Asydates phantasma Mayor and Gimmel

Mayor, Adriean J. & Gimmel, Matthew L., 2019, Revision of the Soft-Winged Flower Beetles of the Genus Asydates Casey, 1895 (Coleoptera: Melyridae: Dasytinae: Listrini), The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 17) 73, pp. 1-71 : 48-52

12. Asydates phantasma Mayor and Gimmel , new species

Zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AEE1DB59-BDCD-4C24-8427-99DD9D1C5389 ( Figs.6A–B , 9E–F , 13C–D , 17C–D , 27E , 29E , 37B , 40 )

Type Material. Holotype ♂, left elytron missing, genitalia dissected and mounted on clear card in dimethylhydantoin formaldehyde, deposited in BYU, labeled “ USA: UT: Emery Co. \ Woodside , on Hwy. 191 \ 8 September 1962 \ Glen Moore [white printed label] //Woodside, Ut. [white printed label] // HOLOTYPE \ Asydates \ phantasma \ Mayor & Gimmel 2019 [red printed label]” . Paratypes: 3 specimens listed in the Material Examined section include the additional label “ PARATYPE \ Asydates \ phantasma \Mayor & Gimmel 2019 [yellow printed label]” .

Diagnosis. The unique shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, with a long apical limb and sharp, straight apex in lateral view ( Fig. 27E ) and the fact that the species is known only from the Colorado dense, conspicuous on head, pronotum, and elytra. Length 2.4 mm (2.1–2.7 mm, n = 5); width 0.9 mm (0.8–1.1 mm, n = 5). Head, pronotum, elytra, and venter black; elytra with apex orange to orange brown or not; legs, and abdominal ventrites 3–5 of female orange; antennomeres darker, reddish brown. Pubescence dense, reclining, pale, whitish; pronotal and elytral fringe very short in male, slightly longer in female. Punctation with punctures fine, indistinct on pronotum, slightly larger, more distinct on head and elytra. Head: Large, male temporal region elongate, typically narrower than pronotum in both sexes, eyes moderately flattened in both sexes ( Fig. 13C–D ); 1.56 (1.52–1.62, n = 5) times wider than interocular distance. Antennomeres 5–10 weakly serrate; male antennae short, reaching to near middle of pronotum posteriorly, female antennae shorter. Thorax: Pronotum slightly wider than long, 0.81 (0.78–0.86, n = 5) times as long as wide; widest at middle; lateral edges converging to anterior margin, slightly constricted before anterior margin; anterior and posterior angles obsolete, broadly rounded ( Fig. 17C–D ). Elytra elongate, broadly oval, elytron 3.58 (3.47–3.81, n = 5) times as long as wide, across humeri slightly wider than pronotum; elytral epipleuron distinct at base, becoming obsolete near apex of abdominal ventrite 4 in both sexes; apical margin broadly rounded, inconspicuously serrulate in both sexes. All tibiae with fine, white setae along external margin; pro- and mesotibiae with short, stout spines regularly but sparsely arranged along external margin in both sexes. Abdomen: Male ventrite 1 with indistinct median patch of white setae. Pygidium unmodified in male, with very shallow median emargination in female. Median lobe of aedeagus a bowed tube with elongated apical limb and apex sharp and nearly straight ( Fig. 27E ); tegmen

relatively short, wide, with weak constriction at base of ring ( Fig. 29E ).

Etymology. The species name is a Latin noun, from the Greek φάντασ µ α (phántasma, “phantom”), and was suggested by the two collection localities in Utah, which are both “ghost towns”, and the fact that a two-day intensive search yielded no additional specimens. Asydates phantasma and A. inexpectatus are the only known species of Asydates the authors were unable to collect over the course of this study. The name is treated as a noun in apposition.

Host Plant Associations. Unknown.

Seasonal Distribution. 12 August to 8 September ( Fig. 40 ).

Geographic Distribution. Known only from Emery and Grand Counties in eastern Utah ( Fig. 37B ).

Material Examined. Records reported here are based on the examination of five specimens. USA: UTAH: Emery County: Woodside , Sept. 8, 1962, Glen Moore (holotype ♂, paratypes 1♂, 1♀, BYU) ; same data (1♀ [abdomen missing], BYU) ; Grand County: Cisco, Aug. 12, 1956, T. Blaine Moore (paratype, 1♀, BYU) .

Remarks. The specific epithet phantasma is a Latin feminine noun, and as such does not need to agree in gender with the masculine genus name Asydates (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, ICZN Articles 31.2.1 and 34.2.1).

Specimens of A. phantasma were discovered among material borrowed from BYU, all collected in the 1950s and 1960s (1 female, Cisco, Utah, and 2 males, 2 females, Woodside, Utah). During a twoday trip of intensive searching in flowers of E. nauseosa , Grindelia sp. , S. pauciflora , and an unidentified morning glory in late September by AJM, no additional specimens were found.

In the specimens from Woodside, one dissected male (holotype) is missing the left elytron, and one female is missing the abdomen. All four specimens from Woodside have a white printed label “Woodside, Ut.”. The intact female bears a folded label handwritten in pencil “Sept, 8 1962, Woodside, Emery Co., Ut., Glen Moore”. We have added the following white printed label, as the first label, to all four specimens, leaving all other labels in place: “ USA: UT: Emery Co. \Woodside on Hwy. 191 \ 8 September 1962 \Glen Moore”. The female missing its abdomen is listed in the material examined but not included in the paratype series. The female from Cisco , Utah is included as a paratype .

Asydates phantasma is the only species of Asydates known to occur on the Colorado Plateau. No host plant associations are known for adults of A. phantasma .

Figures

Fig. 6. Asydates species, dorsal habitus. A. phantasma: A) Male, B) Female. A. inexpectatus: C) Male. Scale bars =

Fig. 9. Asydates species, lateral habitus. A. vandykei: A) Male, B) Female. A. washoe: C) Male, D) Female. A. phantasma: E) Male, F) Female. A. inexpectatus: G) Male. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig. 13. Asydates species, frontal view. A. washoe: A) Male, B) Female. A. phantasma: C) Male, D) Female. A.

Fig. 17. Asydates species, pronota. A. washoe: A) Male, B) Female. A. phantasma: C) Male, D) Female. A. inexpectatus: E) Male.

Fig. 27. Asydates species, median lobe of aedeagus, right lateral view. A. vandykei: A) CA: Alameda Co.: Irvington, B) CA: Fresno Co.: Monvero Dunes, C) CA: Ventura Co.: Highway 33 near Wheeler Springs, D) CA: Ventura Co.: Highway 33 near Wheeler Springs. E) A. phantasma, UT: Emery Co.: Woodside. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 29. Asydates species, tegmen of aedeagus (apex directed upward). A) A. shoshone, NV: Elko Co.: 43.5 km south of Wells, B) A. ruficauda, CA: Inyo Co.: Westgard Pass Road, C) A. vandykei, CA: Alameda Co.: Irvington, D) A. washoe, NV: Lyon Co.: 7.2 km south of Sweetwater Summit on Highway 338, E) A. phantasma, UT: Emery Co.: Woodside, F) A. inexpectatus, CA: San Bernardino Co.: 1.6 km north of Hodge. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 37. Distribution of Asydates species. A) Localities of examined specimens of A. rufiventris (black dots), A. chumash (green squares), and A. tongva (yellow stars), B) Localities of examined specimens of A. irwini (black dots), A. washoe (yellow stars), A. shoshone (red triangles), and A. phantasma (blue squares).

Fig. 40. Seasonalities of adult Asydates species, by month, based on collection records in the Material Examined sections.