Elateropsis sericeiventris Chevrolat, 1862

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 : 363

17. Elateropsis sericeiventris Chevrolat, 1862 ( Figs. 3d , 16a )

Discussion. This species was previously known only from Cuba (Monné 2015). Two male specimens from the Dominican Republic (USNM, MNDR) were examined, representing a new island and new country records, along with a female from Galbis, Cuba (USNM).

The key of Galileo and Martins (1994) works well for these specimens and identifies them as E. sericeiventris on the basis of the pronotum having dense pubescence at the sides but not the posterior margin, the prosternum lacking a ventral projection (a weak projection is present in females), the prosternal intercoxal process being pronounced and deeply bilobed, and having long pubescence present on the mesal surface of the profemora and throughout the venter except along the middle of the sternites.

Elateropsis sericeiventris is part of the complex of similar species including E. trimarginatus and E. quinquenotatus . Both of those species differ in having dense pubescence along the posterior margin of the pronotum. Both the Dominican male and Cuban female specimens of E. sericeiventris in the USNM have mostly ferruginous elytra, legs, and antennae which is very similar to the holotype in BMNH, while the MNDR specimen is mostly piceous to black except for a ferruginous apical margin of the elytra. In E. quinquenotatus , the elytra are all black and the proportions are broader and less elongate. In E. trimarginatus the elytra are mostly ferruginous but, like E. quinquenotatus , the dimensions are broader and less elongate than in E. sericeiventris .

Zayas (1957: plate 13) has a photograph of a Cuban specimen from the USNM (not found) identified as E. sericeiventris . However, this specimen is either a variant of E. trimarginatus with incomplete pronotal pubescence along the posterior margin and a pronounced prosternal process that extends beyond hind margins of the procoxae or an undescribed species.

Hispaniolan Localities. D O M I N I C A N REPUBLIC: Santo Domingo (no further data [USNM]); Elías Piña Province (Cerro de San Francisco, El Tabacal, Pedro Santana [MNDR]).

Figures

Fig. 3. Dorsal habitus of HispaniolanPrioninae.a) Elateropsis femoratus, male,b) Elateropsis lineatus, female, c) Elateropsis quinquenotatus, female, d) Elateropsis sericeiventris, male, e) Elateropsis trimarginatus, female, f) Elateropsis dichroma, female holotype, g) Elateropsis woodleyi, male holotype, h) Solenoptera dominicensis, male, i) S. dominicensis, female.

Fig. 16. Distribution maps of Hispaniolan Prioninae. a) Elateropsis sericeiventris, Elateropsis trimarginatus, Elateropsis dichroma, and Elateropsis woodleyi, b) Solenoptera dominicensis, Solenoptera scutellata, and Solenoptera rugosa.