Ootheca frontalis Laboissière, 1923

Kortenhaus, Sabine & Wagner, Thomas, 2010, Revision of Ootheca Chevrolat, 1837 from tropical Africa — redescriptions, descriptions of new species and identification key (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae), Zootaxa 2659, pp. 1-52 : 35-37

Ootheca frontalis Laboissière, 1923

( Figs 21 , 51–54 )

Ootheca frontalis Laboissière, 1923: 183 . = Ootheca tinantae Laboissière, in litteris.

Total length. 4.70–5.95 mm (mean: 5.28 mm; n = 12; Fig. 51 ).

Head. Reddish-, rarely yellowish-brown, vertex darker. Antennae: basal four to six antennomeres same colour as head, others dark brown; length ratios: second to third antennomere 0.55–0.73 (mean: 0.65); third to fourth antennomere 0.75–1.00 (mean: 0.87; Fig. 52 ). Maximal width of eye to minimal distance between eyes 0.46–0.60 (mean: 0.54).

Thorax. Pronotum: brownish-red to brown, finely punctuated, latero-basal impression usually very distinct; width 1.90–2.40 mm (mean: 2.15 mm); length 1.15–1.40 mm (mean: 1.28 mm); width to length ratio 1.60–1.80 (mean: 1.68). Elytra black; punctuation much coarser than that of pronotum, distinctly seriate along suture giving elytra slightly striped appearance; length 3.35–4.47 mm (mean: 4.29 mm); maximal width of elytra together 2.80–3.60 mm (mean: 3.28); width of elytra together to length of elytra ratio 0.72–0.81 (mean: 0.76). Scutellum, meso- and metathorax light to dark brown. Legs dark brown to black, femoral apex and base of tibia and distal three tarsomeres reddish-brown, femora sometimes paler than tibiae; length ratio of basimetatarsus to metatibia 0.21–0.26 (mean: 0.23).

Abdomen. Yellowish- to dark brown.

Male genitalia. Median lobe slender, parallel-sided, rounded, with shallow apical incision. In lateral view evenly curved ventrally. Tectum consists of two robust tectorial spurs nearly as along as median lobe, and display peculiar curvature. Apex of endophallic brush free and clearly visible, endophallic structures symmetrically arranged with two slightly curved spines and group of bristles ( Fig. 53 ).

Diagnosis. Very similar to bicolourous specimens of O. mutabilis , O. bennigseni , O. orientalis , O. eddae sp. n. and O. tilmani sp. n. that all show a more or less strong overlap in morphometrics. A good character to differentiate O. frontalis from these species is the seriate punctuation along the elytral suture. This character only occurs in one other species, O. chapuisi , which is smaller (total length 3.64–5.04 mm; O. frontalis 4.70– 5.95 mm) and male specimens longer than 4.50 mm should be checked by genital dissection.

Distribution. Only known from a few sites in the Katanga province in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Fig. 21 ).

Type material examined. Lectotype: female “N. W. Rhodesia / Type / Ootheca frontalis m. V. Laboissière - Dét. / AfriGa specimen ID 865 specimen data documented 13.XII.2006 ” ( ZMUH; Fig. 54 ). Type locality: SW-Zambia, no details available. Paralectotypes: 1 female, same data as lectotype. Laboissière mentioned “ 2 females, collection Laboissière” and a lectotype is herein designated to fix the name to a single specimen.

Additional material examined. Congo (Democratic Republic): 5 ex., Kundelungus, 10.00S / 28.00E, Mme. Tinant ( MRAC); 11 ex., Elisabethville, 11°40’S / 27°28’E, X./ XI.1927, Dr. H. S. Evans ( BMNH); 4 ex., Elisabethville, 1935, Dr. Richard ( MRAC); 4 ex., Katanga, Kifumwanshi, terr. Elisabethville, XII.1955, M. Lips ( MRAC). Two specimens from Kundelungus are labelled as type of O. tinantae by Laboissière, but to our knowledge this species was not described.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Distribution of Ootheca proteus, O. tilmani sp. n. and O. frontalis.

FIGURE 54. Lectotype of Ootheca frontalis Laboissière, 1923, a. specimen with labels, b. close-up detail of specimen.

FIGURES 51 – 53. Ootheca frontalis Laboissière, 1923. 51. Habitus, a. dorsal view, b. lateral view; 52. Antennomeres 1 – 4 of two different males and two different females; 53. Median lobe: dorsal (left), lateral (right).