Brachiacantha guatemalensis (Gorham) Nestor-Arriola & Toledo-Hernández & Solís & González & Větrovec, 2021

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

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1024.56927
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FDD37EA9-9121-4385-B67D-51AD313CB49E
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/80AC62FC-D136-5EDB-B356-671BBD010D61
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Brachiacantha guatemalensis (Gorham)
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

Brachiacantha guatemalensis (Gorham) comb. nov. Figures 9 View Figures 9–12 , 56-58 View Figures 56–58

Hyperaspis guatemalensis Gorham, 1894: 200, tab. XI, fig. 10.

Material examined.

Guatemala • 1♂; Yepocapa ; 01 May 1948; H. T. Palmat leg. (USNMNH) .

Diagnosis.

Length 3 mm, width 2.4 mm; body rounded, convex. Dorsal color black, pronotum with lateral angles and anterior border yellow, each elytron with an irregular yellow macula covering from the humeral angle to the posterior border (Fig. 9 View Figures 9–12 ). Ventral surface with head, prosternum and metaventrite black; abdomen yellow except the center of ventrites I-III black; legs, mouthparts, and antennae yellow. Carinae on prosternal process parallel, convergent near the anterior margin of prosternum, not joined. Protibia not flanged, basal tooth small. Ventrites I-IV truncate at apex; ventrites V and VI emarginated and depressed. Male abdomen with several ventrites truncate at center. Genitalia with penis guide as long as parameres, symmetrical, sides slightly convergent, apex truncate (Fig. 58 View Figures 56–58 ); parameres parallel sided, apex rounded, setae rising from the apex border long and curved; penis curved in basal ½, apex with subtriangular alae, basal capsule not crested, inner arm of basal capsule long and slender (Figs 56 View Figures 56–58 , 57 View Figures 56–58 ).

Female. Unknown.

Variation.

Unknown.

Distribution.

Guatemala.

Discussion.

This species is easily identifiable by the dorsal black coloration with elytral and pronotal margins yellow. The specimen examined was identified following the description and illustrations of Gorham (1894) as Hyperaspis guatemalensis . Nevertheless, this species has all the diagnostic characters of Brachiacantha , including the tibial tooth, lack of large abdominal pores and eye emarginated by the eye canthus; in addition, there are several species of Hyperaspis with coloration similar to H. limbalis Casey and H. caseyi Gordon, but the individual examined presents all the external characteristics, size and distribution of H. guatemalensis . Therefore, a new combination is proposed. Several species described by Gorham have been reassigned into other genera due taxonomic revisions ( Gordon 1981); about the genus Hyperaspis there are several examples: H. pauperula was reassigned to Calloeneis , H. adelaia is considered now as a synonym of Cyrea tessulata (Mulsant) and H. terminata was reassigned to Serratitibia ( Canepari et al. 2016; Gordon 1981; Gordon et al. 2013). According the present evidence H. guatemalensis should be reassigned to Brachiacantha , but an examination of the type material is needed to ensure the taxonomic identity with the material examined here.