Cyrea tessulata (Mulsant) Canepari & Gordon & Hanley, 2016

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 : 80-82

69. Cyrea tessulata (Mulsant) , new combination

Cleothera tessulata Mulsant, 1850: 578, 1037 .

Hyperaspis tessulata: Crotch 1874: 220 ; Korschefsky 1931:197; Blackwelder 1945: 448.

Cleothera schaufussi Vogel, 1865: 235 . NEW SYNONYM.

Hyperaspis schaufussi: Crotch 1874: 220 ; Korschefsky 1931:195; Blackwelder 1945: 448;

Gordon 1987:27.

Hyperaspis adelaida Gorham, 1894: 201 ; Korschefsky 1931:184; Blackwelder 1945: 446. NEW SYN- ONYM.

Description. Male. Length 2.8 mm, width 2.5 mm; body rounded, convex. Dorsal surface smooth, shiny. Color yellow except pronotum with 4 brown spots, 1 spot on basal pronotal margin on each side of middle, 1 spot on basal pronotal margin anterior to scutellum, 1 spot at center of pronotum; elytron with 7 small, brown spots arranged as in Fig. 379 ; ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrites yellowish brown; abdomen yellow except median 1/3 of ventrites 1-2 brownish yellow. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture about as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures slightly larger than head punctures, separated by 1 to 2 times a diameter, elytral punctures larger than on pronotum, separated by 1 to about 2 times a diameter; metaventral punctures much larger than on elytron, separated by less than a diameter medially, becoming nearly contiguous in lateral 1/3. Clypeus emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 6 eye facets long, slightly angled forward, nearly straight, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin straight, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron wide, slightly grooved, strongly descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia with narrow oblique angle, outer margin slightly curved, smooth, sponda extended beyond angle ( Fig. 380 ). Carinae on prosternal process narrowly separated at apex, convergent toward base, joined at basal 1/3, single carina extended to prosternal base. Metaventrite without trace of sparse setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without sparse setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite slightly flattened along posterior ventrite margin, extended forward at apex, ventrite coarsely punctured medially, with small, dense punctures laterally; ventrites 2-6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; 5th ventrite slightly depressed medially, apical margin feebly emarginate; 6th ventrite short, narrow, slightly depressed medially, apical margin weakly emarginate, angle on each side of emargination rounded. Apical tergite finely, densely punctured, apex emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe 2/3 as long as paramere, asymmetrical, sides convergent from base nearly to apex, apex rounded, slightly emarginate on one side; paramere Psc, narrowed from base to rounded apex ( Fig. 381, 382 ); sipho strongly curved in basal 2/3, without visible alae, basal capsule with inner arm long, narrow, apex obliquely rounded, outer arm wider and shorter than inner arm, with small accessory piece, basal border widely emarginate ( Fig. 383, 384 ).

Female. Similar to male externally. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule long, slender, weakly narrowed medially; bursal cap oval, with 3 sclerotized arms, median arm faint, apical strut long, slender, apical 1/ 3 slightly spatulate ( Fig. 385 ).

Variation. Length 2.5 to 3.0 mm, width 2.1 to 2.5 mm. Size of pronotal spots slightly variable, sometimes spots weakly connected, elytron often with humeral spot and spot on humeral callus connected and extended to basal pronotal margin, reducing number of spots on each elytron to 6, discal and apical spots sometimes reaching sutural margin.

Type locality. Of tessulata , Colombia; of schaufussi , Colombia; of adelaida , Mexico.

Type depository. Of tessulata, MNHP (lectotype by present designation); of schaufussi, DEI , (lectotype by present designation); of adelaida, BMNH (lectotype not designated).

Geographical distribution. Colombia.

Specimens examined. 54. Colombia. Antioquia,; Medellin. Cundinamarca; Colegio, Melgar, Pacheco, Sasaima. Rio Magdalena. Valle; Buenaventura. ( BMNH) ( CAS) ( DEI) ( USNM) ( ZMHB).

Remarks. Cyrea tessulata has a distinctive dorsal color pattern by which it may be recognized. Many specimens are in collections, partly because it is apparently attracted to light, as evidenced by moth scales on the surface of several specimens examined. Examination of the types of both C. schaufussi and C. adelaida indicates that they are junior synonyms of C. tessulata .

The lectotype of C. tessulata in the MNHP is labeled “155/ Cleothera tessulata Muls. , auct. det.” The lectotype of C. schaufussi in the DEI is labeled “Schaufuss 1932/Neu Granada (handwritten) Syntypus (pink label)/ Cleothera schaufussi Vogel (handwritten)/coll. DEI Müncheberg.” Three paralectotypes bear identical labels without the handwritten name label.

The lectotype should be in ZMHB but is not there, so the above DEI specimens that were obviously among those seen by Vogel (1865) are designated as the types. Gordon (1987) mistakenly designated a specimen in the Crotch collection (UMZC) as the lectotype of C. schaufussi , a mistake hereby corrected.

Figures

Figures 368-385. Cyrea spp. 369-373) Cyrea dolores. 369) Habitus. 370) Phallobase ventral. 371) Phallobase lateral. 372) Sipho. 373) Female genitalia. 374-378) Cyrea erica. 374) Habitus. 375) Phallobase ventral. 376) Phallobase lateral. 377) Sipho. 378) Enlarged siphonal apex. 379-385) Cyrea tessulata. 379) Habitus. 380) Proleg. 381) Phallobase ventral. 382) Phallobase lateral. 383) Sipho. 384) Enlarged siphonal apex. 385) Female spermathecal capsule.