Brachypnoea modesta animatoria ( Bechyné, 1953 )

Gómez-Zurita, Jesús & Maes, Jean-Michel, 2022, New Genera and Species Records of Nicaraguan Eumolpinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Including a New Species in a New Generic Record for Central America, Neotropical Entomology 51 (5), pp. 705-721 : 711

Brachypnoea modesta animatoria ( Bechyné, 1953)

( Figs. 1b , 3j , 5a )

New species record: JGZC: 2 females ( JGZC-1299 and 1313 ) and 2 males ( JGZC-1314 and 1315 ), Rivas , Sapoa, Finca Guadalupe, 11.179983 -85.6807925, 15 September 2009, J.-M. Maes leg., Brachypnoea modesta animatoria (Bech.) J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2022 .

Brachypnoea Gistel, 1848 is one of the most diverse genera of Central American Eumolpinae , also in Nicaragua, where five species were reported so far ( Maes and Staines 1991). The new specimens of Brachypnoea collected in Nicaragua belong to an informal group of species that could be characterized by small size (around 3.0 mm or less), fulvous antennae and legs, as well as the presence of tubercles and costae on the elytra of females, among other traits. A particular feature of these specimens is that they have fulvous tibiae and tarsi, but dark femora, which is a combination not that commonly seen in Brachypnoea . B. thoracica (Jacoby, 1881) and B. opacicollis (Jacoby, 1890) from Mexico show bicolor legs, but they have the antennae with apical antennomeres dark and females lack basal tubercles on elytra, and they have differences in texture and punctation of pronotum as compared to the Nicaraguan specimens ( B. thoracica is much larger too). B. boucardi ( Jacoby, 1878) from Guatemala, another species with pale tibiae and tarsi, is not that different to the insects from Nicaragua, but the species was described as having dark apical antennomeres and the type material in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, a male, possibly the holotype, shows differences in the punctation of pronotum and elytra, which also have faint apical costae, missing in the Nicaraguan males. Moreover, Bechyné (1955) subordinated B. boucardi to B. lefevrei ( Jacoby, 1878) , which in case that this was a sound assessment, it would imply that the females lack tubercles on elytra, unlike the specimens from Nicaragua. B. fulvicornis (Jacoby, 1890) from Mexico occasionally has darker femora, but this species has dull pronotum with very fine punctation, compared to the Nicaraguan specimens. Something very similar could be said for B. parvula (Jacoby, 1890) from Panama, typically having bicolor legs, but fine, dull sculpture on pronotum. However, B. parvula belongs to an unstable taxonomic complex that has experienced some changes in rank and combination, including the incorporation of traits that fit the Nicaraguan specimens. For example, Bechyné (1953) described B. parvula animatoria from Costa Rica and Guatemala, precisely highlighting the stronger punctation on pronotum of these specimens compared to typical B. parvula . Later, Bechyné (1955) subordinated B. parvula to B. modesta ( Lefèvre, 1878) , a species characterized by the presence of a tubercle posterior to the prebasal depression of elytra, present in the Nicaraguan specimens ( Fig. 1b ). Based on these considerations, we are inclined to agree with the taxonomic solution adopted by Flowers (1996), considering the combination B. modesta animatoria , where we refer our Nicaraguan specimens, thus adding an intermediate locality to the current disjunct distribution between Guatemala and Costa Rica. With the aim to assist future reanalysis of these taxa and how they relate to each other, we provide with illustrations of the male genitalia ( Fig. 3j ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 5a ).

Figures

Fig. 1 Dorsal views of some of the new records of Nicara- guan Eumolpinae in the tribe Eumolpini, including Antity- pona submetallica (Jacoby) (a), Brachypnoea modesta animato- ria (Bechyné) (b), Caryonoda funebris n. sp. (c), Chrysodi- nopsis cupriceps (Lefèvre) (d), Spintherophyta ignita (Lefèvre) (e), and S. minuta (Jacoby) (f). Scale bar=1.0 mm

Fig. 3 Lateral and dorsal apical views of the penis of Colaspis jalapae (Bechyné) (a), Chrysodinopsis cupriceps (Lefèvre) (b), Antitypona submetallica (Jacoby) (c), Rhabdopterus uncotibialis (Blake) (d), Spintherophyta minuta (Jacoby) (e), Talurus tortonesei Bechyné (f), Typophorus subbrunneus Jacoby (g), Allocolaspis grandicollis (Blake) (h), Nodocolaspis femoralis (Lefèvre) (i), Brachypnoea modesta animatoria (Bechyné) (j), and Caryonoda funebris n. sp. (k). Scale bar=0.2 mm

Fig. 5 Spermathecae of Brachypnoea modesta anima- toria (Bechyné) (a), Chrysodi- nopsis cupriceps (Lefèvre) (b), Colaspis jalapae (Bechyné) (c), Megascelis spinipes Jacoby (d), Metachroma panamense Blake (e), Nodocolaspis femoralis (Lefèvre) (f), Paria nigritar- sis Jacoby (g), Rhabdopterus uncotibialis (Blake) (h), Spintherophyta ignita (Lefèvre) (i), S. minuta (Jacoby) (j), Talurus tortonesei Bechyné (k), Typophorus apicicornis Jacoby (l), T. cyanipennis Lefèvre (m), and T. subbrunneus Jacoby (n). Scale bar=0.2 mm