lobe, lateral margins slightly concave, acuminate at apex, in lateral view, apex bent ventrally; dorsal valve membranous, apex sclerotized, blunt to slightly rounded apically; armature of internal sac simple: two small serrate spines medially to basally, one elongate spicule at base ( Fig. 5 ). Lateral lobes elongate, enlarged and scarcely cleft at apex, with strong setae at apex of lobes ( Fig. 6 ).

Female. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.5–1.8 mm. Width 0.8–1.0 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.6–0.8 mm.

Similar to male except covered with moderately dense, short white hairs; length of eye about 2 times width of frons; antenna extended to about 0.25 length of elytron; base of striae 6 not extended to base of elytron by large sulcus medial to humerus; striae narrow, shallow, without large punctations; some may have a slight sulcus medial to humerus; prosternum separating procoxae for about 0.8 their length; dorsal surface of hind tibia rugulose, without spines; first abdominal sternum with polished lateral apical band, sternum flattened medially; sterna 2–4 unmodified, fifth sternum elongate, 3.0 times as long as fourth, gently curved at apex, not emarginate, apex not produced ventrally. Pygidium with many fine punctations, moderate in width, apex narrow, not curved ventrad at apex.

Host Plants. Zornia marajoara Huber : Venezuela: Bolivar: 700 9, Guasipati, 13­II­85, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3996–85 ).

Type Series. Holotype male, allotype female and 5 paratypes: Venezuela: Bolivar: 700 9, Guasipati, 13­II­85, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3996­85 ). One paratype: Mexico: Oaxaca: 18 mi. SE. Tlacolula 6,500 9, Aug. 12, 1974, C. W. & L. B. O’Brien & Marshall . Holotype and allotype deposited in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History , Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Paratypes deposited in the CDJ and JRN collections.

Distribution. Venezuela (Bolivar).

Discussion. Meibomeus jacki keys to near M. panamensis Kingsolver and Whitehead in Kingsolver and Whitehead (1976) and the hind femur is almost identical to M. apicicornis (Pic) . But the large sulcus at the base of stria 6 medial to the elytral humerus of males and the simple male genitalia ( Figs. 5, 6 ) serve to distinguish this distinct species from other Meibomeus . There are many other structures that separate this species from other Meibomeus . Some of these characters are the frons with a strong medial longitudinal carina extending through the frons almost to the base of the head and the eyes about 10 times as long as the width of the frons. Elytral stria 4 is slightly abbreviated basally by a rugulose area, not ended by a strong tooth, and striae 3 and 5 slightly less abbreviated by a rugulose area. The lateral margin of the hind femur without minute or large spines; inner margin with two small spines, one about 0.3 from base and the other about 0.6 from base ( Fig. 4) and with four subapical acuminate spines beginning about 0.3 from apex of femur, the larger spine about as long as the width of the base of the tibia followed by three spines about 0.5 as long as the width of the tibial base.

Etymology. This species is named for John Daniel (Jack) Johnson, son of the second author, for his assistance in the field while collecting bruchids and plants.

Figures

Figs. 5–6. Meibomeus jacki male genitalia. 5) Median lobe; 6) lateral lobes.