Ora nigropunctata ( Motschulsky, 1863 )

Ruta, Rafał, 2009, Revision of Scirtidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) described by Victor Ivanovitsch Motschulsky, Zootaxa 2210, pp. 26-50 : 39-40

Ora nigropunctata ( Motschulsky, 1863)

( Figs. 9–10 , 52–55)

= Scirtes ? nigropunctatus Motschulsky, 1863: 484

= Ora nigropunctata (Motschulsky) : Champion 1918: 141

Type material. Holotype, sex unknown: [small yellow round label]; “ Type ” [small rectangular label, handwritten]; [rectangular red label]; “ Scirtes / nigropunctatus / Motsch. / Ind. or. Ceyl. Colom.” [yellow rectangular label]; deposited in ZMUM.

Additional material studied. Male: Sri Lanka, Southern Province, Galle Distrikt, Habaraduwa, 20.8– 4.9.1982, leg. H. J. Bremer; deposited in HNHM.

Diagnosis. Ora nigropunctata is distinguishable from related species only on the basis of male genitalia (Figs. 52–55, see “Remarks”).

Redescription. Holotype, sex unknown. Measurements: TL 2.95, EW 2.10, EL 2.50, PW 1.30, PL 0.45, HW 0.65, HL 0.45, interocular space 0.35, greatest depth of body 0.80.

FIGURES Ora nigropunctata . aedeagus; sternite 9; tergite 8; tergite 9. Scale bar = 0.25.

Body oval, depressed, covered with short velvety setae, setation on elytra yellow (on yellow cuticle) and brown (on dark cuticle). Body yellow, elytra with irregular small black spots, ventrum slightly darker, dark yellow, posterior femora and tibia yellowish-brown, antennae (of the additional specimen studied) somewhat darkened. Body length 1.4X width.

Head width 1.4X length, 1.9X width of interocular space, with subtle punctation, eyes very large, protuberant. Frons with small fossae adjacent to eyes. Antennae filiform (7 antennomeres of left antenna and 5 of right antenna are present in the holotype), antennomere 1 subcylindrical, antennomere 2 globular, 3 smallest, short and narrow, remaining elongate; length ratios of antennomeres 1.7: 1.3: 1.0: 2.0: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7; L/W ratios of antennomeres 1.4, 1.3, 2.0, 3.0, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5. Anterior clypeal margin straight, with rounded anterolateral angles, labrum small, transverse. Mandibles reduced, triangular, without denticles on mesal edges.

Pronotum width 2.9X length, pronotum widest at base. Disc of pronotum with fine punctation, similar to that on head. Posterior margin of pronotum bisinuate. Anterior angles explanate. Lateral margins narrowing anteriorly. Pronotum distinctly narrower than elytra. Scutellum subtriangular, with subtle punctation.

Elytra oval, depressed, with rugose surface, length 1.2X width and 5.6X length of pronotum, broadest in the middle of its length. Sides of elytra explanate. Left elytron slightly shorter than right one, probably due to its underdevelopment apices not meeting along midline. Elytra narrowing in posterior half, humeri evident. Punctation sparse but rugose, distance between punctures ca. 1.0–2.0 diameters. Epipleura relatively broad, somewhat concave behind metaventrite and regularly narrowing till apex. Hind wings fully developed.

Prosternal process elongate, very narrow, rod-like. Mesocoxae separated by a subparallel process (length ca. 6.0X width), metaventral discrimen present in posterior 3/4. Posterior femoral insertions exposed. Metafemora enlarged, width ca. 4.0X width of metatibia, with long metatbial spurs. Longer spur almost straight, slightly shorter than tarsomere 1, shorter spur slightly curved, as long as 1/3 of longer spur. Abdomen missing in the holotype, ratios of ventrites’ lengths of the second specimen studied: 1.0: 2.6: 2.0: 2.0: 2.2.

Male genitalia (description on the basis of the additional specimen studied). Aedeagus (L 1.10, W 0.18) with penis and tegmen fused, asymmetrical; sternite 9 (L 0.38, W 0.22) oval, with short apical setae; tergite 8 (L 0.35, W 0.23) with relatively narrow apical part and short apodemes; tergite 9 (L 0.36, W 0.16) with narrow apical part.

Female unknown.

Variability. TL of the second specimen studied 2.90. Elytral pattern variable, specimen from HNHM has larger dark patches on elytra.

Remarks. Because the abdomen was missing in the holotype, description was supplemented with data from the study of the additional specimen, collected near the locus typicus of Ora nigropunctata and showing no substantial external differences. Scirtes irregularis Waterhouse , described from Java, was synonymized with Ora nigropunctata by Champion (1918) and the latter species was treated as very widely distributed in the Oriental Region, occurring in Sri Lanka, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. Recent examination of several specimens revealed that numerous similar species inhabit SE Asia ( Ruta 2007b), and it is highly probable that Scirtes irregularis is a distinct species.

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 14. Habitus illustrations. 9) Ora nigropunctata, holotype; 10) Ora nigropunctata, male; 11) Scirtes axillaris; 12) Scirtes affinis; 13) Scirtes canescens; 14) Scirtes grandis. Scale bar = 1.0.