Agrilaxia (Agrilaxia) sulcifrons, Bílý & Brûlé, 2013

Bílý, Svatopluk & Brûlé, Stéphane, 2013, A study on the genus Agrilaxia of French Guiana (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Anthaxiini), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 53 (2), pp. 657-686 : 682-683

Agrilaxia (Agrilaxia) sulcifrons sp. nov.

( Figs 8 , 24 , 33 )

Type locality. French Guiana, Lac Américains.

Type specimens. HOLOTYPE ( NMPC, J): “ Guyane Fr., Lac des Américains , 7.ii.2004 Eclos // Ex-Coll. P.H. Dalens, Coll. S. Brûlé, No. GF 0232” . ALLOTYPE ( NMPC, ♀): the same data (but 27.vi.2004) . PARATYPES: the same data (but 4.v.2004 and 1.vii.2004) (2 ♀♀, NMPC) ; “ Guyane Fr., Route de Kaw pk30, 18.v.2004, Eclos // Ex-Coll. P.H. Dalens, Coll. S. Brûlé, No. GF 0219” (1 ♀, NMPC) ; “ Guyane Fr., 11.v.2007, Saint Laurent du Maroni, ex larva, P.-H. Dalens leg.” (2 ♀♀, NMPC) .

Diagnosis. Medium-sized (5.3–6.5 mm), slightly prognathous, subcylindrical, moderately convex, green with silky lustre ( Fig. 8 ), sometimes elytra with bronze tinge; pronotum with two very indistinct, dark spots; vertex and frons of female black, antennae and legs greenblack in both sexes; ventral surface of female black, that of male green with last three ventrites black; laterosternites golden green; entire body asetose.

Description of male holotype ( Fig. 8 ). Head large, wider than anterior pronotal margin; clypeus transverse with shallowly emarginate anterior margin; frons with shallow, wide, longitudinal depression, vertex very slightly grooved, almost flat, 1.8 times as wide as width of eye; eyes large, widely elliptical, slightly projecting beyond outline of head; antennae short, scarcely reaching midlength of lateral pronotal margins when laid alongside; scape long, slightly curved, 4 times as long as wide, pedicel ovoid, twice as long as wide; third antennomere subcylindrical, twice as long as wide, fourth antennomere obtusely triangular, as long as wide; antennomeres 5–10 trapezoidal, wider than long and compact, terminal antennomere rhomboid; sculpture of head consisting of dense polygonal cells with well defined, flat central grains.

Pronotum moderately convex, 1.2 times wider than long, with well defined, large lateroposterior depressions and prescutellar pit; anterior margin deeply biarcuate with large medial lobe, posterior margin slightly biarcuate; lateral margins rather strongly S-shaped, deeply emarginate in front of rectangular posterior angles; “agriloid carina” well-developed reaching posterior third of lateral margin; posterior margin with two rather strong tubercles on both sides of prescutellar pit; pronotal sculpture almost homogeneous, consisting of dense, polygonal cells with large, flat central grains. Scutellum subcordiform, 1.8 times wider than long, microsculptured.

Elytra moderately convex, 2.8 times as long as wide, slightly depressed along suture, with quite indistinct traces of longitudinal carinae; subhumeral carina poorly defined, obtuse, reaching only level of first abdominal ventrite; humeral swellings rather small, basal transverse depression deep, wide, reaching scutellum; elytral margins shallowly emarginate behind humeri then regularly tapering towards separately, rather widely rounded apices; apices very slightly caudiform, finely serrate; elytral epipleura very narrow, not reaching elytral apex; sculpture extremely fine, consisting of basal microsculpture, indistinct, lustrous punctures and very fine transverse rugae.

Ventral surface lustrous, very finely ocellate, prosternum very slightly convex ( Fig. 24 ); anal ventrite rather roughly punctate, regularly rounded, without distinct lateral serrations; anal tergite widely rounded, rather roughly serrate. Legs moderately long, protibiae slightly curved, widened distally, bearing inner row of very short, scarcely visible, dense, creamwhite bristles; mesotibiae straight, somewhat flattened, widened distally, with inner row of short, sparse bristles; metatibiae straight, slightly flattened with short, sparse bristles on inner margin and row of dense bristles on posterior half of outer margin; tarsi relatively short (all tarsi much shorter than tibiae), tarsomeres 1–4 with adhesive pads. Tarsal claws short, hookshaped, slightly enlarged at base.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 33 ) shortly spindle-shaped, robust, somewhat flattened; both tips of parameres and tip of median lobe sharply pointed apically.

Sexual dimorphism. Female differs from male only by the dark frons and completely black underside (see “Diagnosis”).

Measurements. Length: 5.3–6.5 mm (holotype 6.1 mm); width: 1.3–1.6 mm (holotype 1.4 mm).

Variability. Except for the size only a weak variability in the colouration was observed: one paratype ( Piste de Kaw ) possesses elytra with rather strong bronze lustre ; the black colouration of the frons varies among the paratypes from the completely black to the dark violet with greenish margins.

Differential diagnosis. Agrilaxia sulcifrons sp. nov. belongs to the A. aeruginosa speciesgroup and it is somewhat similar by its more or less cylindrical and unicolorous body to A. decolorata Kerremans, 1903 (central Brasil) and A. funebris (Kerremans, 1900) (central Brasil, Argentina - Chaco). It differs strikingly from them by the much larger body, glabrous and lustrous, somewhat caudiform elytra, strongly reduced elytral epipleura, less developed posthumeral carina, prosternum without the perpendicular spine and by the completely different male genitalia (see Figs 104 and 106 in COBOS (1972)). The most similar (and probably related) species is A. krombeini ( Cobos, 1972) described from Panama from a single male. Agrilaxia sulcifrons sp. nov. differs from A. krombeini only by the green frons and ventral surface of male (dark violet and bronze, respectively, in A. krombeini ) and by the more widened aedeagus (compare Fig. 33 and Fig. 71 in COBOS (1972)).

Etymology. The specific epithet is composed of the Latin nouns sulcus (groove) and frons to stress the shape of the frons of the species; noun in apposition.

Distribution. French Guiana.

Figures

Figs 1–8. Agrilaxia, dorsal aspect. 1 – Agrilaxia cacao sp. nov., holo- type ♀, 7.2 mm; 2 – A. bongrandi Cobos, 1972, J (Route de Cacao), 6.0 mm; 3 – A.claudei Cobos, 1972, ♀ (Bélizon), 8.0 mm; 4 – A. tristis Cobos, 1972, ♀ (Saul), 7.2 mm; 5 – A. elegans sp. nov., holotype J, 7.8 mm; 6 – A. cordicollis sp. nov., holotype J, 6.5 mm; 7 – A. glabra sp. nov., holotype ♀, 6.0 mm; 8 – A. sulcifrons sp. nov., holotype J, 6.1 mm.

Figs 17–29. 17–19 – anal tergites (17 – Agrilaxia glabra sp. nov., 18 – A. tristis sp. nov., 19 – A. caudata sp. nov.). 20–22 – anal ventrites (20 – A. glabra sp. nov., 21 – A. tristis sp. nov., 22 – A. caudata sp. nov.). 23 – most important diagnostic characters of Agrilaxia spp. (schematically): a – lateroposterior pronotal depressi- ons; b – basal pronotal tubercles; c – transverse basal depression; d – prognathous/ non-prognathous mouth parts; e – lateral margin of pronotum;f – “agriloid” carina; g – humeral swelling; h – elytral epipleura; i – posthumeral carina; j – anal ventrite; k – anal tergite. 24–29 – form of anterior prosternal margin, schematically (24 – flat or slightly convex, 25 – slightly grooved, 26 – deeply grooved, 27 – with longitudinal, lamelliform carina, 28 – with transverse rolled up carina, 29 – with medial perpendicular, peg-like spine). Not to scale.

Figs 30–39.Aedeagi. 30 – Agrilaxia tristis Cobos, 1972; 31 – A. elegans sp. nov.; 32 – A. cordicollis sp. nov.; 33 – A. sulcifrons sp. nov.; 34 – A. convexifrons sp. nov.; 35 – A. caudata sp. nov.; 36 – A. prolonga sp. nov.; 37 – A. guianensis sp. nov.; 38 – A. sp. A; 39 – A. sp. B. Not to same scale.