Cyrea gacognii (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 : 36-37

21. Cyrea gacognii (Mulsant) , new combination

Cleothera gacognii Mulsant, 1850:611 .

Hyperaspis gacognii: Crotch 1874:221 ; Korchefsky 1931:189; Blackwelder 1945:447; Gordon 1987:28.

Description. Male. Length 2.6 mm, width 2.0 mm; body elongate oval, convex. Dorsal surface with head alutaceous, dull, pronotum and elytron smooth, shiny. Color yellow except pronotum with large, black, basomedian macula extended slightly more than 2/3 distance to apical pronotal margin, apex of macula projected, weakly emarginate with yellow medially; elytron black with 5 small, yellow spots arranged in rows of 2 each with apical spot, humeral spot triangular, discal spot round, mediolateral spot projected inward, discal spot round, apical spot transversely oval ( Fig. 113 ); ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrites black; abdomen yellowish brown. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by less than to about a diameter, elytral punctures larger than on pronotum, separated by less than to slightly more than a diameter; metaventral punctures larger than on elytron, separated by a diameter or less medially, slightly larger, nearly contiguous in lateral 1/2. Clypeus slightly emarginate apically, nearly truncate, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 6 eye facets long, angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin slightly curved, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron narrow, grooved, slightly descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia with narrow oblique angle, outer margin nearly straight, smooth, sponda extended beyond angle. Carinae on prosternal process widely separated at apex, convergent, joined at basal 1/4 of prosternum, connected to base by single carina. Metaventrite without setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite rounded throughout, extended forward at apex, ventrites 1-2 with sparse, long pubescence and coarse punctures medially, punctures becoming denser laterally; ventrites 3-6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine; 5th ventrite depressed in median 1/3, apex widely, shallowly emarginate; 6th ventrite deeply depressed medially, apex widely, deeply emarginate with lateral angle rounded. Apical tergite finely, densely punctured, apex weakly emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe slender, nearly as long as paramere, asymmetrical, sides parallel in basal 4/5, apex triangular with triangular, acute projection on one side, paramere Pav, widened from base to rounded apex, upper margin with slender, apically forked “ear” posterior to anterolateral angle ( Fig. 114 ); sipho strongly curved in basal 2/3, without visible alae, basal capsule with inner arm short, wide, apex obliquely truncate, outer arm narrower and longer than inner arm, with accessory piece, basal border widely, abruptly emarginate ( Fig. 115, 116 ).

Female. Similar to male except head with clypeus irregularly dark brown, pronotum entirely black except minute, median yellow spot present in anterior 1/3, lateral 1/4 irregularly yellow. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule long, slender, briefly narrowed anterior to middle, apex of cornu rounded; bursal cap oval, with 2 barely perceptibly sclerotized arms, apical strut short, narrow, widened in apical 1/3 ( Fig. 117 ).

Variation. Length 2.2 to 2.7 mm, width 1.6 to 2.2 mm. Female head with clypeus dark brown or black, pronotum with or without minute median spot, size and shape of elytral spots somewhat variable for both sexes, but remarkably consistent given the number of specimens examined. Male genitalia sometimes with dorsal margin of paramere somewhat broadly emarginate.

Type locality. Brazil.

Type depository. UMZC (lectotype designated by Gordon, 1987).

Geographical distribution. Brazil.

Specimens examined. 53. Brazil. Chapada; Minas Gerais, Serra do Caraca; Minas Gerais, Vicosa; Rio de Janeiro; Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara; Santa Catarina,Nova Teutonia; Sao Paulo, horto flor.( T.C.). ( BMNH) ( CAS) ( CMNH) ( DZUP) ( MZSP) ( USNM) ( ZMHB).

Remarks. The dorsal color pattern of C. gacognii is similar to that of many other Cyrea species , and male genitalia are needed for positive identification. The mostly yellow female head with a dark clypeus is of some slight identification help.

This is a frequently collected species in southeastern Brazil, and seems to have its distribution limited to that area.

In addition to the UMZC lectotype, there is a paralectotype (by present designation) in the BMNH, and a paralectotype in the MNHL labeled “Museum Paris, Rio Janeiro, de Castelnau 117-47/162/ Cleothera gacognii Muls. , auc. det.”

Figures

Figures 102-117. Cyrea spp. 102-108) Cyrea maculosa. 102) Habitus. 103) Proleg. 104) Phallobase ventral. 105) Phallobase lateral. 106) Sipho. 107) Enlarged siphonal apex. 108) Female spermathecal capsule. 109-112) Cyrea mariae. 109) Habitus. 110) Sipho. 111) Enlarged siphonal apex. 112) Female genitalia. 113-117) Cyrea gacognii. 113) Habitus. 114) Phallobase ventral. 115) Sipho. 116) Enlarged siphonal apex. 117) Female genitalia.