Cyrtonota abrili Borowiec & Świetojanska

Borowiec, Lech & Świetojanska, Jolanta, 2015, Checklist of tortoise beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae) from Colombia with new data and description of a new species, ZooKeys 518, pp. 87-127 : 88-90

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Chrysomelidae

Cyrtonota abrili Borowiec & Świetojanska sp. n.

Type locality.

Colombia, Antioquia department, Envigado city, El Salado quarter, 1573 m a.s.l.

Type material.

Holotype: "Colombia, Antioquia, / Envigado El Salado / 1.573 m alt. / En: Maleza Oct-1991 / G. Abril R."; two reticulate paratypes: the same data; spotted paratype "Colombia, Antioquia, / La Estrella 1.764 m alt. / En: Piperus sp. / Abr-1985 V.A. Cortés M."; spotted paratype: "Colombia, Caldas, / Versalles / En: Pinnus patula / Jun-1991 G. Abril R." (holotype and three paratypes preserved in the Museo Entomológico UNAB, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, one paratype in the Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, Zoological Institute, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland).

Diagnosis.

Black antennae, rounded basal pronotal angles, large scutellum, indistinct sexual dimorphism, venter of pronotum without antennal grooves, short last segment of tarsi, short prosternal collar, antennae with five basal glabrous segments and antennomeres 4 and 5 approximately as long as antennomere 3 place this species in the genus Cyrtonota . Cyrtonota abrili belongs to the group of species with dorsum without metallic tint. The group was keyed by Borowiec (2007a, with a modification in 2009a) and characters of Cyrtonota abrili lead to the couplet 13:

Description.

Holotype: length 12.4 mm, width 10.6, length of pronotum 3.3 mm, width of pronotum 6.4 mm, length/width ratio 1.17, width/length ratio of pronotum 1.94; paratypes: length 11.3-13.7 mm, width 10.4-13.2 mm, length of pronotum 3.4-3.7 mm, width of pronotum 6.3-7.2 mm, length/width ratio 1.04-1.14, width/length ratio of pronotum 1.85-1.97. Body stout, elytra regularly rounded on sides, apex of elytra angulate but not elongate or acuminate (Figs 1, 3).

Pronotum and scutellum black. Ground colour of elytra black, in holotype and two paratypes disc with red reticulation in postscutellar impressions, along posterior half of suture and along posterior half of lateral margin of disc, and explanate margin of elytra in anterior third with large red, reticulate spot (Fig. 1); in two other paratypes elytral disc completely black and explanate margin of elytra in anterior third with large red spot without reticulation but with irregular borders and few dark punctures (Fig. 2). Head, antennae, legs and ventrites uniformly black, sometimes last sternite on sides with small, transverse, yellowish-brown spot.

Pronotum transverse, with maximum width approximately in the middle, sides broadly rounded, anterior margin straight or with small triangular emargination in the middle. Surface of disc dull with thin, partly shiny, median, longitudinal line and fine, shallow and very sparse punctation, distance between punctures many times wider than puncture diameter. Explanate margin of pronotum distinctly bordered from disc, on sides with short but deep impression, surface dull, similarly punctate as disc, in some specimens with fine irregular wrinkles.

Scutellum small, triangular, without transverse groove. Base of elytra much wider than pronotum, humeri moderately protruding anterad, humeral angles rounded. Disc very convex, with large but obtuse postscutellar tubercle (Figs 2, 4). Surface in reticulate specimens with thin red reticulation in postscutellar impressions partly extending to latero-basal parts of elytral tubercle, thin red reticulation along both sides of suture and along posterior part of sides of disc, the lateral reticulation joined with red reticulate spot on explanate margin. In dark specimens elytral disc without red reticulation. Dark surface of disc in dark specimens regular, in reticulate specimens slightly irregular with fine and very sparse punctation, dull, distance between punctures mostly three to four times wider than puncture diameter. Whole surface of disc covered with sparse erect setae. Explanate margin of elytra in widest part as wide as half width of disc, in reticulate specimens in anterior third with large, oval, red reticulate spot. In dark specimens the spot is mostly solid, only with irregular margin and several dark punctures but not appears distinctly reticulate. Dark surface of explanate margin regular, dull, punctate similarly as disc. Apex of elytral epipleura without erect hairs.

Ventrites typical for the genus Cyrtonota , without diagnostic characters. Genitalia not dissected, in the genus Cyrtonota male genitalia are not diagnostic, and spermathecae are not diagnostic within genera of the tribe Mesomphaliini ( Borowiec and Opalińska 2007 and unpublished data).

Etymology.

Named after the collector, G. Abril, of four of the five specimens of the type series.

Distribution.

Antioquia and Caldas departments of north-western Colombia.

Ecology.

Little known. The holotype was collected from undergrowth, one paratype on Piper sp. and another paratype on Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. but these plants are unlikely to be the true hosts because the genus Cyrtonota is associated with Convolvulaceae plants as far as is known (Borowiec and Świętojańska 2014).

Remarks.

Cyrtonota abrili is easy to identify using the key presented above. Specimens with red reticulation can be misidentified with small specimens of Cyrtonota pavens (Spaeth), and maculate specimens of the new species at first glance are similar to Cyrtonota deliciosa (Baly) but both relatives belong to the group of species with elongate or acuminate apex of elytra (couplets 2-12 in Borowiec’s (2007a) key) and both are distinctly larger with length 14-19 mm; Cyrtonota pavens differs also in elytra with out erect setae. We treated both reticulate and maculate forms as variablity of a single species because similar polymorphism is observed in other reticulate Andean Cyrtonota and Stolas species i.e. Cyrtonota bergeali Borowiec & Sassi, Stolas cruentata (Erichson) or Stolas pellicula (Spaeth). Other characters such as general body shape, size, punctation, sculpture of surface, vestiture, shape of pronotum, and elytral convexity are the same in both forms.