Brachiacantha bistripustulata (Fabricius)

Nestor-Arriola, Jorge Ismael, Toledo-Hernandez, Victor Hugo, Solis, Angel, Gonzalez, Guillermo & Vetrovec, Jaroslav, 2021, The Brachiacantha Dejean, 1837 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of Central America, ZooKeys 1024, pp. 157-196 : 157

Brachiacantha bistripustulata (Fabricius)

Coccinella laevis Thunberg, 1781: 20.

Coccinella bistripustulata Fabricius, 1801: 383.

Brachyacantha bis-tripustulata : Mulsant 1850: 528.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata : Gorham 1894: 188. Casey 1899: 119. Leng 1911: 296. Korschefsky 1931: 203. Blackwelder 1945: 449.

Brachyacantha erythrocephala Gorham, 1894: 188 (non Coccinella erythrocephala Fabricius). Crotch 1874: 211.

Brachyacantha decora Casey, 1899: 119. Bowditch 1902: 206.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata var. guttata Weise, 1885: 231. Leng 1911: 297. Korschefsky 1931: 203.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata var. decora : Leng, 1911: 298. Leng 1920: 213.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata var. minor Leng, 1911: 298. Leng 1920: 213.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata var. obscura Leng, 1911: 299. Korschefsky 1931: 204.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata var. quichiana Leng, 1911: 298.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata ab. decora : Korschefsky 1931: 203.

Brachyacantha bistripustulata ab. minor : Korschefsky 1931: 203.

Brachiacantha decora : Gordon 1985: 561.

Brachiacantha laevis : Pope 1987: 58.

Brachiacantha bistripustulata : Milléo and Almeida 2007: 420. Gordon et al. 2014: 10. Nestor-Arriola and Toledo-Hernández 2019: 539.

Material examined.

496 specimens from Costa Rica: Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia and Puntarenas; El Salvador: Ahuachapán, La Libertad and San Salvador; Guatemala: El Quiché, El Progreso, Frontera, Jutiapa, Chimaltenango, Baja Verapaz, Santa Rosa and Zacapa; Honduras: El Paraíso, Tegucigalpa, Atlántida, Colón, Cortés, Comayagua, Francisco Morazán, La Paz, Olancho and Yoro; Panamá: Oeste , Coclé, Chiquirí and Darien ( CEAM, CNIN, FSCA, USNMNH, OUNMH, MNCR, MUCR, MZCR) .

Diagnosis.

Length 3.2-5.4 mm. Width 2.4-4 mm. Dorsally black with three to four orange, yellow or red spots on each elytron, spots sometimes fused. Males with pale-yellow head and pronotal anterior border. Third ventrite bicuspid in males, cusps short, wide and with divergent apex. Male genitalia asymmetrical, penis guide with apical hook.

Distribution.

From the South of the USA to Brazil and Peru, including Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

Discussion.

This species is very similar to others in the group, but the shape of the male ventral cusps is different in being wider than long, apically divergent and not strongly pronounced, and is usually enough to differentiate it.