Tiphysa plumbea Mulsant, 1850

Canepari, Claudio, Gordon, Robert D. & Hanley, Guy A., 2016, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XVII: Systematic revision of the genera Cyrea Gordon and Canepari and Tiphysa Mulsant (Hyperaspidinae: Brachiacanthini), Insecta Mundi 2016 (486), pp. 1-180 : 133-134

Tiphysa plumbea Mulsant

Tiphysa plumbea Mulsant,1850: 517 ; Crotch, 1874: 210; Korschefsky, 1931: 208; Blackwelder, 1945: 449; Gordon,1987: 26; Duverger, 1989: 146; Milléo & Almeida, 2003: 279 .

Redescription. Male. Length 5.0 mm, width 4.1 mm; body oval, convex. Color black except clypeus and apical 1/4 of frons rectangularly yellow; pronotum dull black with metallic green tint, anterior and lateral borders narrowly yellow; elytron shiny black with metallic green tint ( Fig. 655 ); ventral surface with prosternum, meso- and metaventrites black medially, reddish yellow laterally, legs and abdomen reddish yellow. Head punctures small, separated by less than a diameter, each puncture as large as 3 eye facets; pronotal punctures larger than on head, separated by less than a diameter; elytral punctation dual, dense, larger punctures smaller than on pronotum, separated by less than to 3 times a diameter; metaventral punctures 3 or 4 times as large as on pronotum, nearly absent medially, separated by 3 to 4 times a diameter laterally. Clypeus emarginate apically, lateral angle broadly rounded, surface with dense, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 8 eye facets long, angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, sides feebly rounded, basal and anterior angles rounded, basal margin without bordering line. Epipleuron wide medially, grooved, strongly descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia broadly flanged, flange evenly arcuate, wider than remainder of protibia, outer margin smooth ( Fig. 656 ); sponda deep, slightly wider than flange. Carinae on prosternal process pronounced, widely spaced apically, convergent toward base, joined at apical 2/3 of prosternum, connected to prosternal base by single carina. Metaventrite without median setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite straight in basal 1/3, extended to apical margin of ventrite at middle, rounded in apical 2/3, extended to lateral 1/5 of ventrite; ventrites 1-4 with sparse, short pubescence and dense, fine punctures; 5th ventrite not depressed medially, unmodified, apical margin broadly emarginate, with dense pubescence laterally; 6th sternum short, narrow, depressed in apical 1/2, apical margin broadly, distinctly emarginate, lateral angle of emargination projecting, almost angulate, with dense pubescence, surface densely punctured. Apical tergite densely punctured, with shallow median groove. Genitalia with basal lobe shorter than paramere, asymmetrical, wide, apex truncate, paramere Unm, wide ( Fig. 658, 659 ); sipho robust, strongly curved in basal 1/2, without apparent lateral alae, basal capsule lightly sclerotized, inner arm short, wide, outer arm as long as inner arm, narrow, with large accessory piece, basal border broadly emarginate ( Fig. 660 ).

Female. Similar to male except head entirely dull black; pronotum entirely dull black with greenish blue metallic tint; elytron shiny black with greenish metallic tint; eye canthus entirely dark brown Bursal cap of genitalia with 2 outer arms apically modified, enlarged on outer margin before apex, apex emarginate, apical strut short ( Fig. 661 ).

Variation. Length 5.0 to 5.2 mm.

Type locality. “Cayenne” ( French Guiana).

Type depository. Type stated to be in the Dejean collection ( MNHL) by Mulsant (1850), but not found there.

Geographical distribution. Unknown, type locality “Cayenne.”

Specimens examined. 2. Localities unknown, specimens unlabeled. ( UMZC).

Remarks. The true identity of T. plumbea is open to question because the type specimen(s) are no longer available. Milléo and Ameida (2003) considered the UMZC specimens to be correctly identified. Therefore T. plumbea and T. egae appear to be distinguished by size and type of elytral punctation, as indicated in the key above. However, female genitalia in each specimen of T. egae differ slightly from each other. One specimen has female genitalia that agree with those of T. plumbea in having the outer bursal cap arms modified apically, the other specimen has the arms unmodified. Tiphysa egae is known only from two females, making male genitalic comparison impossible at present.

Figures

Figures 655-662. Tiphysa spp. 655-661) Tiphysa plumbea 655) Habitus. 656. Protibia.657) Maxilla.658) Phallobase ventral. 659) Phallobase lateral. 660) Sipho. 661). Female genitalia. 662) Tiphysa egae 662) Female genitalia.