Acanthoscelides camerinoi Romero, 2011

Nápoles, Jesús Romero & Westcott, Richard L., 2011, The Bruchidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) of La Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Huautla, Morelos, Mexico, with descriptions of two new species and an annotated checklist, Insecta Mundi 2011 (166), pp. 1-15 : 5-7

Acanthoscelides camerinoi Romero , new species

Description. Male. Length (pronotum-elytra) 1.59 to 2.01 mm. Width 1.05 to 1.35 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.72 to 0.90 mm.

Integumental color. Head reddish brown with frons and clypeus dark brown, antenna yellow to reddish brown; pronotum all reddish brown varying to dark brown; elytron all reddish brown varying to dark brown with a reddish brown stripe encompassing intervals between striae 2 to 5; mesothoracic and metathoracic sterna and all coxae dark brown to black, remainder of undersurface reddish brown to black; legs yellow to reddish brown. Vestiture: With recumbent white, golden, brown, and black pubescence as follows: eye with medial fringe of white pubescence; postocular lobe with short white setae; postocular patch of dense white pubescence; remainder of head with moderately dense white or intermixed white or golden pubescence; pronotum variegate with dense intermixed patches of white, golden, and black pubescence; scutellum clothed with dense white pubescence; elytral vestiture varies with maculations of golden yellow, white, and brown setae in a distinct pattern; intervals between striae 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, 9 and 10 usually with uniform white or golden or intermixed white and golden setae; intervals between striae 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9 with large elongate patches of dense white pubescence interrupted by shorter patches of darker pubescence; legs with sparse white setae; undersurfaces with moderately dense white to golden pubescence; pygidial pubescence varying from uniform moderately dense white setae to white or brown setae with a dense patch of white pubescence at middle of base ( Fig. 3a,3b ).

Structure. Head.- Short and broad, densely punctulate; frons with faint median carina extending from frontoclypeal suture to vertex; vague transverse sulcus between upper limits of eyes; distance between eyes 0.66 to 0.78 as wide as eye width; eye cleft to 0.60 to 0.74 its length by ocular sinus; posterior margin of eye protruding from adjacent surfaces; postocular lobe rounded; distance from base of antennae to apex of labrum 0.40 to 0.50 as long as distance from upper limits of eyes to apex of labrum; antennal segments 1 to 4 filiform, 5 to 10 eccentric, 11 acute apically; antenna extending to humerus or slightly beyond. Prothorax.- Disk campanulate; punctulate with many scattered coarser punctures; cervical sulcus moderately deep, extending from near coxal cavity to about 0.6 distance to pronotal midline; lateral prothoracic carina extending from base to 0.3 distance to coxal cavity; short median impressed line on median basal lobe; prosternum separating procoxae for about 0.60 to 0.75 their length. Mesothorax and Metathorax.- Scutellum quadrate, ground color obscured by dense white pubescence, apex bifurcate; elytron about twice as long as broad; striae deep, punctate; strial intervals punctulate; striae 2 and 3 closer to one another at base than to adjacent striae, others subequal at base; striae 2 and 3 and with small denticles at their bases; humerus glabrous, shiny dark brown. Legs.- Undersurfaces and all of hind coxa punctate; hind femur constricted apically and basally. expanded medially to slightly more than width of coxa; inner ventral surface with a glabrous, brown longitudinal carina; femur armed with a subapical acuminate spine about as long as width of tibial base and 3 spinules, about 0.60 length of spine; tibia with ventral, lateroventral, lateral and dorsomesal glabrous longitudinal carinae; ventral carinae separated by a shallow sulcus; dorsal surface of tibia without fossa; tibial corona with 4 small spinules; mucro reaching to one-sixth as long as first tarsomere; not sinuate at base of mucro; first tarsomere with ventral, lateral, and mesal glabrous longitudinal carinae. Abdomen.- First sternum with median oval depression, clothed with dense white pubescence; sternum not arched to posterior, about as long as remaining sterna; sterna 2 to 4 unmodified, 5 emarginate; pygidium microrugose, convex in lateral view.

Genitalia. Median lobe moderate in length; in ventral view ventral valve gently rounded apically, lateral margins convex, base slightly broader as apex of median lobe, in lateral view slightly concave; armature of internal sac consisting of an anterior mass of tiny scales, a small median mass of very fine spinules, and a basal mass of spines (Fig. 4a). Lateral lobes expanded at apex, cleft to 0.7 their length (Fig. 4b).

Female. Length (pronotum-elytra) 1.77 to 1.95 mm. Width 1.20 to 1.32 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.93 to 1.10 mm. Similar to male except first sternum without median oval depression, clothed with dense white pubescence ( Fig. 3c, 3d ).

Distribution. Mexico (Morelos).

Host plant. Senna holwayana (Rose) H.S. Irwin

and Barneby.

Etymology. This species is named to honor

Camerino Romero Beristain, uncle of JRN, who is

the last of the Romero-Beristain dynasty.

Type series. Holotype male, allotype female, and

paratypes. Mexico, Morelos, Reserva de la Biósfera

Sierra de Huautla, 3/II/1996, Romero N., J., reared

seed Senna holwayana (Rose) H.S. Irwin &

Barneby. Holotype male, allotype and one paratype

at FSCA, remainder of paratypes in CNIN (2),

USNM (3), and CEAM (6).

Diagnosis. Acanthoscelides camerinoi belongs to

the mexicanus species-group, together with nine-

teen more species: A. aldanai Johnson , A. barinas

Johnson, A. boneti Johnson , A. clitellarius

(Fahraeus), A. cordifer (Sharp) , A. desmanthi

Johnson, A. guanare Johnson , A. jolyi Johnson ,

A. lapsanae (Motschulsky) , A. leucaenicola

Johnson, A. macrophthalmus (Schaeffer) , A.

mankinsi Johnson, A. mexicanus (Sharp) , A.

obrienorum Johnson, A. piceoapicalis (Pic) , A.

sennicola Johnson, A. speciosus (Schaeffer) , A.

suramerica Johnson, and A. yepezi Johnson. They

share the following characters: mucro about one-

sixth as long as first tarsomere, metafemur broader

than hind coxa, elytra usually variegated, elytral

striae 3 and 4 abbreviated, and vertex of head has Figure 4. Acanthoscelides camerinoi genitalia. A) Median a globose area. Most have a truncate apex of the lobe. B) Lateral lobes.

ventral valve and similar armature of the inter-

nal sac of male genitalia. All of the host plants are mimosoid legumes except for A. obrienorum , which feeds in seeds of the genus Senna Mill. (Caesalpinioideae) . The closest relative of A. camerinoi is A. obrienorum , and they share a similar external morphology, including the first sternum of male with median oval depression that is clothed with dense white pubescence. Acanthoscelides camerinoi is the second species known to feed on plants in the genus Senna . The latter two species can be separated easily by the difference in sclerites of the internal sac.

Among the Acanthoscelides species keyed in Johnson (1983) A. camerinoi should be separated by the following modifications in the key:

18’. Hind femur with large subapical spine followed by 2-3 smaller spines, first abdominal sternum of male with median oval depression covered by dense white hairs .......................................... 19

19(18’). Armature of internal sac consisting of two elongate setaceous structures ....................................

.......................................................................................................... A. obrienorum Johnson -- Armature of internal sac consisting of an anterior mass of tiny scales, a small median mass of

very fine spinules, and a basal mass of spines ............................ A. camerinoi , new species

Figures

Figure 3. Acanthoscelides camerinoi. A) Male dorsal view. B) Male lateral view. C) Female dorsal view. D) Female lateral view.