Cylindridia prolixa (L e C o n t e)

Prena, Jens, 2006, A preliminary study Cylindridia with descriptions of new species from Middle America (Coleóptera: Baridinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 56 (1), pp. 189-198 : 192-193

Cylindridia prolixa (L e C o n t e)

Centrinus prolixus L e C o n t e 1876-317. C a s e y 1892-643 (placed in Limnobaris)-, C a s e y 1920-493 (placed in Cylindridia)

Limnobaris nitidissima C a s e y 1892-644. C a s e y 1920-493 (placed in Cylindridia)-, new synonymy Cylindridia perexilis C a s e y 1920-493. C a s e y 1892-644 (specimen mentioned under L. prolixa)-, new synonymy

C ylindridia sim ulator C a s e y 1920-493. C a s e y 1892-644 (specimens mentioned under L. prolixa); new synonymy

Redescription: Fig. 4-8 . Total length 2.3-4.1 mm, standard length 2.2-3.8 mm, derm dark aeneous (occasionally bluish or greenish iridescent), with light-colored hairs particularly on flank, antenna and tarsi often (legs and rostrum occasionally) more-or-less brown, male with prosternai spines red; rostrum as long as (male) or longer (female) than pronotum, evenly curved in both sexes, lamellar process ventrad of antennal insertion not angularly projecting; antennal club moderate, approximately as long as distal five funicular segments combined; pronotum almost as long as wide, sides subparallel, constricted apically and tubulate in front; sides of aedeagus convex, apex blunt, body of aedeagus and apodemes of equal length, internal sac finely asperate, 1.5x longer than apodemes, minute basal sclerite present as lateral reinforcement of duct, tegmen with parameres slightly shorter than basal apodem; male sternite 9 with distal appendices moderately unequal.

Distribution: United States and adjacent southern Canada (Nova Scotia, Québec, Ontario, Manitoba) east of Rocky Mountain range [based on C h a g n o n (1917), O ’B r i e n & W ib m e r (1982), M a jk a et al. (ms) and material of CM NC, CNCI, CW OB, JPPC, NMNH, N SM C, QMOR]

Plant association: Cyperaceae: Carex sp. (Observations: A s k e v o l d in Manitoba, P r e n a in Vermont); occasionally visiting flowers of dicotyledonous plants, such as Eupatorium perfoliatum and Taenidia integerrima (H il t y 2005)

Discussion: M y study of more than 100 specimens (CM NC, CNCI, CW OB, JPPC, NMNH) from numerous collecting sites showed, that dry-mounted material looses its metallic sheen over time and exhibits generally a dull brownish tinge instead. This circumstance may explain partially the 1892 establishment of C. nitidissima (1 female) from Galveston, Texas. More recently collected material from Texas (CM N C, coll. R. A n d e r s o n) corroborates the synonymy with C. prolixa. Cylindridia similis (1 male, 3 females) and C. parexilis (1 female) were described from a single series collected by W ic k h a m at Greeley, Colorado (C a s e y 1920, p. 6 4 4), and lie within the variability of the material from elsewhere. The length of the male prosternai spines is variable and probably affected by the conditions imposed by the host plant and the environmental settings.

Figures

Fig: 4-20: Male genitalia and associated structures. 4-8, C. prolixar. 4-5, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral; 6, tegmen; 7-8, sternites 8 and 9. 9-11, C. propinqua-. 9-10, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral; 11, basal sclerite. 12-15, C. rubripes-. 12-14, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral (13, high-elevation form from Villa Mills, 3000 m); 15, basal sclerite. 16-20, C.fiiscipes: 16-17, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral; 18, tegmen; 19-20, sternites 8 and 9. Scale bars 0.25 mm, 11 and 15 scaled by factor 3.