Balsameda porioni Ratcliffe, 2014

Ratcliffe, Brett C., 2014, A Review Of The Neotropical Genera Badelina Thomson, 1880, Balsameda Thomson, 1880, Guatemalica Neervoort Van De Poll, 1886, And Heterocotinis Martínez, 1948 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 68 (2), pp. 241-262 : 250-252

Balsameda porioni Ratcliffe , new species ( Figs. 18–21 )

Type Material. Holotype labeled “ MEXICO. Chiapas /62 kilómetros al norte de/ Ocozocoautla / 1500 metros. Sept. 1987 / Col. Oswaldo Sánchez / COLECCION J. MONZON” and with my red holotype label . Allotype and one paratype with same data and with my red allotype and yellow paratype labels, respectively. Twelve paratypes labeled: “42 KmN. Ocozocuautla/ CHIAPAS – 1500 m./ MEXIQUE – Sept. 1987 /Thierry PORION leg.” and all with my yellow paratype label. Porion (personal communication, December 2013) said that all these specimens came from 42 km (not 62) north of Ocozocoautla; the holotype, allotype, and one paratype were slightly mislabeled .

Holotype deposited at the University of Nebraska State Museum (Lincoln, NE) . Allotype placed in the José Monzón Collection (Guatemala City, Guatemala). One paratype in BCRC, and 12 paratypes in the Thierry Porion Collection (Jaujac, France) .

Holotype. Male. Length 19.5 mm; width across humeri 13.3 mm. Color on dorsum velutinous reddish olive-green; top of head, venter, and legs with greenish and cupreous reflections. Setae tawny, scales creamy white. Head: Surface with long, dense setae. Frons with long, slender, attenuate keel projecting forward and curving slightly downward over clypeus, apex of keel free. Clypeus in dorsal view subquadrate, concave. Clypeal apex strongly reflexed into broadly triangular tooth, apex of tooth narrowly rounded. Eyes large, bulging, interocular width 2.6 transverse eye diameters. Ocular canthus punctate, punctures with dense setae. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club distinctly longer than antennomeres 2–7. Pronotum: Surface with numerous moderately large, flat, oval to teardropshaped scales along lateral margins and in apical angles. Lateral margins with short, slender marginal bead, bead not reaching anterior or posterior angles. Elytra: Surface with small punctures mostly concealed by velutinous covering, otherwise surface similar to that of pronotum and with sparse scales along lateral margin. Lateral margin with dense fringe of short setae. Apices at suture slightly produced. Pygidium: Surface weakly strigulose, with small, dense, oval to elongate scales. In lateral view, profile nearly flat. Venter: Metasternites with large, dense, elongate scales. Mesometasternal process, in lateral view, projecting slightly, subparallel to ventral axis of body ( Fig. 19 ), apex broadly rounded in ventral view. Abdominal ventrites 1–5 with large, dense punctures with oval to teardrop shaped scales either side of narrow, impunctate midline. Legs: Protibia feebly tridentate, basal 2 teeth nearly obsolete. Parameres ( Figs. 20–21 ): Form bluntly subtriangular in caudal view, median edges just before apices slightly emarginte, apices broadly rounded; in lateral view, ventral surface with long, spine-like tooth curving back towards phallobase.

Allotype. Female. Length 19.7 mm; width across humeri 11.8 mm. As holotype except in the following respects: Color of pronotum and elytra olive-green, weakly shiny; pygidium, legs, and venter shiny reddish brown with cupreous reflections. Head: Frons and basal half of clypeus with sparse, setae. Interocular width 4.8 transverse eye diameters. Pronotum: Surface with sparse, moderately large, ocellate punctures; scales sparse to absent. Marginal bead nearly reaching anterior and posterior angles. Elytra: Surface with punctures moderate in size and density; sutural and 2 discal costae elevated, discal costae meeting at apical umbone, scales sparse to nearly absent. Pygidium: In lateral view, surface weakly convex. Legs: Protibia broader, distinctly tridentate.

Variation. Males (10 paratypes). Length 20.0– 21.2 mm; width across humeri 11.5–12.5 mm. As holotype except in the following respects: Elytra: One specimen has sparse scales generally distributed instead of just on the lateral margins. Legs: Protibiae usually each unidentate, some vaguely tridentate. Otherwise, the remaining character states do not differ from the holotype.

Females (3 paratypes). Length 20.0– 21.3 mm; width across humeri 12.2–12.9 mm. The female paratypes do not substantially differ from the allotype.

Etymology. At the request of José Monzón who provided me with the first specimens, I am pleased to name this species in honor of Thierry Porion (Jaujac, France) who obtained a short series from a local collector in Mexico and who generously provided some specimens to Monzón and me for study.

Distribution. Balsameda porioni is known only from Chiapas, Mexico.

Locality Records. 15 specimens from BCRC, IRSNB (? see below), JMSC, TPPC, and UNSM. MEXICO (15). CHIAPAS (15): Ocozocoautla (42 km N) .

There is a single male specimen at IRSNB from Rancho Santa Rosa, Chiapas, identified as B. adspersa that may be B. porioni since both are similar in appearance, but B. adspersa occurs in Panama and Costa Rica, while B. porioni occurs in Chiapas, Mexico. I have not seen this specimen.

Temporal Distribution. September (15).

Diagnosis. Balsameda porioni closely resembles B. adspersa in nearly all respects but is distinguished by a significant geographic separation combined with a different pattern of scales on the pronotum. The scales are present along the lateral margins of the pronotum in B. porioni , whereas the scales are generally distributed over the entire surface in P. adspersa . In addition, the apex of the parameres is, in lateral view, evenly rounded, while the apex in B. adspersa has a short, upwards directed tooth (compare Figs. 13 and 21 ). Balsameda porioni may be separated from B. pulverulenta and B. monzoni by the presence of long, slender setae on the frons and clypeus versus thick, scale-like setae present in the other two species.

Natural History. Nothing is known of the biology of Balsameda porioni .

Figures

Figs. 18–21. Balsameda porioni. 18) Holotype, habitus; 19) Mesometasternal process, lateral view; 20–21) Parameres.

Figs. 10–13. Balsameda adspersa. 10) Habitus; 11) Mesometasternal process, lateral view; 12–13) Parameres.