Dorynota (Dorynota) aculeata ( Boheman, 1854 )

Simões, Marianna V. P. & Sekerka, Lukáš, 2015, Review of the Neotropical Leaf Beetle SubgenusDorynota s. str. Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Dorynotini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 69 (2), pp. 231-254 : 232-234

Dorynota (Dorynota) aculeata ( Boheman, 1854) ( Figs. 1–2 , 44 )

Batonota aculeata Boheman, 1854: 170 (type locality: ‘Insula St. Domingo’ [= Hispaniola]).

Batanota pubescens Blake, 1939: 234 (type locality: ‘Constanza, Dom. [inican] Rep. [ublic]’). New synonymy.

Type Material. Batonota aculeata , lectotype (designated by Borowiec 1999), pinned: ‘Domingo. [w, p] ∥ Mhn. [w, p, cb] ∥ Type. [w, p, cb] ∥ LEC- TOTYPE ∣ des. L. Borowiec [r, p, cb]’ ( SMNH) ; Paralectotype, pinned: ‘Domin ∣ go. [w, p, s] ∥ Mhm. [w, p, cb] ∥ NHRS-JLKB ∣ 000020989 [w, p, cb] ∥ PARALECTOTYPE ∣ des. L. Borowiec [r, p, cb]’ ( SMNH). Batonota pubescens , holotype, pinned: ‘ Constanza ∣ Aug. ’38, Dom.Rep. ∣ 3–4000ft ∣ Darlington [w, p, cb] ∥ MCZ ∣ Type No 23634 [r, cb, hw] ∥ M.C.Z. ∣ Type ∣ 23634 [r, p, cb] ∥ Batonota ∣ pubescens ∣ type Blake [cb, hw]’ ( MCZ).

Additional Material Examined (13). Without additional locality data: (1 specimen, DBET; 1 specimen, MZH) ; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: St. Domingo 1 (2 specimens, MMUE; 3 specimens, MZH) , 1985, A. Salle (4 specimens, MNHN) ; HAITI: without additional locality data: (1 specimen, DBET) ; Port-au-Prince : East Pétionville, 24. V.1973 (1 specimen, DBET) .

Diagnosis. Dorynota aculeata is a very distinctive species, as it is among the two species of the

1 We included these specimens under Dominican Republic, however, they were not necessarily collected in the capital Santo Domingo. In the past, the island of Hispaniola was referred to as ‘Insula Santo Domingo’, not only the capital, as it is today.

subgenus possessing a triangular scutellum, the second one being Dorynota ohausi ( Spaeth, 1916) . It has coarse punctation with finely punctate elytral intervals as in Dorynota hastifera ( Spaeth, 1923) , D. parallela Blanchard, 1846 , and D. pugionata . However, these differ by possessing wider intervals among the punctation and the intervals not or only weakly costate, while D. aculeata presents narrow and costate intervals.

Remarks. Boheman (1854) described B. aculeata based on an unknown number of specimens. However, he must have had at least two, as he listed a length span. Blake (1939) described D. pubescens based on 16 specimens collected in Constanza, Dominican Republic and compared it to D. aculeata described from Hispaniola. She probably had not examined the type specimens of D. aculeata , and her comparative notes were based on the original description. Blake (1939) used the dorsal color, presence or absence of elytral pubescence, and form of the elytral sculpture as the primary distinguishing characters between the species. As its name suggests, pubescence of the elytra is particularly distinct, and this was probably the main reason why she described D. pubescens , as Boheman’ s (1854) description does not mention this feature.

We examined the type series of both nominal taxa as well as 13 additional specimens and found them to be conspecific. We observed great variability in body color, pubescence, distribution, and elytral ridging in the examined series of both taxa. The dorsal color ranges from yellowish brown to dark red, with punctures always darker than the background dorsal color. The pro-, meso-, metasterna and abdomen are always darker than the distal portion of the legs, ranging from blackish red with legs yellow distally to blackish brown with legs yellowish brown distally. The pubescence varies with the conservation of the specimen, being more conspicuous and distinct in well-preserved material than in older specimens. Both types of D. aculeata possess short but clearly seen elytral pubescence. We have also observed that freshly eclosed specimens of many Dorynota species have more conspicuous pubescence than older ones. The sculpture of the elytra is similar in both taxa, with the punctation becoming more irregular on the second half of the disc.

Based on the examined material, we consider the assigned characteristics by Blake (1939) to differentiate the two taxa as constituting intraspecific variation. Thus, we synonymize D. pubescens with D. aculeata .

Distribution. Dominican Republic (La Vega, Santo Domingo) and Haiti (Port-au-Prince) (Borowiec and Świętojańska 2014) ( Fig. 44 ).

Figures

Figs. 1–8. Dorynota (s. str.) species. 1) D. aculeata, paralectotype, dorsal view; 2) D. aculeata, paralectotype, lateral view and labels; 3) D. aurita from Mexico (Durango), dorsal view; 4) D. aurita, lateral view; 5) D. bidens from Brazil (Minas Gerais), dorsal view; 6) D. bidens, lateral view; 7) D. borowieci, holotype, dorsal view; 8) D. borowieci, lateral view.

Fig. 44. Geographic distribution of five Dorynota (s. str.) species.