Methicula Chemsak and Linsley, 1971

Santos-Silva, Antonio, Nascimento, Francisco Eriberto de L. & Botero, Juan Pablo, 2023, Taxonomy of Oemini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), with key to American genera, notes and new taxa, Journal of Natural History 57 (41 - 44), pp. 1917-1948 : 1941-1945

Methicula Chemsak and Linsley, 1971

( Figures 72–85 )

Methicula Chemsak and Linsley, 1971: 117 ; Monné 1993: 8 (cat.); Monné 2005: 416 (cat.); Monné 2012: 40; 2023: 628 (cat.).

Abaiba Martins and Napp, 2007: 193 ; Monné 2012: 34; 2023: 499 (cat.). syn. n. According to Chemsak and Linsley (1971: 117) on Methicula :

We have tentatively placed this genus into the Methiini on the basis of the head structure and conical front coxae. The short tufted antennal segments, shape of pronotum, and pedunculate femora are unlike other methiines but the specimen cannot be readily placed into any other tribe of Cerambycinae .

In 1971, Oemini Lacordaire 1868 was considered a junior synonym of Methiini Thomson, 1860 . Martins and Carvalho (1984) considered Oemini to be different from Methiini . According to them, Methiini included the following genera: Methia Newman, 1842 ; Styloxus LeConte, 1873 ; Tessaropa Haldeman, 1847 (now synonymous with Methia ); Coleomethia Linsley, 1940 ; and Paratessaropa Zajciw, 1957 . Probably due to this list, Monné (1993) considered the other American genera previously included in Methiini as belonging to Oemini , which included Methicula . According to Martins and Carvalho (1984), Methiini has subacuminate ultimate palpomeres, elytra usually reduced, and female abdominal terminalia with radular form; Oemini has subsecuriform ultimate palpomeres, elytra rarely reduced, and female abdominal terminalia without radular form. As the holotype of the type species of Methicula is a female, and the abdominal terminalia is not radula-shaped, the genus cannot belong to Methiini .

Methicula was omitted in the revision of South American Oemini by Martins (1997). Currently, this genus is included in Oemina (eg Tavakilian and Chevillotte 2022; Monné 2023). According to Chemsak and Linsley (1971), the eyes are finely granulated, which would include the genus in Methioidina , and the lower eye lobes are large, which would include the genus in Oemina .

According to Martins and Napp (2007) (translated) on Abaiba : ′ Abaiba gen. n. is included in Necydalopsini for presenting to define the tribe: frons almost vertical and quadrangular; procoxae conical; procoxal cavities non-angular laterally; mesocoxal cavities closed laterally; metaventrite inflated; metanepisternum wide, with curved inner margin; metacoxae subcontiguous; abdomen cylindrical (males); and femora pedunculate; features used by Lacordaire (1868) to define the tribe. In fact, Lacordaire (1868, p. 552) provided those features, but they have been wrongly interpreted, especially regarding distance between the metacoxae (see Figures 81, 86 , and 87). According to him (translated):

Of all the Cerambycidae groups, the latter [ Necydalopsini ] is the only one which at the same time presents conical procoxae, without any trace of external angulosity, mesocoxal cavities closed laterally, and contiguous metacoxae like those of Dorcasomini . The first two of these features are found in the Phalotini, but not the third, which is extremely rare in Cerambycidae . It includes only the two following genera which are from South America [ Necydalopsis Blanchard, 1851 , and Sthelenus Buquet, 1859 ].

Currently, Necydalopsini includes genera which do not have the three features highlighted by Lacordaire, especially the distance between metacoxae. Apparently, these genera belong to more than one tribe. It is beyond the scope of this work to define Necydalopsini but it is important to report that the features pointed out by Lacordaire separating Rhinotragini from Necydalopsini are not useful (they also occur together in the former). For now we are keeping Abaiba in Necydalopsini , until a full revision of the tribe is done, especially because the procoxal cavities are not widely open laterally, which occurs in Oemini .

Comparing the paratype female of Abaiba dimorphica with the holotype female of Methicula dimidiata , we found no reliable difference. Therefore, the former is synonymised with the latter. As often occurs in species of Cerambycidae with yellow and black elytra, they may be entirely black, entirely yellow, or partially black and partially yellow.

Figures

Figures 72–79. (72–75) Methicula dimidiata Chemsak and Linsley, 1971, holotype female: (72) dorsal habitus; (73) ventral habitus; (74) labels; 75) Pronotum. (76–79) Abaiba dimorphica, paratype female: (76) head, frontal view; (77) dorsal habitus; (78) ventral habitus; (79) lateral habitus.

Figures 80–87. (80–84) Abaiba dimorphica, paratype male: (80) dorsal habitus; (81) meso- and metathorax, ventral view; (82) prosternum; (83) head, frontal view; (84) pronotum. (85) Abaiba dimorphica, paratype female, prothorax, lateral view. (86–87) Abdominal intercoxal process: (86) Necydalopsis trizonata Blanchard, 1851, male; (87) Sthelenus ichneumoneus Buquet, 1859, male.