Asydates tongva 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 : 16-18

5. Asydates tongva Mayor and Gimmel , new species

Zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DF526758-A588-48EC-8836-E9949AD446D0 ( Figs. 3A–B , 8A–B , 11C–D, 15C–D, 20C, 25E–F, 28E, 31B, 34A, 37A, 39)

Type Material. Holotype ♂ deposited in CAS (holotype #19842), labeled “CA: San Bernardino Co., San \ Bernardino Natl. Forest \ Lytle Creek Rd.; elev. 1528 m.\ N34 °17’41.6”, W117 °34’04.8” \ 26 July 2016; A. J. Mayor [white printed label] //Collected beating \flowers of \ Stephanomeria pauciflora [white printed label] // HOLOTYPE \ Asydates \ tongva \Mayor & Gimmel 2019 [red printed label]” . Paratypes: 106 specimens listed in the Material Examined section include the additional label “ PARATYPE \ Asydates \ tongva \Mayor & Gimmel 2019 [yellow printed label]” .

Diagnosis. The pronotal fringe with dense setae, median lobe of the aedeagus broad apically, apex not flared, with a shallow arcuate excavation in dorsal view, and medially denuded female terminal ventrite without pale, whitish setae distinguish A. tongva from other species of Asydates .

Description. Body broad, moderately robust, suboval ( Figs. 3A , 8A ), slightly flattened in female ( Figs. 3B , 8B ), shiny; microsculpture sparse, inconspicuous on head, pronotum, and elytra. Length 2.8 mm (2.3–3.1 mm, n = 20); width 1.0 mm (0.9–1.1 mm, n = 20). Head, pronotum, and elytra black; elytral apices, legs, female ventrites and male terminal ventrite orange; antennomeres darker, reddish brown. Pubescence dense, reclining, pale, whitish, rarely slightly golden; pronotal and elytral fringe short, dense. Punctation with punctures fine, indistinct on head, pronotum, and elytra. Head: Large, short, typically narrower than pronotum in both sexes, eyes bulging (Fig. 11C–D); male head 1.46 (1.37–1.56, n = 10), female head 1.60 (1.44–1.73, n = 10) 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 0.81 (0.77–0.85, n = 20) 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. 15C–D ). Elytra elongate, bars = 1.0 mm.

broadly oval, elytron 3.96 (3.44–4.43, n = 20) times as long as wide, at humeri slightly wider than pronotum; elytral margins broadly explanate, epipleuron broad to near apex, most pronounced in female; apical margin not broadly rounded, flattened apically, serrate in both sexes, sutural angle produced posteriorly. All tibiae with fine, white setae along external margin; pro- and mesotibiae with short, stout spines sparsely arranged along external margin, inconspicuous in both sexes. Abdomen: Male ventrite 1 with indistinct median patch of white setae. Male pygidium unmodified, with shallow median emargination in female. Female ventrite 5 covered with short, sparse, pale setae, denuded medially ( Fig. 20C ). Median lobe of aedeagus a bowed tube with region beyond dorsal orifice elongate and distinctly, evenly curved dorsally in lateral view ( Fig. 25E ); in dorsoventral view, with a wide, flat, non-flared apex slightly narrowed apically, apex shallowly, indistinctly emarginate ( Fig. 25F , ventral view); tegmen relatively elongate, with distinct constriction at base of ring ( Fig. 28E ).

Etymology. The species name honors the Native American Tongva people who historically inhabited the Los Angeles Basin and Channel Islands and summered in the higher elevations of the San Gabriel Mountains. The name is treated as a noun in apposition.

Host Plant Associations. Adults of A. tongva were collected from the flowers of plants in the family Asteraceae [ Lepidospartum squamatum (1) and Stephanomeria pauciflora (106) ( Fig. 34B )].

Seasonal Distribution. 13 July to 7 August ( Fig. 39 ).

Geographic Distribution. Known only from the Lytle Creek drainage ( Fig. 31B ) of the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino County, California ( Fig. 37A ).

Material Examined. Records reported here are based on the examination of 107 specimens. USA: CALIFORNIA: San Bernardino County: San Bernardino Natl. Forest, Lytle Creek Rd. , 1,487 m, N34°17’44.1”, W117°34’07.2”, 13 July 2016, A. J. Mayor, collected on flowers of Stephanomeria pauciflora (paratypes, 2♂♂, 1♀, UCRC) ; same except Lytle Creek Rd. , 1,528 m, N34°17’41.6”, W117°34’04.8”, 26 July 2016, A. J. Mayor, collected beating flowers of Stephanomeria pauciflora (holotype ♂, CAS, and paratypes, 36♂♂, 26♀♀, UCRC, 3♂♂, 3♀♀, SBMNH) ; same except N34°17’44.9”, W117°34’11.4”, 1,523 m, 7 August 2016, A. J. Mayor, collected beating flowers of Lepidospartum squamatum (paratype, 1♂, UCRC) ; Middle Fork Lytle Creek on Middle Fork Rd. , elev. 1,130 m, N34°15’15.8”, W117°32’10.8”, 25 July 2017, A. J. Mayor, collected beating flowers of Stephanomeria pauciflora (paratypes, 15♂♂, 13♀♀, UCRC, 3♂♂, 3♀♀, SBMNH) .

Remarks. Asydates tongva is remarkable for its distribution, which appears to be restricted to the Lytle Creek drainage of the eastern San Gabriel Mountains.

Asydates tongva is most closely related to A. rufiventris and A. chumash . See Remarks under A. chumash for a discussion of the characters differentiating these three species.

Figures

Fig. 3. Asydates species, dorsal habitus. A. tongva: A) Male, B) Female. A. irwini: C) Male, D) Female. Scale

Fig. 8. Asydates species, lateral habitus. A. tongva: A) Male, B) Female. A. irwini: C) Male, D) Female. A. shoshone: E) Male, F) Female; A. ruficauda: G) Male, H) Female. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig. 15. Asydates species, pronota. A. chumash: A) Male, B) Female. A. tongva: C) Male, D) Female. A. irwini:

Fig. 20. Asydates “flat-tip” species, female ventrite 5 showing variably developed glabrous area. A) A. rufiventris, B) A. chumash, C) Asydates tongva.

Fig. 25. Asydates species, median lobe of aedeagus, right lateral and ventral views, respectively. A–B) A. rufiventris, CA: Los Angeles Co.: Mount Baldy Road, C–D) A. chumash, CA: Kern Co.: Mount Pinos, E–F) A. tongva, CA: San Bernardino Co.: Middle Fork Lytle Creek. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 28. Asydates species, tegmen of aedeagus (apex directed upward). A) A. grandiceps, CA: San Bernardino Co.: Lone Pine Canyon, B) A. kumeyaay, Mexico: Baja California: Agua Caliente, C) A. rufiventris, CA: Los Angeles Co.: Mount Baldy Road, D) A. chumash, CA: Kern Co.: Mount Pinos, E) A. tongva, CA: San Bernardino Co.: Middle Fork Lytle Creek, F) A. irwini, CA: San Bernardino Co.: south of Lucerne Valley on Highway 18. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 34. Stephanomeria pauciflora, flower host for Asydates species. A) Specimen growing in CA: San Bernardino County: Middle Fork Lytle Creek, from which A. tongva was collected. Photograph taken 25 July 2017 by Adriean J. Mayor. B) Specimen growing in CA: San Bernardino Co.: Kelbaker Road near Granite Mountains Overlook, from which A. irwini was collected. Photograph taken 5 October 2018 by Matthew L. Gimmel.

Fig. 39. Seasonalities of adult Asydates species, by month, based on collection records in the Material Examined sections.

Fig. 31. Habitat for Asydates species. A) Open hillside along Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, Monterey Co., CA, habitat of A. vandyeki collected from flowers of Eriogonum roseum. Photograph taken 19 August 2018 by Matthew L. Gimmel. B) Steep valley along Middle Fork Lytle Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino Co., CA, habitat of A. tongva collected from flowers of Stephanomeria pauciflora. Photograph taken 25 July 2017 by Adriean J. Mayor.

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).