Gyascutus paragranulatu, Nelson, G. H., 2000

Nelson, G. H., 2000, A revision of the subtribe Hippomelanina, part II: Gyascutus (Gyascutus) LeConte (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Journal of Natural History 34 (12), pp. 2251-2292 : 2275-2277

6. Gyascutus paragranulatu s Nelson, sp. nov.

(®gures 8, 19, 24, 29, 39, 49)

Diagnosis. Coppery black in colour; male 11.3 mm long; width between eyes 1.3 Ö width of eye when viewed from above; antennae reaching middle of pronotum when laid alongside in male, female unknown; pronotum widest at posterior margin; surface of pronotal disc a mixture of large punctures and irregular smooth raised areas; elytra with three or four faintly indicated costae; male genitalia moderately elongate slender (®gure 39).

Description, holotype male. Head with width between eyes 1.3 Ö width of eye when viewed from above; front ¯at between antennal ridges, ridges concavely converging; front moderately coarsely and densely punctate with numerous smaller callosities and three longitudinal ones converging toward vertex; clothed by long, semi-erect, white hair-like setae; clypeal margin shallowly semicircularly emarginate; antennae reaching middle of pronotum when laid alongside; antennomere 1 elbowed elongate clavate, 2 short clavate, 3 elongate slightly dilated apically, strongly serrate from 4, sensilla beginning with 5, serrate portion of roundly triangular antennomeres, 11 with small apical notch (®gure 19); ratio of antennomere lengths from base: 2.6:1.0:1.6:1.6:1.4:1.4:1.2:1.2:1.0:1.0:1.2.

Pronotal width 1.5 Ö length, widest at posterior margin, narrowest at anterior margin; carinate laterally in posterior three-quarters; lateral margins weakly narrowed from behind to middle, then more strongly converging to anterior angles; anterior margin moderately bisinuate; posterior margin strongly bisinuate with emarginate median lobe; disc moderately convex, shallowly transversely impressed behind anterior margin, posteriorly ¯attened at middle and with deep depressions on either side midway to lateral margins; surface a mixture of large punctures and irregular smooth raised areas, punctures smaller and more dense anteriorly and laterally; with few inconspicuous short, semi-erect, white, hair-like setae laterally. Scutellum small transverse, surface glabrous, impunctate.

Elytra as wide as pronotum at base; lateral margins subparallel in basal onethird then weakly converging to just past middle and then more strongly converging to bidentate emarginate apices, margin with few weak serrulations toward apex; disc moderately convex, depressed along base; surface with ®nely punctate striae; intervals mostly of interrupted smooth slightly raised areas and with three or four faintly indicated costae; surface clothed with inconspicuous, short, semi-recumbent, white hair-like setae.

Ventrally ®nely densely punctate laterally, punctures shallow and somewhat alveolate on proepisternum, and somewhat scabrous on abdominal sterna, punctures sparse medially on thoracic and ®rst abdominal sterna; punctate areas moderately densely clothed with recumbent white hair-like setae that become more erect medially on thoracic sterna; prosternum with anterior margin transverse with weak lobe laterally; prosternal process expanded behind procoxal cavities then converging to bluntly rounded apex, surface with irregular punctures in midline, lateral margins sulcate; mesosternum broadly separated; metasternum with deep median sulcus; protrochanter with acute tooth; protibia slightly robust, weakly arcuate, with several small indistinct teeth (®gure 24); mesotibia slender, slightly arcuate; metatibia slen- der, straight; metatarsomere 1 longer than 2 1 3, longer than 5; last visible abdominal sternum elongate triangular, with notches along lateral margins and with weak submarginal crest, apex weakly convexly truncate, with posterolateral angles slightly produced (®gure 29). Length, 11.3 mm; width, 3.9 mm.

Male genitalia (®gure 39).

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Described from one specimen, the holotype l(California Academy of Sciences), labelled as follows: Mex, Baja Calif. N. 14 km S Rosarito 28 ss 31 ¾ 41 ², 114 ss 02 ¾ 14 ², 12-VII-88 R. L. Westcott (p)/on small plant Baccharis sarathroides along Hwy. I (h)/ Hippomelas (p) granulatu s VanD. (h) det. R.L. Westcott (p)/(red label) HOLOTYPE Gyascutus (s. str.) paragranulatus G. H. Nelson (p) l(h).

Distribution (®gure 49). Known only from the type locality.

Biology. The only known specimen was collected on a small plant of Baccharis sarothroides Gray.

Comparisons. Similar to G. granulatus (VanDyke) but it diOEers as follows: the width between eyes compared to the width of an eye, both measured from a dorsal view, is distinctly narrower; the pronotum is slightly more transverse, widest at the posterior margin, in G. granulatus as wide at the middle as at posterior margin; the profemur is less robust than in G. granulatus ; mesotibia slightly arcuate, straight in G. granulatus ; metatarsomere 1 longer than 2 1 3, subequal in G. granulatus ; and male genitalia more slender than in G. granulatus . From G. westcotti , G. paragranul - atus diOEers as follows: head between eyes compared to eye width much narrower; pronotum relatively narrower; and elytra less costate. It might be confused with some small specimens of G. insularis but G. paragranulatu s diOEers in having shorter antennae, the elytra are less costate; the protibiae are less arcuate with teeth less evident; and the male genitalia are more robust.

Etymology. Named for its similarity to G. granulatus (VanDyke) .