Xenocona uniformis, Vlasak & Santos-Silva, 2022

Vlasak, Josef & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2022, Description of two new species of Xenocona Gilmour (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) from Ecuador, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 62, pp. 1-8 : 4-8

Xenocona uniformis sp. nov.

( Fig. 2 )

Diagnosis: This species is easily separated from the other species of the genus by the distinctly spiniform outer elytral angle.

Description: Holotype male ( Fig. 2 A-G): Integument mostly dark brown; apex of palpomeres, anteclypeus, labrum, margins of abdominal intercoxal process, and apex of abdominal ventrites 1-2 dark reddish brown. Sides of posterior quarter of elytra orangish brown, this area not reaching apex.

Head: Frons minutely, abundantly punctate; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence obscuring integument, pubescence slightly darker on large, somewhat V-shaped area, from anterior third to antennal tubercles; with one long, erect brown seta close to each eye. Area between antennal tubercles and upper eye lobes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence obscuring integument; remaining surface of vertex with yellowish-brown pubescence slightly less dense and darker than between upper eye lobes, except glabrous area close to prothorax. Area behind upper eye lobes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence obscuring integument close to eye, except subtriangular area with sparser brownish pubescence close to inferior area of eye; area close to prothorax glabrous. Area behind lower eye lobes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence close to eye, except glabrous small area slightly after middle; area close to prothorax glabrous. Antennal tubercles with dense yellowish-brown pubescence. Genae minutely, abundantly punctate toward ventral surface, minutely sparsely punctate toward clypeus, except smooth apex; with yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous apex and area close to eye and clypeus. Wide central area of postclypeus with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, absent centrally, bristly close to anteclypeus; with long, erect setae of same color interspersed, and very long, erect seta on each side, brown basally, gradually yellowish toward apex. Sides of postclypeus glabrous. Labrum with yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument on wide central area of posterior ⅔, with dense yellowish-brown pubescence laterally, glabrous on anterior third, except fringe of yellowish-brown setae on anterior margin;central third with long, erect yellowish-brown setae interspersed throughout, and long, erect setae laterally, dark brown basally, gradually yellowish toward apex. Gulamentum somewhat rugose, glabrous, except narrow anterior area with sparse yellowish-brown pubescence. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.25 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.58 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae (from base of scape to apex of antennomere IV) 1.2 times elytral length, reaching posterior sixth of elytra. Scape distinctly surpassing scutellum; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, slightly darker on sides and ventral surface from after middle to posterior sixth. Pedicel with dense yellowish-brown pubescence basally, dark yellowish-brown on remaining surface, and a few long, erect yellowish-brown setae near apex of ventral surface. Antennomere III with dense yellowish-brown pubescence on ⅔, slightly sparser, longer, and bristly on posterior third; with long, erect, sparse yellowish-brown setae ventrally; inner apex ( Fig. 2 F-G) with large hookshaped projection. Antennomere IV with dense pale-yellow pubescence on basal quarter and apically, dark yellowish-brown on remaining surface. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 1.07; pedicel = 0.14; IV = 0.49.

Thorax: Prothorax distinctly wider than long; sides with large, conical tubercle centrally, with apex directed upward. Pronotum with large, elevated, conical tubercle on each side of anterior half, and somewhat large, slightly elevated central tubercle on posterior half; coarsely, sparsely punctate near anterior margin, coarsely, somewhat abundantly punctate on posterior quarter; remaining surface impunctate; wide central area with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence partially obscuring integument, slightly denser and yellower on sides of anterolateral tubercles, except short pale-yellow pubescent macula centrally close to anterior margin, and short pale-yellow pubescent macula centrally close to posterior margin, this latter denser than the former, and wide, oblique greenish-brown pubescent macula posteriorly, starting on each side of posterior pale-yellow macula; sides of anterior third with abundant yellowish pubescence partially obscuring integument;sides of posterior ⅔ mostly with abundant grayish-white pubescence partially obscuring integument, sparser on dorsal surface of lateral tubercles of prothorax, except yellowish pubescence close to inferior margin of lateral tubercle of prothorax, and minute dark-brown pubescence laterally behind lateral tubercles of prothorax. Sides of prothorax mostly with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, except dense yellowish-brown pubescence anteriorly close to pronotum, and area with sparse brownish pubescence posteriorly, from lateral tubercle to posterior margin. Prosternum with abundant yellowish-white pubescence partially obscuring integument laterally, minute, sparser, grayish-white on remaining surface. Prosternal process with pubescence as on central area of prosternum; narrowest area 0.29 times procoxal width. Side of mesoventrite, mesanepisternum, and mesepimeron with dense yellowish-brown pubescence partially obscuring integument; remaining surface of mesoventrite with minute, sparse grayish-white pubescence. Mesoventral process with minute, very sparse grayish-white pubescence; apex strongly V-shape notched; narrowest area 0.42 times mesocoxal width. Metanepisternum with grayish-white pubescence not obscuring integument on anterior ⅔, and dense yellowish-brown pubescence on posterior third. Metaventrite with abundant grayish-white pubescence on sides of anterior ⅔, dense pale-yellow pubescence on sides of posterior third, and central area with subtriangular area with dense,somewhat long, bristly, dense yellowish-brown pubescence. Scutellum with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, except pale-yellow pubescence on basal sides. Elytra: Centrobasal crest distinctly elevated, apex oblique toward anterior margin on anterior ⅔, subtruncate on posterior third, with dense tuft of yellowish-brown setae on oblique region; with oblique dorsal carina after middle, slightly conically tuberculate on its apices; humeral carina well marked on basal half, sinuous and inclined toward dorsal surface; dorsal surface somewhat finely, abundantly punctate on basal third, punctures gradually finer and sparser toward apex; area between epipleural margin and humeral carina coarsely, somewhat rugose-punctate; apex truncate, with spiniform outer angle and rounded sutural angle; basal quarter of dorsocentral region with greenish-brown pubescence, narrowed toward its apex, slightly surpassing level of centrobasal crest, projected toward humerus basally; with longitudinal, slightly yellowish pubescent band from centrobasal crest to anterior margin, following along anterior margin toward humerus, where it turns yellowish brown, following along humeral carina as a narrow band, then abruptly inclined toward epipleural margin at about middle of elytra; with triangular, large greenish-brown pubescent macula on area of posterior oblique carina; outer side of posterior oblique carina with pale-yellow pubescent spot; area between humeral carina and epipleural margin on basal half with minute dark brown pubescence distinctly exposing integument; epipleural margin with dashed white pubescence, with minute, dark pubescence between each dash, from middle to near apex; outer margin of dorsal quarter with irregular yellowish-brown pubescent maculae; remaining surface of elytra with abundant grayish-white pubescence, dense on some areas, slightly sparser on other. Legs: Femora with dense yellowish-white pubescence partially obscuring integument, except area between apex of peduncle and club with brownish pubescence on outer side and ventral surface, and small brownish pubescent spot on dorsal surface of femoral club. Protibiae distinctly expanded apically; with somewhat sparse yellowish pubescence basally, dense pale-yellow pubescence on wide central area, dense yellowish-brown pubescence on apical quarter, and brownish pubescence dorsally and laterally between these areas. Meso- and metatibiae with dense yellowish-white pubescence on basal half, except brownish pubescent ring near base, and dense yellowish-brown pubescence on posterior half, except brownish pubescent ring dorsally and laterally, close to yellowish-white pubescence; dorsal sulcus of metatibiae with short, thick blackish setae. Metatarsomere I 1.1 times II-III together.

Abdomen: Ventrites with yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous apex of ventrites 1-4, and yellowish-brown pubescence on apex of ventrite 5. Apex of ventrite 5 strongly concave, with outer angles spiniform. Apex of last tergite surpassing elytral apex, with apex rounded and emarginated centrally.

Antennae in the paratype male ( Fig. 2H ): Antennae 2.25 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at basal quarter of antennomere V. Antennomere III dark reddish brown on basal ⅘; antennomeres IV-VI reddish brown on basal quarter, gradually dark brown on posterior ¾; antennomeres VII-XI reddish brown. Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III: scape = 1.06; pedicel = 0.15; IV = 0.49; V = 0.37; VI = 0.32; VII = 0.29; VIII = 0.26; IX = 0.25; X = 0.24; XI = 0.25.

Variation in the paratype male: Elytral apex concave between outer and sutural angles.

Dimensions in mm (holotype-paratype): Total length, 13.20-13.80; prothoracic length, 2.15-2.25; anterior prothoracic width, 2.30-2.40; posterior prothoracic width, 2.90-2.95; maximum prothoracic width, 3.65-3.85; humeral width, 4.75-5.05; elytral length, 9.05-9.25.

Type material: Holotype male from ECUADOR, Napo: Cosanga, Cabanas San Isidro , 14.VI.2021, J. Vlasak leg. ( MZSP) . Paratype male (collected as pupa), same data as holotype ( JVCO).

Etymology: The specific epithet "uniformis″ (Latin, "uni″ (one) + "formis″ (having the form of)) refers to the relatively uniform elytral pubescence.

Remarks: Xenocona uniformis sp. nov. is similar to X. forsteri ( Tippmann, 1960) , but differs by the scape distinctly surpassing level of scutellum (not surpassing in X. forsteri ), scutellum without longitudinal pubescent band (present in X. forsteri ), elytra without black maculae on posterior third (present in X. forsteri ), and elytral apex with outer angle spiniform (not spiniform in X. forsteri – the drawing provided by Tippmann (1960) does not agree with the photograph of the holotype).

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS: AS-S: Investigation, Writing – original draft; JV, AS-S: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing. All authors actively participated in the discussion of the results; they reviewed and approved the final version of the paper.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

FUNDING INFORMATION: This project did not use any external financial support.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: We express our thanks to the anonymous reviewers.

Figures

Figure 2. Xenocona uniformis sp.nov.(A-G) Holotype male: (A) Dorsal habitus;(B) Ventral habitus; (C) Lateral habitus;(D) Head, frontal view; (E) Centrobasal crest of the elytra;(F) Apex of antennomereIII, ventral view;(G) Apex of antennomere III,dorsal view.(H) Paratype male,dorsal habitus.