Cryptognatha auriculata Mulsant, 1850

F, Guillermo González, Hanley, Guy A. & Gordon, Robert D., 2019, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XIX: Overview of Cryptognathini and systematic revision of South American Cryptognatha Mulsant, Insecta Mundi 714 (714), pp. 1-32 : 7

1. Cryptognatha auriculata Mulsant

Cryptognatha auriculata Mulsant 1850: 497 ; Crotch 1854: 206; Gorham 1894: 182, 1899: 258; Korschefsky 1931: 219; Blackwelder 1945: 449; Gordon 1971: 183, 1987: 26.

Description. Male. Length 2.5 mm, width 2.3 mm. Dorsal surface shiny except elytron with faint trace of microsculpture. Color pale brownish yellow ( Fig. 1 ); head, anterior 1/3, lateral 1/4 of pronotum pale yellow, pale area weakly indenting basal black macula medially ( Fig. 2 ). Head without punctures; pronotal punctures small, separated by less than a diameter; elytral punctures slightly larger than on pronotum, separated by a diameter or less; prosternal punctures small, separated by less than a diameter; meso- and metasternal punctures large, separated by a diameter or less on mesosternum, widely separated on median 1/3 of metasternum, lateral 1/3 without punctures; basal abdominal ventrite with coarse punctures separated by about a diameter, lateral 1/3 of ventrite and ventrites 2–4 lacking punctation, ventrite 5 with dense, fine punctation. Head with frons parallel-sided, medially depressed, twice as wide as eye, apex truncate medially, lateral 1/8 slightly retracted, angle acute ( Fig. 2 ); eye canthus long, about 1/2 width of eye. Prosternum with lateral carina on each side extended from apex of intercoxal process to midpoint of prosternum. Epipleuron strongly descending externally. Postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite evenly curved, extended 3/4 distance to rear margin of ventrite. Genitalia long, penis guide nearly as long as paramere, parallel-sided with apical 1/8 narrowed to rounded apex; paramere slender, parallel-sided, apex rounded ( Fig. 4, 5 ); penis slender, equal in width throughout, apex acute, penis capsule with long, slender inner arm, outer arm short, wide ( Fig. 6 ).

Female. Similar to male except head weakly depressed; pronotum entirely brownish yellow medially; head not medially depressed, brownish yellow; genitalia with ramus of spermathecal capsule wide, capsule strongly narrowed to acute apex of cornu ( Fig. 7 ).

Variation. Length 2.1 to 3.0 mm, width 1.9 to 2.4 mm. Dorsal color varies from typical to darker reddish brown, darker color most prevalent in specimens from Guyana and Suriname. Some specimens, especially from Peru, have margins of pronota brownish and little noticeable.

Type locality. Colombia. Lectotype designated by Gordon (1987). The single paralectotype belongs to Pentilia .

Type depository. UMZC.

Geographical distribution. Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Peru, Venezuela.

Specimens examined. 89. Widely distributed in northern South America.

Remarks. This species apparently is distinctive based on dorsal color and comparatively large size. However, male genitalia are not separable from those of several following taxa, thus creating a group of species distinguished mostly by dorsal color pattern.

Figures

Figures 1–20. Cryptognatha spp. 1–7) Cryptognatha auriculata. 1) Habitus. 2) Frons. 3) Proleg. 4) Phallobase ventral. 5) Phallobase lateral. 6) Penis. 7) Genital plates. 8–14) Cryptognatha nodiceps. 8) Habitus. 9) Frons. 10) Proleg. 11) Phallobase ventral. 12) Phallobase lateral. 13) Penis. 14) Spermathecal capsule. 15–20) Cryptognatha gemellata. 15) Habitus. 16) Frons. 17) Spermathecal capsule. 18) Phallobase ventral. 19) Phallobase lateral. 20) Penis.