Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott

Westcott, Richard L., Hespenheide, Henry A., N, Jesús Romero, Solorio, Armando Burgos & M, Armando Equihua, 2008, The Buprestidae (Coleoptera) of Morelos, Mexico, with description of six new species, and a partially annotated checklist, Zootaxa 1830, pp. 1-20 : 4-5

Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott , new species

( Fig. 2 )

Holotype male: Length 6.8 mm, width 2.4 mm, widest across elytra just behind umbones; head, pronotum and underside shining black, appendages brown-black; elytra with brownish black and yellow vittate pattern as in Fig. 2 , umbones yellow below, sides entirely yellow; setae erect to semi-erect, above mostly light brown with a few white ones at base and sides of pronotum, more so on head, white on underside, long and densely placed on head and pronotum, moderately placed on elytra, less dense on underside.

Head flattened above, slightly convex below middle, coarsely and densely punctate; clypeus depressed on base, front margin broadly triangularly emarginate; antennae abruptly serrate from antennomere 5, which is slightly narrower than following antennomeres. Pronotum strongly, evenly convex, slightly depressed behind front margin, with a shallow median basal depression; punctures coarse and dense on disc, becoming much larger and reticulate laterally; anterior margin pronouncedly and broadly lobed at middle; posterior margin truncate; lateral margins distinct, broadly evenly arcuate, scarcely visible from above; front angles subquadrate; hind angles quadrate and slightly depressed within. Elytra subflattened on disc, sides moderately steep, umbones prominent and smooth above with few small punctures below; humeral angles moderately triangular, slightly projecting below to about level with apex of hind angles; lateral margins weakly and sparsely serrate on about apical third, more strongly so near apex; sutural area not noticeable elevated; strial punctures coarse, dense, distinctly regular throughout, not placed in grooves, interstrial punctures indistinct; intervals more or less flattened throughout, ninth wider and most prominent. Underside with punctures of medium size and moderately densely placed, except small and sparse on middle of abdominal ventrite 1; prosternum with front margin truncate on middle, then evenly angling to almost attain front angle of pronotum; ventrite 5 truncate apically, with a weak, broadly subtruncate subapical plate.

Type specimens: Holotype ( UNAM) labeled “ Mexico, Oaxaca, 14 mi NW Tehuantepec, 700 ft., 26 June 1961, U.Kans. Mex.Exped./ HOLOTYPE Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott ” [red label]. Paratypes: 1 M, same data as holotype except 27 June, on Opuntia [undoubtedly meaning the flower], FSCA; 1 M, OAXACA, 183 m, 4 km W Magdalena Tequisistlán, 16.25 N, 95.38 W, 1-VII-96, CLB 563, Bellamy, Barrera, Brailovsky, CLBC; 1 F, MORELOS, San Pablo, 955 m, 18°34‘36” N, 99°02’16” W, 25-VI-2000, R. L. Westcott, yellow ‘Solo’ bowl trap, bosque espinoso, RLWE.

Variation: The fifth abdominal ventrite on the female paratype is broadly rounded apically and bears a very well developed, rounded subapical plate, notably in contrast to the other specimens. The elytral vittae vary slightly in width, and there is a dark median subapical spot just before the elytral apex on the female specimen. There is no significant difference in size of the four specimens examined.

Comparison: Although superficially resembling several known species with vittate elytra, A. tenuivittata does not appear related to any of them. It does not appear related to any species known to me.

Etymology: The adjectival specific epithet is from the Latin tenuis, thin, and vitta, ribbon or stripe, referring to elytral marking.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. 1, Acmaeodera noguerai Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 2, Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 3 – 5, Agrilus cyphothoracoides Hespenheide, sp. nov.: 3, dorsal habitus; 4, lateral view; 5, dorsal view aedeagus. 6 – 7. Agrilus pseudosallei, Hespenheide sp. nov.: 6, dorsal habitus; 7 dorsal view aedeagus. 8, Brachys exquisitus Hespenheide, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 9 – 10. Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott, sp. nov.: 9, dorsal habitus; 10, dorsal view aedeagus.