Agrilus percarus Kerremans

Hespenheide, Henry A., 2012, New Mexican and Central American species of Agrilus Curtis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) mimetic of flies, Zootaxa 3181, pp. 1-27 : 23-24

Agrilus percarus Kerremans

(Figs. 50–52)

Agrilus percarus Kerremans 1894:418 . Hespenheide 1979:108, in part.

Description. Male: Relatively robust, in cross-section flattened above, convex below, elytra very weakly convex from side, 4.80 mm long, 1.30 mm wide; front green, epistoma golden, vertex of head and anterior 2/3 of pronotum red, basal 1/3 of pronotum blue, basal depressions of elytra greenish-blue extending posteriorad in narrow line for basal 1/4 of elytra, apical 2/3 of elytra golden, more coppery at anterior margin; rest of body black except metepimeron, metacoxal plate and posterior 1/2 of metasternum greenish or darker blue, abdomen with weak golden reflections, more coppery on upper lateral portions of ventrites; triangular area on front above epistoma and basal elytral depressions with sparse silvery setae, otherwise head and pronotum glabrous; elytra with dense, recumbent golden setae in golden area; setae long and semi-erect on prosternum and anterior portion of metasternum, setae short, dense and white in elongate patch on posterior dorsal 1/2 of metepisternum, otherwise sparse beneath except longer on abdominal ventrites and longer and denser on sides and posterior margins of abdominal ventrites 2–5.

Head with front convex from above, with very weak medial depression, broader on lower 1/2 of front, surface weakly rugose, shagreened; epistoma 1/4 as wide as distance between inner margins of eyes, concave, transversely carinate between and slightly above middle of antennal insertions, ventral margin slightly emarginate, eyes oval; antennae serrate from antennomere 4, antennomeres 4–11 triangular.

Pronotum slightly narrower than elytra at posterior margin, with sides weakly rounded, widest at basal 1/3; when viewed from side marginal carina nearly straight, submarginal carina diverging for anterior 2/3; from above anterior margin produced as broadly rounded lobe; basal margin undulate, emarginate at middle of each elytron, shallowly lobed before scutellum; strong transverse depression at basal 1/3, deeper anterior to scutellum and broadening at margins to middle; prehumeral carinae lacking; disc rugose. Scutellum triangular, acuminate behind, with fine transverse carina.

Elytra broadest at humeri and middle, lateral margins weakly emarginate between, then narrowing to separately rounded apices; each elytron with obliquely oval depression at base and short raised area along suture posterior to basal depression, disc strongly costate for short distance behind humeri then very weakly costate for rest of length with moderately strong depressions between costae and suture at basal 1/3; surface finely imbricate throughout.

Prosternal lobe nearly transverse, prosternal process narrowing slightly between and behind procoxae, rounded at apex. Metacoxal plate with posterior margin nearly straight, upper exterior angle subquadrate. Abdomen with suture between ventrites 1 and 2 obsolete, ventrite 5 slightly depressed along midline, apex broadly, weakly emarginate. Metatarsomere 1 as long as 2–3 combined; tarsal claws cleft with short, blunt inner tooth. Genitalia with aedeagus and parameres polished (Fig. 52).

Female: Like male but 5.50 mm long, 1.60 mm wide; epistoma golden green, front red, sides of abdominal ventrites brighter golden-coppery; antennae serrate from antennomere 5, antennomeres 5–11 triangular; setae longer and denser on sides of abdominal ventrites than in male, apex of abdominal ventrite 5 broadly rounded.

Specimens examined. México: “ Mexique, Manuf. Tabacs” (Lectotype and Paratype, BMNH); Chiapas, 6.2 mi N Berriozabal, August 8–9, 1990, J.C. Schaffner (TAMU), 13.6 km S Ixtapa, 14 Sep 1981, Clark & Coe (CHAH); Colima, 3 km SW Confradia de Suchitan, 4000’, 21.VII.95, J. Rifkind (CLBC); Oaxaca, 10.8 km N Jct. 175/195,1859m, 87–28, 30, 19.vii.87, R. Anderson, oak-Acacia woodland (RLWE), 8 mi S Tuxtepec, 200’, 26.vi.83, R. Anderson, trop. lowland for. (RLWE), Hwy. 195 10 km NE Oaxaca, 1800m, 16.VII.79, H & A Howden (CHAH); Puebla, 6 km SW Acatepec, 1960m, 18.2122°, -97.6309°, 24.vi.97, R.L. Westcott (RLWE); San Luis Potosi, 20 km SE Tamazunchale, 12.VI.83, M. Kualbars (CHAH)

Discussion. I have redescribed this species from the pair of specimens from Colima reported in Westcott & Hespenheide (2006). As interpreted here, this is a moderately variable Mexican species that may actually include more than a single species but does not include the Costa Rican A. kulagini Obenberger (cf. Hespenheide 1979). A major surprise was the sexual difference in antennal structure, with the antennae of males serrate from antennomere 4 and those of females from antennomere 5. This difference usually separate major species groups (Fisher 1928), although extreme sexual differences in antennal structure are known elsewhere in Agrilus , e.g., in the A. antennatus Waterhouse species group. The specimen from 10 km NE Oaxaca is included with reservations. Males measure 4.40–5.40 mm long (mean = 4.98 mm, n = 5), females measure 4.80–5.70 mm long (mean = 5.24 mm, n = 5). The recently described A. tristani Curletti & Brûlé (2011) also belongs in this group.

PLATE 6, FIGURES 50–63. Fly-mimicking Agrilus : A. percarus Kerremans : figs. 50 52 dorsal, lateral, aedeagus; A. muscicoloratus Hespenheide : figs. 53 55 dorsal, lateral, aedeagus; A. rossanae Curletti : figs. 56 58, aedeagus, dorsal, lateral; A. kulagini Obenberger : holotype, figs. 59 60 dorsal, lateral; A. percaroides , n. sp.: holotype, 61 63, dorsal, lateral, aedeagus; Scale bars = 1.0 mm.