Parastrongylaspis thomasi Giesbert, 1992

Santos-Silva, Antonio, Nascimento, Francisco E. de L. & Tirant, Stéphane le, 2018, Notes on Variation in Parastrongylaspis thomasi Giesbert, 1992 and Description of a New Species and New Distribution Records of Parandrinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 72 (4), pp. 751-757 : 751-753

Parastrongylaspis thomasi Giesbert, 1992 ( Figs. 1–8 )

Parastrongylaspis thomasi Giesbert 1992: 155 . Monné and Giesbert 1994: 6 (checklist); Monné 1995: 3 (catalogue), 2006: 56 (catalogue), 2018: 99 (catalogue); Noguera and Chemsak 1996: 396 (distribution).

Giesbert (1992) described P. thomasi from Mexico (Chiapas) based on five males and one female. Monné and Giesbert (1994) recorded the species for the state of Veracruz, Mexico .

According to the original description, “antennae, exceeding elytral apices by about 2 segments.” Examination of photographs of the holotype ( Figs. 6–8 ) shows that the antennae surpass the elytral apices by 2.5 segments. However, in a specimen from Veracruz ( Figs. 1–3 ), the antennae surpass the elytral apex by 1.5 segments. The antennal length is somewhat variable in males of the other species of the genus, Parastrongylaspis linsleyi Giesbert, 1987 (“antennae… usually exceeding elytral apices by one or two segments”), as well as in P. thomasi . The length of the antenna compared to the elytra is commonly variable in many other Neotropical Prioninae .

In Giesbert’ s (1992) description, he reported the elytral length as about 2.5 times as long as width across humeri. One of our specimens agrees with this description, but the other has the elytron slightly shorter (about 2.3 times width across humeri). According to the original description, the elytral apices are “rounded to suture, sutural angle unarmed.” This information is true regarding the holotype, and also for both specimens examined by us. However, the elytra in the holotype of P. thomasi are together rounded, with the sutural angle nearly forming a right angle. In the specimens examined by us ( Figs. 1, 5 ), the elytra are individually rounded, with the sutural angle nearly rounded. We conclude that this is intraspecific variation. Additionally, we find that the widths of the pro- and mesosterna processes are somewhat variable: the prosternal process is slightly wider ( Fig. 2 ) than in the holotype ( Fig. 7 ); the mesosternal process is slightly narrower ( Fig. 2 ) than in the holotype ( Fig. 7 ).

Material Examined. MEXICO, Veracruz: Los Tuxtlas (900 m), 1-15. VI .2016, J. H. Garcia col., 2 males ( IMQC and MZSP) .

Figures

Figs. 1–8. Parastrongylaspis thomasi. Males from Veracruz, Mexico: 1) Dorsal habitus; 2) Ventral habitus; 3) Lateral habitus; 4) Head, frontal view; 5) Dorsal habitus. Holotype male from Chiapas, Mexico: 6) Dorsal habitus; 7) Ventral habitus; 8) Labels.