Beltia tisingalita Flowers, 2018

Flowers, R. Wills, 2018, A review of the genus Beltia Jacoby (Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae: Eumolpini), with descriptions of fourteen new species from Costa Rica, Panama, and northwestern South America, Insecta Mundi 672, pp. 1-43 : 23-24

Beltia tisingalita Flowers , new species

Figures 10 , 37 , 71 , 82

Description of female holotype. Body ovate, dorsally convex; length 7.0 mm (range 6.7–8.0 mm). Head, pronotum, underside, and elytra bright metallic green; antennomeres 1–10 yellowish brown, antennomere 11 black. Legs yellowish brown ( Fig. 37 ).

Head. Frons and vertex coarsely punctate, punctures on vertex separated by distance slightly greater than their diameters, on clypeus by distance equal to their diameters; surface between punctures smooth, becoming wrinkled above eyes and on vertex; a smooth callus midway between antennal calli.

Thorax. Prothorax distinctly wider than long, L/W = 0.72; pronotum convex, strongly so in anterior third, widest behind middle; disc with punctures separated by distance greater than their diameters, surface between punctures shining. Prosternum trapezoidal, sparsely setose; posterior margin of intercoxal

process truncate, width of intercoxal process 1.17× diameter of procoxa. Mesosternum flat between coxae, surface punctate with sparse setae. Profemur with an acute ventral tooth in apical fourth ( Fig. 10 ).

Elytra. Evenly punctate, punctures separated by distance greater than their diameters; width across humeri 1.25× width across pronotum.

Abdomen. Sterna with numerous short setae, surface of segments alutaceous. Sternum VII with lateral margins weakly crenulate, emarginate apically with a low tubercle on either side of emargination. Terga with spicules very small on tergites II and III, spicules obsolete in middle of tergites.

Genitalia. Segments VIII–XI forming short ovipositor (L/W = 4.1; Fig. 71a ). Sternum VIII with long basal apodeme, slightly curved, and widened apically. Hemisternites with long, slightly curved basal rods; baculum robust, subequal in length to gonocoxae. Gonocoxae short, robust. Spermatheca with short conical receptacle ( Fig. 71b ).

Male. Unknown.

Specimens examined. (5♀) Female holotype labeled: Est. Hitoy Cerere, 100m, R. Cerere, Res. Biol. Hitoy Cerere, Prov. Limon, Costa Rica, R. Guzman, 19–29 abr 1992, L-N 184200643300//INBIOC- RI000443070 (deposited in MNCR-A). PARATYPES: COSTA RICA. Limón Prov. (1♀) COSTA RICA. Prov. Limón R.B. Hitoy Cerere, Send. Espavel 560 m, 20-JUN–9-JUL 2003, LS401200 569800 #74450// INBI0003733898 (MNCR-A). PANAMA. (1♀) Bocas del Toro, 18–20 km NE Fortuna Dam , ±2000′ May 23–26, 1984, E. Giesbert, coll ( FSCA); (2♀) Bocas d T, Prv 40 km W Chir Gnd, 10, 13 May 1999, Wappes & Morris ( USNM). Holotype deposited in MNCR-A, paratypes in MNCR-A, FSCA, USNM .

Etymology. tisingalita, Spanish , from Tisingal, the legendary emerald mines believed by the conquistadors to be in the eastern Talamancas of Costa Rica ( Fallas 2003); ita, Spanish diminutive.

Diagnosis. Beltia tisingalita most closely resembles B. nicaraguensis but can be distinguished by the pointed tooth on the profemur and the finer punctation on the pronotum.

Remarks. The Panama paratype is somewhat larger (8.0 mm) and has dark blue legs except for dark rufous bases of all femora and the undersides of meso- and metafemora. Antennal segments 10 and 11 are black. All specimens come from a relatively small region on the Atlantic side of the Talamanca mountain range on the Costa Rica–Panama border ( Fig. 82 ).

Figures

Figures 9–17. Structures of Beltia. 9) Profemur, B. nicaraguensis. 10) Profemur, B. tisingalita. 11) Pronotum, B. angustomarginata. 12) Pronotum, B. ledesmae. 13) En-face view of median lobe, B. angustomarginata. 14) Apex of abdomen, B. placidula. 15) Concave prosternum (arrow), B. ledesmae. 16) Head and pronotum, B. napoensis. 17) Male abdomen with seta patches (arrow), B. herreri.

Figures 36–41. Beltia, dorsal habitus. 36) Beltia tilarana, male. 37) Beltia tisingalita, female. 38) Beltia tsachila, female. 39) Beltia vacilona, female. 40) Beltia weyrauchi, male. 41) Beltia weyrauchi, female.

Figures 67–74. Beltia, female genitalia: a) ovipositor, ventral view; b) spermatheca. 67) Beltia osa. 68) Beltia placidula. 69) Beltia sanchezae. 70) Beltia tilarana. 71) Beltia tisingalita. 72) Beltia tsachila. 73) Beltia vacilona. 74) Beltia weyrauchi.

Figures 80–82. Distribution maps for Beltia spp.: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. 80) Beltia angustomarginata (squares), B. osa (triangles), B. vacilona (circles). 81) Beltia chiriquensis (circles), B. herreri (stars), B. nicaraguensis (hexagons). 82) Beltia sanchezae (square), B. tilarana (inverted triangles), B. tisingalita (stars).