Paratrikona lerouxii (Boheman, 1854)

(Figs 1–3)

Batonota lerouxii Boheman, 1854:183 (type locality: ‘Cuba’)

Type Material. Batonota lerouxii, lectotype (unsexed), pinned: ‘ Cuba [hw, sl] || Duquet [hw, sl] || Type [p, sl] || LECTOTYPE | des. L. Borowiec [r, cb, p, bb]’ (NRS) . Paralectotype (unsexed), pinned: ‘ Cuba [hw, sl] || Guérin [hw, sl] || PARALECTOTYPE | des. L. Borowiec [r, cb, p, bb]’ (NRS) .

Additional material examined (1). HAITI: Pt. au Prince, R.J. Crew (1 specimen, MNHN).

Diagnosis. Paratrikona lerouxii is one of two species in the genus with the elytral disc uniformly opaque yellow, sometimes with a small reddish spot at the top of the postscutellar tubercle. The other species, P. blakeae sp. nov., differs in that the elytra have the anterior angle slightly truncate, exceeding the widest region of the pronotum, lateral margin opaque, coarse and denser punctures on disc and laterally, and hump followed by a convex slope. While P. lerouxii has elytra with the anterior angles rounded, not exceeding the widest region of the pronotum, lateral margin transparent, coarse and moderately punctured on disc and laterally, postscutellar elevation followed by straight slope.

Externally, P. lerouxii resembles P. turritella that is also endemic to Cuba. Both share a similar body shape, yellow ground color of body, pronotum with irregular callosities on both sides and elytra deeply punctate. The similarity between both species was also pointed out by Blake (1937), who observed that P. turritella has elytra with hump below scutellum before the middle, more produced than in P. lerouxii . After analyzing a larger series of specimens, I can add that P. lerouxii has pronotum around 1.8 X wider than long, with truncate posterior angle, elytra with smooth lateral margin and poorly developed humeral ridge. In contrast, P. turritella has body with pronotum around 1.7 X wider than long, with sinuous posterior angle, elytra with rugose lateral margin and humeral ridge absent. The main diagnostic characters to distinguish P. lerouxii, P. blakeae, and P. turritella are summarized in Table 1.

Distribution. Cuba (Boheman, 1854). New country record for Haiti.