Neoregostoma giesberti, Clarke, Robin O. S., 2007

Clarke, Robin O. S., 2007, New Species Of Rhinotragini And Heteropsini And A Note On Trachelissa Maculicollis (Trachyderini) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 47 (11), pp. 153-158 : 154-155

Neoregostoma giesberti sp. nov.

( Figs. 1, 2 )

Etymology: This new species is dedicated to the memory of Edmund F. Giesbert whose study of the Bolivian Cerambycidae was unprovidentially cut short.

Male: General colour: orange and black. Head, most of prothorax, underside and legs orange. Head behind and between superior lobes with black crescent. Antennal segments I-IV shining black, V-VII dull black, VIII-XI dull orange. Pronotum with black band to either side of centre, each band running from front margin almost to hind margin, narrow at front, widest at middle. Elytra and scutellum black, elytron with orange spots: a circular spot adjacent to scutellum but not reaching humerus or suture; an irregularly rounded spot centred on boundary of basal/middle third, not reaching suture, with oblique extension towards epipleur; a wide band excised at middle of front and hind borders on apical third, forming a transverse, W-shaped band across both elytra, including epipleurs and suture.

General puncturation: heavy on dorsad, pro- and mesosterna less so, legs, metasternum and urosternites impunctate, or almost so. Head between eyes, vertex, and genae closely punctate and somewhat carinate; frons strongly sulcate; sulci smooth but irregular, mostly parallel but also dividing and joining to cut off rounded, punctate areas. Pronotum covered with dense, large, deep, alveolate punctures, some on basal third of pronotum with very short setae; surface smooth and shining, centre of pronotum with elongate smooth area on basal half. Elytral punctures similar to pronotum, on apical half many anastomised into rows; interstices, humeri and adjacent epipleurs smooth and shining. Underside irregularly punctured: pro- and mesosternum reticulate, prosternum, mesepisternum and metepisternum with moderately large, shallow punctures. Mesosternum finely and densely punctured (20x); metasternum smooth and shining with scattered punctures, on metepimeron these closer; urosternites devoid of punctures, except urosternite V with small patch of fine, dense, pubescent punctures at middle of apex.

General pubescence: mostly fine, short on genae, antennae and parts of sterna; dense at centre of prosternum, mesosternum (and their processes) and narrow band to either side of metasternal suture; especially long and dense on mesepimeron.

General form: elongate, head strongly rostrate; eyes large, inferior lobes half as long as genae, separated by their own width; superior lobes with 11-12 rows of fine ommatidia, separated by almost three times their own width.

Antennae relatively short, reaching middle of elytra. Segments I-IV cylindrical or subcylindrical, scape and pedicel glabrous with large punctures and smooth interstices, III-IV subglabrous with dense irregular punctures; V-X wider, subserrate, densely clothed with short pubescence. Scape one quarter shorter than antennomere III, III almost twice as long as IV, IV slightly shorter than V.

Pronotum convex, disc depressed, slightly transverse, front margin narrower than hind margin; sides rounded, widest at middle, basal fifth strongly declivous with small fossa adjacent to hind angle.

Elytra subconvex, depressed, slightly expanded from middle to apices, exposing apical tergite; with costa from humerus to apex, partially erased by heavy punctures; apices rounded with small blunt tooth at sutural angle. Scutellum rounded with shallow sulcus at middle, microscopically punctate-reticulate (40x).

Underside: prosternal process arched, one third as wide as coxal cavity, triangular apex large. Mesosternal declivity strong, sternal process parallel sided with bilobed apex, base half as wide as coxal cavity. Metasternum large, convex with complete longitudinal suture. Abdomen strongly convex, widest at base, urosternites decreasing in size from base to apex.

Legs: orange; strongly pedunculate and clavate, peduncle short on profemur, longer on mesofemur, and longest on metafemur; femora smooth, shining, almost impunctate, with small band of punctures encircling apices, most developed on profemora where these punctures alveolate.

Female: more robust, wider and less elongate in appearance; urosternites suffused dusky; inferior lobes separated by twice their own width; antennae more robust and shorter, just passing basal third of elytra, and colour distribution variable; pronotum more transverse.

Measurements (mm), male/female respectively: total length 10,5-11,9/11,8-12,5, length of pronotum 2,0-2,4/2,3-2,5, width of pronotum 2,1-2,5/2,4-2,8, length of elytra 6,2-7,4/7,2-7,5, width at humeri 2,5-2,9/2,7-3,2.

Type material: Holotype male, BOLIVIA, Santa Cruz: Hotel Flora & Fauna, 5 km SSE of Buena Vista, 17°29’96”S/63°39’13”W, 430 m, 1.V.2005, R. Clarke & S. Zamalloa col., specimen 1A in coitus with specimen 1B, on flower of “Bejuco hoja lanuda” ( MNKM) . Paratypes. All 23 paratypes bear the same data as the holotype unless otherwise stated. 2 males 20.IV.2005 ( DZUP); 2 males 21.IV.2005 ( FSCA); 2 males 23.IV.2005 ( MCNZ); 2 males 26.IV.2006 ( MNHN); 1 female 1.V.2005 specimen 1B in coitus with specimen 1A ( MNKM); 1 male 14.V.2005 specimen 3A in coitus with 3B, 1 female 14.V.2005 specimen 3B in coitus with 3A, 2 males 21.IV.2005 ( MNRJ); 1 male 2.V.2005 specimen 2A in coitus with 2B, 1 female 2.V.2005 specimen 2B in coitus with 2A, 2 males 21.IV.2005 ( MZSP); 1 male 20.IV.2005, 5 males 21.IV.2005 ( RCSZ).

All twenty-four examples of Neoregostoma giesberti sp. nov. were netted as they approached, or rested on the flowers and stems of the vine Gouania mollis Reissek ( RHAMNACEAE ), known locally by the name “Bejuco hoja lanuda”, in transition Chiquitano Forest.

Comment: Neoregostoma giesberti could probably be placed in its own genus, but it seems more prudent to avoid this pending revision of this genus, together with Rhinotragus Germar, 1824 , Erythroplatys White , 1855 and Oregostoma Audinet-Serville, 1833 , genera characterised by somewhat tenuous criteria.

Figures

FIGURAS 1-8: 1-2. Neoregostoma giesberti sp. nov., paratypes, 1. male, 2. female; 3-4. Erythropterus boliviensis sp. nov., paratypes, 3. male, 4. female; 5-6. Erythropterus kochi sp. nov., paratypes, 5. male, 6. female, 7-8. Trachelissa maculicollis (Audinet-Serville, 1834), 7. normal form, 8. melanic form.