Cymatodera tortuosa Burke & Rifkind

Burke, Alan F., Rifkind, Jacques & Zolnerowich, Gregory, 2015, Four new species of Cymatodera Gray from central and southern Mexico (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Tillinae), ZooKeys 513, pp. 105-121 : 107-108

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Cleridae

Cymatodera tortuosa Burke & Rifkind sp. n. Figs 1, 6, 11, 16, 20, 23

Type material

(n = 2). Holotype, red labeled, male: Mexico, Hidalgo, La Florida, municipio de Cardonal, Sitio 1A, 4-V-2014, S. Quiñonez; holotype deposited in CNIN. Paratype: 1 female: Mexico, Tamaulipas Mpio. Tula, La Presita, Canon de Coyote, 1,900 m, 16-III-1987, P. Kovarik, R. Jones, R. Trevino; paratype deposited in TAMU.

Differential diagnosis.

The new species can be separated from congeners by its unique combination of body form, antennal shape, size, color, and elytral fascia pattern. Cymatodera tortuosa superficially resembles a number of species that share a similar pattern of fuscous and testaceous elytral banding, such as Cymatodera balteata LeConte, Cymatodera sirpata Horn, Cymatodera undulata (Say), and Cymatodera wolcotti Barr. Cymatodera tortuosa , however, can be readily differentiated from those species based on clear differences in the male and female pygidium as well as discontinuity in geographic distribution. Specifically, the new species has the male pygidium distinctly modified (Fig. 11) compared to similar species; the female pygidium is moderately, V-shaped emarginate (Fig. 16), rather than broadly rounded posteriorly, as observed in similar species. As no specimens are known outside of central Mexico, it is possible that this new species is restricted to that region, whereas those listed previously are distributed for the most part in the south and southwestern United States, with only Cymatodera balteata ranging into the Mexican border states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

Description.

Holotype male. Form elongate, slender; metathoracic wings present and fully developed. TL = 11.9 mm. Color: Head, pronotum and thorax piceous; elytra slightly lighter; antennae and mouthparts brunneous; legs testaceous; abdomen brunneous mesally, becoming pale testaceous laterally. Elytra with a pattern of testaceous markings and maculae as follows: the anterior 1/2 with a roughly X-shaped marking; each elytron at posterior 1/4 with a large, irregularly bordered, ovate macula narrowly separated at the elytral suture (Fig. 1).

Head: HL = 2.15 mm, HW = 1.95 mm. Measured across eyes wider than pronotum; surface smooth, moderately shiny, moderately, finely punctate; frons bi-impressed; sparsely clothed with short, very fine, recumbent setae, more profusely vested behind the eyes with longer setae; eyes moderately small, subsinuate, taller than wide, moderately emarginate in front, moderately protuberant laterally, separated by approximately 2.5 eye-widths. Antennae slender; loosely composed; extending beyond posterior margin of elytra; third antennomere about two times the length of second antennomere, fourth antennomere slightly longer than third antennomere; antennomeres 5-10 subequal in length; antennomeres 4-10 weakly serrate, serration very gradually increasing distally; last antennomere flattened apically, as long as tenth antennomere (Fig. 6).

Thorax: PL = 2.75 mm, PW = 1.9 mm. Pronotum elongate; widest at middle; middle slightly broader than anterior margin; sides constricted laterally; more strongly constricted behind middle; disc flat; moderately impressed in front of middle; subbasal tumescence feebly pronounced; surface rugulose; moderately, finely punctate; vested with short, fine, pale recumbent setae intermingled with less numerous, long erect setae, the latter more numerous laterally. Prosternum wider than long, rugulose, moderately puncticulate, scarcely vested with fine, pale, semirecumbent setae. Mesosternum smooth, shiny, feebly, coarsely, deeply punctate. Metasternum convex; rugose; moderately, shallowly punctate; moderately clothed with pale, semirecumbent setae, vestiture more abundant medially.

Legs: Femora clothed with short, recumbent setae interspersed with a few erect and semierect setae; tibiae moderately vested with some short and long erect and semierect setae; femora and tibiae transversely rugose.

Elytra: EL = 8.8 mm, EW = 2.6 mm. Anterior margin arcuately emarginate; wider than widest portion of pronotum; humeri pronounced; sides subparallel; widest on posterior fourth; disc convex; apex moderately dehiscent; elytral sculpturing as follows: anterior third set with regular, rather coarse and deep striae that abruptly diminish after anterior third and disappear entirely on posterior half; punctations at elytral base coarse and deep; surface moderately clothed with short, very fine, pale, recumbent setae intermixed with very few fine, long, erect setae.

Abdomen: Ventrites 1-5 rugulose, strongly convex; shallowly, moderately punctate; subequal in length; each ventrite with a pair of large, pale, shallow impressions near sides; surface clothed with fine, pale, moderately long, recumbent setae. Fifth ventrite (Fig. 11) moderately smooth; sides moderately oblique and arcuate; posterior margin broadly, deeply emarginate, emargination reaches medial portion of segment, posterolateral angles acuminate; sixth ventrite (Fig. 11) longer than wide, surface rugulose, with a pair of oblique, V-shaped, longitudinal carinae that initiate on anterior 1/4 and end slightly beyond segmental mid-length; highly modified distally, posterior margin deeply emarginate, emargination U-shaped, with the posterolateral angles each produced as a dorsally recurved and conspicuously elongate extension, the last third of each posterolateral extension bearing an internal spine or acuminate protuberance. Fifth tergite (Fig. 20) moderately convex; rugulose; lateral margins subparallel; posterior margin bisinuate, broadly, moderately deeply, triangularly emarginate at middle. Sixth tergite (Fig. 20) conspicuously longer than wide; subtriangular; surface strongly convex; rugulose; moderately, shallowly punctate; lateral margin oblique; posterior margin narrowly, moderately rounded, much surpassed by posterolateral extensions of the sixth ventrite.

Aedeagus 2.8 mm long; moderately robust; ratio of length of paramere to whole tegmen 0.45:1; tegmen fully covering phallus; parameres robust throughout their length; lateral margins feebly obtuse, subparallel, pointed distally; phallobase wide; phallic plate armed with a row of denticles along dorsal margin; phallobasic apodeme robust distally, moderately short; phallobasic struts rather slender throughout their length (Fig. 23).

Female: The female paratype is somewhat longer than the male, having a total body length of 13.8 mm. The female also differs from the male holotype by having the sixth ventrite strongly, deeply, V-shaped emarginate, lacking the pair of elongate, posterolateral extensions observed in the male (Figs 11, 20). Additionally, the female has a slightly paler integument than the male, with a less distinct elytral pattern anteriorly by comparison.

Distribution.

Presently known only from the northern portion of Hidalgo and the southeastern part of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The vegetation at the collecting localities is predominantly pine-oak forest (Fig. 29).

Etymology.

The specific epithet tortuosa (from the Latin tortilis or tortuosus, meaning twisted or winding), is a reference to the intricate and elaborate structure of the male pygidium of this species.