Alurnus bicolor Staines, 2013

Staines, C. L., 2013, A review of the genus Alurnus Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), Insecta Mundi 2013 (291), pp. 1-34 : 6-7

Alurnus bicolor Staines , new species

( Figure 2)

Type Material. Holotype: Buena Vista, Colombia / B. C. Patchett Coll ./ Holotype Alurnus bicolor Staines , des. C. L. Staines 2012 [red label] ( USNM) . Paratypes (5): Panamá, Darien Prov., Cana Station, 27.vi.2009, Boca de Cupe trail, km 0- 7, 7 o 45’ N 77 o 41’ W, 500 m, ARE, Chamaedorea large sp., L. Sekerka & D. Windsor lgt. [green printed label] / Paratype Alurnus bicolor Staines , des. C. L. Staines 2012 [red label] ( BMNH, DWC, LSC).

Description. Head (except reddish front), antennae, and legs black; pronotum blood-red; scutellum black with reddish border; elytra blood-red basally, yellowish apically, with 3-5 black spots near humerus; venter with pro- and mesosterna black, metasternum black with 2 oblique red areas, abdominal sterna 1- 4 diffuse black and yellow, sternite 5 yellowish. Head: vertex striate-punctate, each puncture with pale seta, depressed between eyes, with tuft of setae near each eye, medial carina present; front punctate, each puncture with pale seta; clypeus densely punctate, each puncture with pale seta, with fringe of long setae on apical margin. Antenna: antennomere 1 subglobose, slightly longer than 2; 2 transverse; 3 elongate, cylindrical, more than 2x length of 1 and 2 combined; 4-10 cylindrical, decreasing in length; 11 slightly longer than 10, rounded at apex; all punctate, each puncture with pale seta. Pronotum: lateral margin bisinuate, angulate in middle, and converging to anterior angle; anterior angle with obtuse tooth; posterior angle acute, projecting; surface punctate-striate, punctures finer along anterior margin; with oblique subtuberculate area laterally; basal impression absent; glabrous; pronotal length 5.0-6.0 mm; pronotal width 6.5-7.0 mm. Scutellum: cuniform, depressed medially; punctate. Elytron: humerus produced, slightly angulate; lateral and apical margins smooth, slightly explanate; apical margin with fringe of pale setae; sutural angle acute, without tooth; slight costa present from humerus obliquely to just beyond middle; elytral length 28.0-30.0 mm; elytral width 13.0-14.0 mm. Leg: slender; punctate, each puncture with pale seta. Venter: pro-, meso- and metasterna punctate, each puncture with pale seta; abdominal sterna 1-4 impunctate basally, punctate apically, each puncture with pale seta; sternite 5 densely punctate, each puncture with pale seta; sterna 3-4 pustulate laterally. Total length: 37.0 mm.

Etymology. From bicolor for the bicolored elytra.

Larval host plant. Adults have been collected from Chamaedorea sp. (Arecaceae) .

Distribution. Colombia, Panama.