Longitarsus providensis Blake

Clark, Shawn M., Lillrose, Tiffany & Belo Neto, Luiz A., 2013, Leaf Beetles of the Cayman Islands (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Insecta Mundi 2013 (279), pp. 1-41 : 24-25

Longitarsus providensis Blake

( Figure 17)

Longitarsus providensis Blake 1965: 7 .

Diagnosis. The greatly enlarged hind femora and the unusually long hind basitarsi that are about half as long as the hind tibiae are characteristics of the genus Longitarsus and easily distinguish this species from all other chrysomelids known from the Cayman Islands (except for Longitarsus alisonae ). From other West Indian species of Longitarsus (including L. alisonae ), L. providensis is distinguished by the rather coarsely punctate pronotum and elytra, by the alutaceous microsculpture that is especially strong on the pronotum but also present on the vertex and elytra, by the non-truncate elytra that normally cover the abdominal apex, and especially by the distinctive aedeagus that is slightly narrowed before the apex, subtruncate at the apex, and with a small median tooth on the apical margin.

Material examined. Cayman Islands, Cayman Brac, Brac Paradise Subdivision , 5-VI-2008, M. C. Thomas, R. H. Turnbow, blacklight trap (4, RHTC) ; Cayman Islands, Cayman Brac, Major Donald Dr., 0.6 km E. jct. Ashton Reid Dr. , 5-VI-2008, M. C. Thomas, R. H. Turnbow, blacklight trap (1, RHTC) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 19-III-1988, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (1, BYUC; 2, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 2-IV-1988, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (3, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 17- I-1989, P. Fitzgerald bl trap (2, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 8-VII-1990, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (2, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 28-VII-1990, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (2, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 4-VIII-1990, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 19-VIII-1990, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 7-X-1990, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (2, BYUC; 1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 10-V-1992, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 17-V-1992, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (3, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , VI-1992, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (3, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , 12-VII-1992, P. Fitzgerald, blacklight trap (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Botanic Garden , 4-VI-2008, M. C. Thomas, R. H. Turnbow, B. K. Dozier, bl trap (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Botanic Garden , 9-VI-2008, M. C. Thomas, R. H. Turnbow, B. K. Dozier, bl trap (4, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , CI Botanic Garden, 8-VI-2008, Thomas & Turnbow, bl trap (3, BYUC; 23, RHTC) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Frank Sound Road , 3-VI-2008, R. Turnbow (1, RHTC) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , Georgetown, UCCI, 2-VI-2008, Thomas & Turnbow, bl trap (1, RHTC) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Governor Gore’s Pond , 28-V-2009, R. Turnbow (1, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Mastic Trail , 28-V- 2009, Thomas, Turnbow & Ball, blacklight trap (5, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Mastic Trail , 28-V-2009, R. Turnbow (4, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Mastic Trailhead S., 21-V- 2009, Thomas, Turnbow and Ball, bl trap (3, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , Mastic Trailhead S., 27-V-2009, R. Turnbow (5, BYUC; 20, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman , North Side, 19°212N, 81°122W, 22-II-1993, W. E. Steiner & J. M. Swearingen, at black light in forest clearing near coast (1, USNM) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Queen Elizabeth Botanical Garden , 28-V-2009, Thomas, Turnbow and Ball, bl trap (7, FSCA) ; Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Queen Elizabeth Botanical Park , 21-V-2009, Thomas, Turnbow and Ball, bl trap (2, FSCA) .

Extralimital distribution. Bahamas ( Blake 1965).

Plant associations. Unknown.

Comments. This species was previously known only from the Bahamas. We have compared the Cayman Islands specimens with material collected on Andros Island in the Bahamas, and we find the beetles to be essentially identical.