Agrilus cavei, Hespenheide, Henry A., 2012

Hespenheide, Henry A., 2012, New Mexican and Central American species of Agrilus Curtis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) mimetic of flies, Zootaxa 3181, pp. 1-27 : 18-19

Agrilus cavei , new species

(Figs. 41–43)

Description. Holotype male: Relatively slender, in cross-section flattened above, convex below, elytra essentially flat from side, 5.70 mm long, 1.30 mm wide; front yellowish green, epistoma coppery-golden, antennomeres black with coppery reflections, vertex of head and anterior 2/3 of pronotum red, posterior 1/3 of pronotum, elytral humeri and basal 1/7 of elytra bright greenish-blue, scutellum black; rest of elytra black with slight violet reflections, beneath black, metasternum, episterna, metacoxal plate, and abdomen with more or less strong golden-coppery reflections, legs with golden-greenish or coppery reflections; dorsal 2/3 of head, most of pronotum, elytral humeri, basal 1/4 of elytra, and lateral 3/7 of elytral margins mostly glabrous; setae recumbent, short and golden on rest of elytra, setae white and moderately dense on lower 1/3 of front, anterior 1/2 of pronotal epipleurae, metasternum, epimeron, dorsal 1/2 of episterna, metacoxal plate, and in spot at posterior end of dorsal portion of abdominal ventrite 1, setae sparser at posterior angles of pronotum, in basal depressions of elytra, and ventrally, somewhat denser in spot on anterolateral portion of abdominal ventrite 3; setae semierect and somewhat dense on prosternum.

Head with front slightly convex from above, with weak transverse depression above epistorma, surface weakly rugose and shagreeened, finely longitudinally rugose above; epistoma 1/3 as wide as distance between inner margins of eyes, transversely carinate between middle of antennal insertions and above ventral margin, ventral margin weakly emarginate, eyes large, oval; antennae elongate, nearly reaching posterior angles of pronotum, serrate from antennomere 4, antennomeres 4–11 triangular, 4 more narrowly so.

Pronotum distinctly narrower than elytra at posterior margin, with sides nearly straight, broadening slightly; when viewed from side marginal carina nearly straight and submarginal carina undulate, separated for anterior 4/5, rather widely so beyond middle; from above anterior margin emarginate at sides then produced as narrowly rounded lobe; basal margin weakly angulately emarginate at middle of each elytron, very shallowly emarginate before scutellum; anterior portion of disc with weak transverse depression before apex and moderately deep transverse depression at basal 1/3, deeper and narrower anterior to scutellum and at posterior angles, and more broadly so at margins than at middle; prehumeral carinae very fine, parallel and close to margin for 3/4 length of pronotum; disc finely rugose. Scutellum shagreened, pentagonal, broadly acuminate behind, with strong transverse carina.

Elytra broadest at humeri, lateral margins weakly emarginate to middle, then narrowing to apices, apices narrowly rounded-angulate and denticulate; each elytron with triangular-oval depression at base and short raised area along suture posterior to basal depression, disc weakly costate for 1/3 length anterior to middle; surface finely imbricate throughout.

Prosternum with sides of prosternal process weakly narrowing between coxae to rounded-triangular apex; prosternal lobe weakly emarginate. Metacoxal plate with posterior margin nearly straight, upper exterior angle slightly obtuse. Abdomen with suture between ventrites 1 and 2 clearly indicated at sides, dorsal portion of ventrite 1 slightly broader behind and visible from above, dorsal portions of ventrites 2–5 very narrow. All legs with femora with 2–3 small acute teeth on ventral; metatarsomere 1–1/2 length of metatibia, longer than 2–4 combined, tarsal claws similar on all tarsi, cleft with shorter acute inner tooth. Genitalia as in Fig. 43.

Allotype female: As male, including front yellowish green, but prosternum with sparse short recumbent setae, femora black, 6.25 mm long

Type material. Holotype: Honduras: Olancho, 9 km N San Francisco de la Paz, 14 June 1997, R. Cave ( USNM). Paratypes: Same data as holotype ( USNM, CHAH). Allotype: Costa Rica: Puntarenas, Monteverde Biol. Station, ca. 4500’, 28.V–1.VI.94, Rifkind, Gum, cloud forest ( CLBC).

Etymology. Named for Ron Cave, the collector of three of the known specimens.

Discussion. The left antenna of the holotype is missing antennomeres 3–11. Agrilus cavei is very close to A. basalis , less so to A. nevermanni , A. alajuelensis and A. incredulus . Both A. cavei and A. basalis lack the strong post-humeral ridge on the elytra, the small deep depression dorsal to the epistoma, and have less sharply angulate and dentate elytral apices than A. nevermanni . Agrilus cavei possesses more extensive short, uniform white setae in the posterior angles of the pronotum than in other species in the basalis group. Additionally, the A. cavei female has a green front, whereas that of A. nevermanni is bright red. The three males measure 5.25–5.75 mm long (mean = 5.53 mm).

PLATE 5, FIGURES 41–49. Fly-mimicking Agrilus : A. cavei , n. sp.: holotype, figs. 41 43, dorsal, lateral, aedeagus; A. punctatissimus Waterhouse , holotype, fig. 44; A. nevermanni Fisher : figs. 45 47 dorsal, lateral, aedeagus; A. alajuelensis , n. sp.: holotype, figs. 48 49 dorsal, lateral; Scale bars = 1.0 mm.