Lethes, Zayas, 1975

Vlasak, Josef & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2021, Description of five new species of American Acanthocinini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), Zootaxa 5061 (3), pp. 476-492 : 480-482

Lethes x-notatus sp. nov.

( Figs 9–14 )

Description. Holotype male ( Figs 9–12 ). Integument mostly dark brown; ventral mouthparts dark reddish-brown, except apex of palpomeres yellowish-brown; scape, pedicel brown; antennomeres III–IV brown with dark brown apex; antennomeres V–XI light reddish-brown, with dark brown base and apex (dark basal area gradually longer toward XI; apex of XI brown); apex of ventrites 1–4 yellowish.

Head. Frons minutely, shallowly, abundantly punctate; with dense straw colored pubescence and brownish pubescence interspersed on some areas; with a few long, erect brown setae close to eyes. Antennal tubercles, vertex, and area behind eyes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, slightly brownish on center of vertex close to prothoracic margin, and a few long, erect brown setae close to eyes. Area behind lower eye lobes with dense yellowishbrown pubescence superiorly, glabrous about middle (glabrous area not reaching eyes on right side), then with dense straw colored pubescence on wide area close to eye, glabrous close to prothorax. Genae with dense straw colored pubescence and a few long, erect brown setae interspersed, except glabrous apex. Wide central area of postclypeus with bristly straw colored pubescence not obscuring integument, denser close to anteclypeus, and a few long, erect, thick dark brown setae interspersed. Sides of postclypeus glabrous. Labrum with abundant straw colored pubescence posteriorly and laterally, almost obscuring integument, yellowish centrally, and golden on anterior margin; with a few long, erect brown setae interspersed posteriorly. Gulamentum with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence anteriorly. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.22 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.51 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 2.3 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere VI. Scape with dense straw colored pubescence, and irregular brownish pubescent maculae interspersed dorsally and most of lateral surfaces, except dorsal apex with only brownish pubescence, and dense white pubescence ventrally and inferior region of sides; ventral surface with a few long, erect dark setae near apex. Pedicel with white pubescence and yellowish pubescence interspersed, except most of apex with brown pubescence. Antennomeres III–IV with dense white pubescence, and irregular brownish pubescent maculae interspersed, except apex of III with brown pubescence, and apex of IV with dark brown pubescence; antennomeres V–XI with white pubescence, except base and apex with brown pubescence. Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.84; pedicel = 0.15; IV = 0.89; V = 0.71; VI = 0.58; VII = 0.55; VIII = 0.51; IX = 0.49; X = 0.49; XI = 0.44.

Thorax. Prothorax wider than long; sides divergent from anterolateral angles to posterior third, rounded narrowed to posterior eighth, then parallel sided toward posterolateral angles. Pronotum with three slightly distinct gibbosities, one wide, slightly oblique on each side of anterior half, another on center of posterior half; coarsely, somewhat abundantly punctate, with transverse area with slightly coarser and deeper, more distinct punctures near posterior margin; with dense yellowish-brown pubescence obscuring integument, slightly yellower on arched area close to margins on anterior half, except brownish pubescence close to yellower pubescence on each side of middle, irregular maculae with brownish pubescence interspersed on sides of posterior 2/3, white pubescent macula on center of just before middle, and dark brown pubescence on central gibbosity. Sides of prothorax coarsely, somewhat sparsely punctate; with dense straw colored pubescence, more pale yellowish-brown close to anterior margin and procoxal cavities. Prosternum with dense yellowish-brown pubescence laterally, slightly less dense, yellowish-white on wide central area (appearing to be white depending on light intensity). Narrowest area of prosternal process 0.6 times procoxal width. Wide central area of mesoventrite with dense yellowish-white pubescence on middle (appearing to be whiter depending on light intensity), sparse yellowish-white pubescence on sides. Sides of mesoventrite, mesanepisternum, mesepimeron, metanepisternum, and sides of metaventrite with dense yellowishbrown pubescence, and irregular brownish pubescent maculae interspersed; remaining surface of metaventrite with dense yellowish-white pubescence (appearing to be whiter depending on light intensity). Scutellum with dense yellowish-brown pubescence. Elytra. Subparallel-sided on anterior 2/3, convergent on posterior third; apex strongly obliquely truncate; coarsely, somewhat abundantly punctate (punctures slightly finer and sparser on posterior third); with large X-shaped white pubescence on anterior 2/3 (dorsal surface of inferior arms with irregular macula with yellowish-brown pubescence), small white pubescent macula on each side near scutellum, white pubescent macula along sutural margin from white X-shaped area to apex, interspersed with circular brown pubescent maculae, dark brown macula dorsally close to posterior margin of white X-shaped area, and remaining surface with dense yellowish-brown pubescence, with irregular brownish pubescent maculae interspersed; anterior 2/3 with small, sparse tufts of black setae. Legs. Femora pedunculate-clavate, pro-, meso- and metafemora with their respective peduncles increasing in length; with dense pale yellowish-brown pubescence, and irregular areas with sparser and shorter pubescence interspersed. Tibiae with dense yellowish-white pubescence, except wide brownish pubescent macula on inner side of anterior third (less conspicuous on protibiae), dorsal and lateral surfaces of posterior half with dark brown pubescence, except apex with yellowish-white pubescent macula, posterior half of ventral surface with dense, bristly yellowish-brown pubescence, and dorsal surface of posterior third of mesotibiae with short, erect, thick black setae. Tarsi mostly with brown pubescence not obscuring integument; metatarsomeres I shorter than II–III together.

Abdomen. Ventrites with dense yellowish-white pubescence and small areas with sparse pubescence interspersed laterally; posterior half of ventrite 5 with long, erect, sparse dark brown setae.

Female ( Figs 13–14 ). Similar to male. Differs by the antennae (antennomere XI missing in both antennae) slightly shorter (2.1 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at posterior quarter of antennomere VI).

Variation. Glabrous area behind lower eye lobes reaching eyes on both sides in the paratype female.

Dimensions (mm) (holotype male/ paratype males/ paratype females). Total length, 7.60/6.10–8.60/6.90– 8.25; prothoracic length, 1.50/1.20–1.75/1.35–1.65; anterior prothoracic width, 1.60/1.25–1.80/1.45–1.70; posterior prothoracic width, 2.15/1.60–2.40/2.00–2.25; maximum prothoracic width, 2.45/1.85–2.75/2.15–2.55; humeral width, 3.00/2.40–3.50/2.80–3.35; elytral length, 5.60/4.40–6.15/5.10–6.05.

Type material. Holotype male/ paratype female from COSTA RICA, Guanacaste: Playa Panamá , XII.2014, J. Vlasak leg. ( MZSP). Additional paratypes (2 males, 3 females), same data as holotype ( JVCO).

Etymology. The name “x-notatus” (Latin, “notatus”, meaning marked) refers to the white elytral pubescence in the shape of the letter X.

Remarks. Among the genera with wide prosternal process and mesoventral process, the new species resembles Leptostylus LeConte, 1852 , Leptostylopsis Dillon, 1956 , and Lethes Zayas, 1975 . By the absence of distinct pronotal tubercles, it could not be included in Leptostylus and Leptostylopsis . However, the elytra have the distinct small setose granules, which are absent in Lethes . Comparing the features of the type species of Leptostylus , Lamia aculifera Say, 1824 (= Leptostylus transversus (Gyllenhal, 1817)) , type species of Leptostylopsis , L. terraecolor (Horn, 1880) , and type species of Lethes , L. humeralis Zajciw, 1975 , the new species agrees better with those of this later species: prothoracic shape, pronotal tubercles nearly absent, etc. Therefore, we are describing the new species provisionally in Lethes . Currently, Lethes is only known from Cuba and Dominican Republic. Although the species of Lethes have no setose tubercles on the elytra, a feature present in Leptostylus and Leptostylopsis , the small tubercles are present in Lethes israeli Zajciw, 1975 (without erect setae). The setose tubercles on the elytra allow separating L. x-notatus from L. humeralis , L. israeli , L. indignus Zayas, 1975 , and L. turnbowi Lingafelter, 2020 (absent in all these species). According to Zayas (1975) (translated): “Its members are close to Leptostylus , but have a peculiar shape and appearance, which distinguishes them from them, especially by the lack of tubercles on the prothorax [pronotum], and by the narrowed body wedge back.” Apparently, only the absence of distinct pronotal tubercles may separate Lethes from the species currently included in Leptostylus and Leptostylopsis because the general appearance (including of the elytra) may be the same in the three genera.

Figures

FIGURES 9–14. Lethes x-notatus sp. nov. 9–12) Holotype male: 9) Dorsal habitus; 10) Ventral habitus; 11) Lateral habitus; 12) Head, frontal view. 13–14) Paratype female: 13) Dorsal habitus; 14) Ventral habitus.