Caraphia seriata ( Chemsak and Linsley, 1984 )

Wappes, James E. & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2018, A synopsis of American Caraphia Gahan, 1906 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lepturinae) with description of two new species, Insecta Mundi 683, pp. 1-17 : 5-7

Caraphia seriata ( Chemsak and Linsley, 1984)

( Fig. 7–9 , 23 , 29 )

Noctileptura seriata Chemsak and Linsley, 1984: 283 ; Chemsak et al. 1992: 98 (checklist); Turnbow et al. 2003: 19 (distr.); Monné 2006: 131 (cat.); Hovore 2006: 375 (distr.); Lingafelter et al. 2014: 318 (holotype).

Caraphia seriata: Ohbayashi et al. 2016: 200 , 212; Monné 2018: 5 (cat.).

Description of male. Head, prothorax, ventral surface of meso- and metathorax dark brown; mouthparts reddish-brown, more yellowish on apex of last palpomere; narrow anterior area of clypeus and most of labrum reddish-brown; scape, pedicel, antennomeres III–IV dark reddish-brown; antennomeres V–X brown except yellowish- brown distal area (yellowish-brown area gradually narrower toward X); antennomere XI brown; elytra dark brown centrally in basal 2/3 (gradually lighter toward apex), dark reddish-brown on remaining surface (gradually lighter toward apex); profemora reddish-brown in basal quarter and narrow distal area, dark brown on remaining surface; meso- and metafemora reddish-brown in basal third and narrow distal area (latter wider than on profemora), dark brown on remaining surface; tibiae brown basally, reddish-brown on remaining surface; tarsi mostly reddish-brown, slightly darkened on base of each segment; abdominal ventrites I–II dark reddish-brown; abdominal ventrites III–V dark reddish-brown basally, gradually lighter toward apex.

Head. Frons densely, finely punctate (punctures shallow); with moderately sparse, thick (slightly scaleshaped), short, nearly decumbent yellowish-brown setae (more golden depending on light intensity). Vertex finely, shallowly, abundantly punctate (punctures slightly coarser and deeper close to prothoracic margin); with short, moderately abundant, arched yellowish-brown (more golden depending on light intensity) scales, except glabrous central area between antennal tubercles and posterior margin of upper eye lobes, gradually slender and shorter toward prothoracic margin. Area behind upper eye lobes with sculpturing as on vertex; with narrow, moderately abundant, arched yellowish-brown (more golden depending on light intensity) scales, interspersed with short, thick setae of same color, sparser, slenderer close to lower eye lobe. Area behind lower eye lobes moderately coarsely, confluently punctate in wide area close to eye, smooth close to prothorax; with sparse, thick, decumbent yellowish-brown setae (more golden depending on light intensity) in punctate area, glabrous in smooth area; with a few long, erect brownish setae near eye. Antennal tubercles with sculpturing and scales as on frons except glabrous and smooth narrow distal area (scales gradually slightly wider toward posterior area). Median groove distinct from clypeus to level of posterior margin of eyes, deeper between antennal tubercles and upper eye lobes. Genae finely, moderately abundantly punctate; with short, slightly arched, narrow, moder- ately sparse yellowish-brown scales. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous posteriorly, moderately coarsely, shallowly, abundantly punctate, with narrow, sparse yellowish-white setae in large anterior area (more yellowish-brown, scale-shaped laterally), smaller, more abundant close to anterior margin; with a few long, erect yellowish-brown setae laterally. Postclypeus with sculpturing as on frons; with minute, sparse yellowish-brown scales (more golden depending on light intensity); with a few long erect brownish setae on sides of anterior area. Labrum coplanar with clypeus in posterior half, inclined in anterior half; finely punctate posteriorly close to inclined area, smooth on remaining surface; nearly glabrous in posterior half, with long yellowish setae in anterior area, especially laterally. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.57 times length of scape; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.85 times length of scape. Antennae 2.0 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere IX; scape moderately coarsely, abundantly punctate, with narrow, short, slightly arched yellowish-brown scales, interspersed with minute scales of same color; antennomeres III–IV with minute, decumbent, narrow yellowish-brown scales; remaining antennomeres with slightly conspicuous yellowish-white pubescence interspersed with minute, thick yellowish setae, more distinct in light area; outer side of antennomeres III–IV not carinate; outer side of antennomere V carinate in distal half; outer side of remaining antennomeres entirely carinate. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.76; pedicel = 0.19; IV = 0.87; V = 1.04; VI = 0.89; VII = 0.80; VIII = 0.74; IX = 0.72; X = 0.69; XI = 0.87.

Thorax. Prothorax 1.25 times longer than wide; sides slightly convergent in posterior quarter, slightly swollen from this point to about midlength, distinctly convergent toward anterior quarter, then slightly swollen in anterior quarter. Pronotum coarsely, moderately abundantly punctate; with short, slightly arched, narrow yellowish scales, gradually more whitish toward posterior margin; with fringe of short yellowish setae at anterior margin; with minute yellowish setae inside of most punctures. Sides of prothorax with sculpturing as on pronotum; with scales sparser, slenderer than on pronotum, interspersed with short yellowish setae. Prosternum coarsely, moderately abundantly punctate except nearly smooth narrow anterior area; with sparse, narrow yellowish-white scales posteriorly, gradually narrowed, becoming thick whitish setae toward anterior area; nearly smooth anterior area glabrous, except row with short, decumbent whitish setae close to anterior margin; postcoxal processes glabrous. Prosternal process nearly glabrous. Ventral side of mesothorax with short, sparse, thick yellowish setae. Ventral surface of metathorax with short, narrow, slightly arched, moderately abundant yellowish scales. Scutellum with very short, decumbent, thick yellowish-white setae in centrobasal area, glabrous on remaining surface. Elytra. Coarsely, deeply, moderately abundantly punctate (punctures partially aligned in rows, nearly 8-shaped, especially in anterior half); with narrow, moderately long, arched yellowish-brown setae aligned in rows ( Fig.7 , 29 ); with longitudinal row of short, narrow yellowish-white scales along suture and epipleuron; with minute yellowish-white seta in each puncture. Legs. Femora and tibiae with moderately abundant, decumbent, thick yellowish-white setae not obscuring integument (part of setae scale-shaped), more abundant on tibiae; tibiae interspersed with fine yellowish setae ventrally in distal third and along apex.

Abdomen. Ventrites I–II moderately coarsely and abundantly punctate; ventrites III–V finely and abundantly punctate; I–III with narrow, moderately sparse, slightly arched yellowish-brown scales (part of them lost in specimen examined); IV with narrow, moderately sparse, slightly arched yellowish-brown scales in basal third, gradually narrower toward distal area; V with thick, decumbent yellowish setae interspersed with some scale-shaped setae basally; V about as long as IV; apex of ventrite V truncate, very slightly emarginate centrally.

Variation (observed in females). Body nearly entirely dark brown; antennae entirely dark brown; elytra entirely dark brown; femora entirely reddish-brown (light or dark); abdominal ventrites entirely dark brown; setae behind lower eye lobes partially narrow, scale-shaped; scales on postclypeus short and moderately abundant; all scales on pronotum yellowish; ventral surface of mesothorax with scales as on ventral surface of metathorax.

Dimensions (mm), male/females. Total length 7.30/8.00–10.60; prothoracic length 1.50/1.55–2.05; anterior prothoracic width 0.80/0.80–1.05; posterior prothoracic width 1.20/1.20–1.70; prothoracic width between apices of swollen area of basal region 1.15/1.10–1.40; humeral width 2.00/2.10–2.80; elytral length 4.65/5.00–6.35.

Material examined. MEXICO (new country record), Chiapas: Parque Laguna Belgica, 1 female, 27.V.1987, D.A. Rider, E.C. & T.J. Riley col. ( ACMT) . GUATEMALA, Izabal: 25 km SE Morales (800 m), 2 females, 23-27.V.1995, E. Giesbert & J. Monzón col. (1 female FSCA, 1 female MZSP); (2800’) , 1 female, 21-24.V.1996, E. Giesbert & J. Monzón col. ( FSCA); (900 m) , 1 male, 1 female, 31.V-2.VI.1997, E. Giesbert & J. Monzón col. ( FSCA) .

Remarks. Females differ by slightly shorter antennae, 1.8 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex in basal third of antennomere X. Caraphia seriata notably differs from other American Caraphia species by its distinctly elongate prothorax.

Figures

Figures 7–9. Caraphia seriata, male. 7) Dorsal habitus. 8) Ventral habitus. 9) Lateral habitus.

Figures 22–26. Head and pronotum. 22) Caraphia squamosa, male. 23) Caraphia seriata, male. 24) Caraphia lingafelteri, female. 25) Caraphia warneri, holotype female. 26) Caraphia woodruffi, holotype male.

Figures 27–32. Scales of elytra. 27–28) Caraphia squamosa, male. 27) Anterior area of the elytra. 28) Posterior half of elytra. 29) Caraphia seriata, male. 30) Caraphia lingafelteri, female. 31) Caraphia warneri, holotype female. 32) Caraphia woodruffi, holotype male.