Derancistrus elegans (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805)

Lingafelter, Steven W., 2015, The Prioninae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Hispaniola, with Diagnoses, Descriptions of New Species, Distribution Records, and a Key for Identification, The Coleopterists Bulletin 69 (3), pp. 353-388 : 360

11. Derancistrus elegans (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805) ( Figs. 2f , 15a )

Discussion. This is another of the endemic Hispaniolan Solenopterini . It was described from “ Saint-Domingue ”, an early reference to the entire island rather than the current capital of the Dominican Republic. Two specimens from a small island off the northern coast of Haiti, Île de la Tortue, were examined in the USNM collection.

This rare species is most similar morphologically to D. hovorei in terms of the pronotal structure and overall coloration but is easily distinguished from it based on its smooth elytra. Other characters separating this species from D. hovorei are discussed and illustrated in Lingafelter and Woodley (2007) and repeated here: In D. elegans , the frons is less sharply impressed between the antennae and the ventral pilosity is denser than in D. hovorei , particularly on the metepimeron which is essentially obscured. The anterior margin of the prosternum is somewhat inflated into a margined collar in D. elegans but not in D. hovorei . The pronotum has a sharp medial impression that divides into Y-shaped arms posteriorly and anteriorly in D. elegans ; the median impression is broader but less sharply impressed, and the Y-shaped arms, especially posteriorly, are not well developed in D. hovorei . The black vitta is completely continuous around the base of the elytron and throughout the humeral region in D. hovorei ; the humeral region is mostly pale in D. elegans . Finally, the posterior region of the scutellum lies in a more pronounced sutural depression of the elytra in D. hovorei ; this region is more level and less recessed in D. elegans .

Hispaniolan Localities. HAITI: (Île de la Tortue = Tortuga Island [USNM]; Île de la Tortue, La Vallee [USNM]; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (reported by Galileo and Martins, 1993b with no further data).

Figures

Fig. 2. Dorsal habitus of Hispaniolan Prioninae. a) Monodesmus atratus, male holotype, b) Sarifer seabrai, male, c) Prionus aureopilosus, male, d) P. aureopilosus, female, e) Derancistrus anthracinus, female, f) Derancistrus elegans, female, g) Derancistrus hovorei, female holotype, h) Elateropsis antennatus, female, i) Elateropsis femoratus, male variant.

Fig. 15. Distribution maps of Hispaniolan Prioninae. a) Derancistrus elegans and Derancistrus hovorei, b) Elateropsis antennatus, Elateropsis femoratus, and Elateropsis quinquenotatus.