Spintherophyta violacea Jacoby, 1890

Sublett, Clayton A. & Cook, Jerry L., 2021, A Comprehensive Revision of the Genus Metaparia Crotch, 1873 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae) and Description of a New Genus, The Coleopterists Bulletin 75 (4), pp. 779-811 : 806-807

Spintherophyta violacea Jacoby, 1890 , reinstated combination

( Figs. 61, 62 )

Spintherophyta violacea Jacoby 1890: 204 . Metaparia violacea : Flowers 1996: 42 [species transferred to Metaparia ].

Type Specimen. Holotype by monotypy, male pinned to a card, head and pronotum falling off and secured with hide glue: labeled “Ventanas, Mex.,/ 2000 ft. /Forrer.//B.C.A./204.6.// Spintherophyta /violacea/ Jac. [label handwritten on blue paper]// HOLO- /TYPE. [circular label outlined in red]//6. Spintherophyta violacea .”; deposited in the BMNH.

Redescription. Form ovate, dorsum convex ( Figs. 61, 62 ). Length 3.42 mm. Width 2.25 mm. Color shining purple, venter dark brown, appendages brown or red-brown. Head: IOR 1.53. Frons punctate-setose, space between punctures microsculptured; punctures fine, small, sparse; setae short, originating in punctures. Clypeus punctate-setose, form triangular, apical 1/4 suddenly constricted; apex emarginate; emargination shallowly triangular. Mandibles with lateral face weakly convex, setose, microsculptured; dorsal face flat, except with short basal ridge; right mandible inner edge with small, broad tooth. Antennal sclerite with patch of sort setae. Antennomere 1 rectangular with rounded edges. Pronotum: Disc glabrous, sparsely punctate, space between punctures microsculptured; punctures fine, medium, medium dense medially, sparse laterally.Anterior edge setose; setae short, directed anteriorly. Sides evenly rounded, narrower anteriorly. Posterior edge margined with lip; lip lower edge weakly dentate. Scutellar shield: Form broadly triangular, disc microsculptured. Elytra: Disc punctate-striate, space between punctures nearly smooth; rows confused basally, more distinct apically; punctures large, dense, smaller apically. Basal calli distinct, smooth. Venter: Prosternal lateral arms broadly convex, anterior edge sparsely setose, connecting with pronotal anterior edge. Prosternum nearly rectangular, disc setose, longer than wide; anterior and posterior edges straight; sides shallowly concave, nearly straight. Pygidium apicolateral grooves absent. Legs: Protibia apex O-shaped, lateral and ventral carina extending 3/4 tibia length. Meso- and metatibiae lateral and ventral carinae extending 1/2 tibia length. Aedeagus: Unknown. Spermatheca: Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico.

Temporal Occurrence. Unknown.

Remarks. Jacoby (1890) described the mandibles of S. violacea as “very robust and prominent”. On the holotype, the labrum appears slightly retract- ed. In other specimens we have examined, this makes the mandibles look larger because they are more exposed. On the male holotype, neither inner mandible edge bears a tooth, and the IOR is less than 2.00. The IOR and absence of a tooth on the inner edge of the mandibles suggest that the mandibles are not enlarged, but only appear so because of the labrum. It is difficult to be certain if this is the case, though, without a female specimen for comparison. Based on the holotype, we are returning S. violacea to its original combination.

Dispardentium Sublett and Cook , new genus zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:695C1376-7A80-4E25-9C2D-65DCD74A3509

Type Species. Noda laevicollis Jacoby, 1881 , here designated.

Description. Body form ovate, dorsoventrally weakly convex. Color metallic green to blue-green. Head: Frons and clypeus punctate-setose; punctures sparse, micro. Clypeus emarginate. Mandibles asymmetrical, one side larger than the other (males) or symmetrical, not enlarged (females). Gula strongly concave, exposing entire labium (males) or straight, exposing only apex of labium (females). Antenna clavate, setose, antennomeres 7–11 larger, more densely setose than antennomeres 1–6; antennomeres 7–11 with ring of 6 longer setae at apex and raised glabrous patch on one side of antennomeres (males) or without raised glabrous patch (females). Eyes margined dorsally by groove with single seta. Pronotum: Transverse, convex, punctate, anterior and posterior corners with single seta in a pit; punctures dense, micro. Elytra: Punctate-striate, suture margined by bead in apical half; punctures micro to small, fainter medially and towards apex; bead along elytral suture narrowing towards apex. Venter: Prosternal lateral arms weakly to strongly produced anteriorly. Prosternal lateral arms grooved. Pygidium: Disc with triangular medial depression, base of disc halves with narrow band of dense, short, white setae. Apex of pygidium subtruncate, thick, forming a lip (males) or rounded, thin, not forming a lip (females). Legs: Femur weakly enlarged medially, sparsely setose. Protibia setose with 2 dorsal, 1 lateral, and 2 ventral carinae; single row of setae between dorsal and dorsal and lateral carinae, setae in a continuous patch on lateral and ventral faces, longer and denser apically. Meso- and metatibiae setose with 3 dorsal, 1 lateral, and 2 ventral carinae; setae as in protibia.Tibia apices margined with stout setae. Pro- and mesotarsomere 1 enlarged (males) or not enlarged (females). Aedeagus: Median lobe shorter than basal hood. Median lobe rounded, apex acuminate. Basal lateral digits present. Subbasal fenestra present. Spermatheca: U-shaped, tube connecting spermatheca with oviduct offset from end of base.

Distribution. Mexico.

Diagnosis. Dispardentium is separated from other New World Eumolpinae by the asymmetrical male mandibles, the gula that is strongly concave and exposing the labium in males, the raised glabrous patches on male antennomeres 7–11, the groove between the prosternum and prosternal lateral arms, the acuminate apex of the median lobe, and the tube connecting the spermatheca and oviduct being offset from the end of the spermatheca base.

Three other eumolpine genera found in North and South America also have enlarged male mandibles: Metaparia , Glyptosceloides , and Eurysarcus . None of these genera, however, have the combination of asymmetrically enlarged male mandibles and grooved prosternal lateral arms. Additional characters separating the genera include: apex of the median lobe emarginate in Metaparia (acuminate in Dispardentium ), profemora toothed in Glyptosceloides (tooth is absent in Dispardentium ), and the prosternal lateral arms form ocular lobes in Eurysarcus (prosternal lateral arms grooved, not lobed in Dispardentium ).

Etymology. The name is derived from the Latin words dispar and dentium, meaning uneven and teeth, respectively. The name refers to the asymmetrical, or uneven, mandibles of the male. Gender: masculine.

Figures

Figs. 55–62. Type specimens of species removed from Metaparia. 55) Brachypnoea distincta, dorsal habitus; 56) B. distincta, lateral habitus; 57) Spintherophyta jacobyi, dorsal habitus; 58) S. jacobyi, lateral habitus; 59) S. thoracica, dorsal habitus; 60) S. thoracica, lateral habitus; 61) S. violacea, dorsal habitus; 62) S. violacea, lateral habitus. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.