Psalidognathus cerberus, Santos-Silva & Komiya, 2012

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Komiya, Ziro, 2012, Contribution towards the knowledge of Psalidognathus Gray, 1831 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (247), pp. 1-28 : 19-20

Psalidognathus cerberus sp. nov.

( Fig. 27-30 )

Psalidognathus erythrocerus erythrocerus ; Komiya 2003: figs. 16, 17 (male, female).

Diagnosis. Psalidognathus cerberus sp. nov. is similar to P. onorei , but differs: distance between upper ocular lobes less than width of one lobe; protibiae not strongly enlarged around middle, and not distinctly narrowed near apex. In P. onorei the distance between upper ocular lobes is at least 1.5 times the width of one lobe, and the protibiae are strongly enlarged around middle and distinctly narrowed near apex.

Description. Male ( Fig. 27, 29, 30 ). Integument brown; head, mandibles, palpi, antennomeres, pronotum and legs blackish brown, middle part of pronotum, apical half of antennae and protibiae less blackish; elytra reddish brown, apical margin of scutellum and suture dark brown.

Dorsal surface of head ( Fig. 30 ) rugosely confluently punctate-granulate, sparse hairs; cephalic carinae vermiculate-punctate, in dorsal view, starting from inner edges of antennal tubercles, slightly narrowed at line of eyes, extending sub-parallel to just beyond the middle of head, then slightly widened and connected with conical tubercles; carinae, in lateral view, sub-uniformly high in apical four fifths and triangularly elevated at posterior end; in front view, looking like a pair of equilateral triangles with acute and externally pointing apices. Area between carinae longitudinally concave but not sulcate. Area behind eyes smoother than vertex. Eyes not strongly bulging, slightly convex from lateral margin of head, in dorsal view about 2.4 times as wide as long; distance between upper ocular lobes about 0.8 times as wide as lobe. Antennal tubercles coarsely confluently punctate and narrowly shiny near apices, strongly triangularly elevated towards antennal insertion. Clypeus sparsely punctate with fine punctures; pilosity short and sparse. Labrum smooth, strongly lower at apical half; pilosity short and sparse. Head with distinct conical lateral tubercles, covered with irregular and large granules. Genal apex not elongated, pointed apically. Hypostomal sclerite finely punctate; pilosity rather long and not dense. Jugular process obtuse.

Mandible ( Fig. 30 ) about 1.1 times as long as head, moderately curved downward and inward, thick and broad at base, steeply narrowed at basal fourth and then gradually becoming flatter and thinner apicad; external side rounded and internal side edged along internal margin except: coarsely and confluently punctate on basal half, gradually becoming more finely and sparsely towards apices except on edge parts which are smooth and shiny; each mandible furnished with three teeth, an obtuse one very close to base and another larger one sub-connectedly near to first one; the third one the largest, placed at about middle. Maxillary palpi 1.1 times as long as mandible, apices of palpomeres II and III club-formed, palpomere 4 sub-flattened, obliquely truncate and with angle rounded, furnished with a short elongated fovea on upper side near external margin. Labial palpi 0.8 times as long as maxillary, palpomeres II and III similarly formed to maxillary palpomeres III and IV.

Antenna about as long as body; apical corners of antennomeres III-VIII more or less angular but not acute nor spined; scape attaining middle of head, enlarged towards apex and narrowed to antennal insertion, covered with coarse punctures and with rough granules on inner lateral surface; antennomere III about 2.2 times as long as scape, antennomere 4 slightly longer than scape, antennomeres IV-X gradually decreasing length from base to apex, antennomere XI as long as V; antennomeres II-V sparsely punctate and antennomere III coarsely granulate underside; antennomeres III-XI with longitudinal sulci, the longest one running along the underside from apical third of antennomeres III-XI, the second one running on dorso-internal side from apical fourth of antennomeres V-XI, the third one slender and irregular, accompanied by several carina and running on dorsal side from antennomere VII-XI, and fourth one running external side at apical sixth of antennomere III and from apical half of antennomere IV-XI; margins of sulci edged; punctate parts of antennae shiny, sulcate parts matte throughout and without any punctures.

Pronotum rugose throughout, subglabrous but very sparsely scattered with short hairs on lateral parts; posterior and anterior margin well elevated and fringed with erect and abundant pilosity; lateral margins with three large wide teeth and a short tooth on basal angle; anterior tooth distinctly projected forward beyond anterior margin of pronotum. Prosternal process strongly convex at middle, but not keeled. Scutellum semicircular, about twice as wide as long, subglabrous with middle part flat and densely punctate. Elytra shiny, deeply, densely, confluently and somewhat vermiculate-punctate throughout, but punctures gradually becoming finer towards apices; with short and acute spines on humeri; sutural ends with short but distinct spines. Metasternum finely punctate, thinly covered with long hairs. Ventrites I- IV glabrous and very finely punctate. Ventrite V finely punctate and covered with long and thick pilosity that is short and sparse basally and very long and thick apically.

Profemora densely and coarsely puncto-granulate on dorsal side, longitudinally flattened on underside, where sparsely fringed with small teeth and setae; meso- and metafemora finely and sparsely punctate. Protibiae gradually enlarged on ventral side, forming distinct swelling between basal third and apical fifth, suddenly narrowed and constricted at about apical fifth and then enlarged again apicad; very sparsely punctate; thickly pilose on swelling and pilosity gradually becoming sparser both basad and apicad. Apices of meso- and metatarsomeres I-III distinctly spinose.

Female ( Fig. 28 ). Body broader than in males. Mandibles shorter than head (about 0.8 times). Distance between upper ocular lobes about 1.8 times width of one lobe. Cephalic carinae similar to those of males, but more distance between them, subparallel from base to apex, and with the apex less pronounced. Antennae reach apical third of elytra; scape surpasses posterior edge of eyes; antennomere III about 1.9 times longer than scape. Pronotum as in males. Elytral lateral margins slightly divergent from base to middle, and convergent towards apex (slightly rounded from base to apex); apex slightly rounded, almost truncate; sutural angle without spine; sculpture somewhat coarser than in males. Fore tibiae not expanded on inner margin of apical half.

Dimensions in mm (male/female). Total length (including mandibles), 44.0-60.0/41.0-62.7; length of prothorax, 5.0-7.0/4.0-9.7; width of prothorax between the apices of the anterior angles, 12.0-17.0/10.0- 20.2; width of prothorax between the apices of the posterior angles, 8.0-12.0/8.0-17.0; humeral width, 13.0-29.0/14.0-24.0; elytral length, 27.0-35.0/27.0-41.2. Total length of the holotype, 49.4 mm.

Etymology. Κερβερος, the species name, was taken from Greek mythology, a three headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades. It was said that this dog has very robust forelegs and the peculiarly formed protibiae of this species gave us that image, although this species does not have three heads. Greek: male.

Type material. Holotype male from COLOMBIA, Huila: Gigante , IV.1974, [no collector indicated] ( MZSP) . Paratypes – South America (no further data), 2 males, about 1975 ( DHPC). COLOMBIA, Huila: Gigante , male, III.1973, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO) ; female, IV.1974, [no collector indicated] ( MZSP) ; male, V.1974, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO) ; male, VI.1974, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO) ; male, I-II.1982, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO). Madgalena: Putomayo, female, IV.1977, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO). ECUADOR, Sucumbíos: La Bonita , female, XII.2000, [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO). Caquetá: male, III.1975 [no collector indicated] ( ZKCO) ; male, 16.VI.1975, [no collector indicated] ( DHPC) ; 2 females, 27.VI.1975, [no collector indicated] ( DHPC) ; 1 male, 1 female, XI.1979, [no collector indicated] ( DHPC). Boyacá: Muzo , male, 5.II.1976, [no collector indicated] ( DHPC) .

Figures

Figure 25-30. Dorsal habitus. 25) Psalidognathus rufescens, holotype male. 26) P. rufescens, female. 27) P. cerberus sp. nov., holotype male. 28) P. cerberus sp. nov., paratype female. 29) P. cerberus sp. nov., paratype male. 30) P. cerberus sp. nov., paratype male, head. Photos 25 and 26 by Ivo Jeniš.