Corynellus elianae Santos-Silva and Wappes, 2020

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Wappes, James E., 2020, Two new species of Corynellus Bates, 1885 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), Insecta Mundi 2020 (811), pp. 1-7 : 4-7

Corynellus elianae Santos-Silva and Wappes , new species

( Fig. 7–10 )

Description. Holotype female. Head orange, except triangular black band on center of vertex close to prothorax, W-shaped dark, almost black macula on frons, which encompasses antennal tubercles, and dark brown, almost black wide band behind lower eye lobes, extending to ventral surface of head; mouthparts mostly black, with sides more yellowish-orange; antennae and most of mandibles black. Pronotum dark orange except wide central longitudinal band, from base to apex, somewhat widened posteriorly. Sides of prothorax dark orange. Prosternum dark brown laterally, forming band, which is an extension of those on head, yellowish centrally; prosternal process yellowish with sides slightly darker. Ventral surface of mesothorax dark brown almost black; mesoventral process dark orange centrally, darker brown on sides and apex. Ventral surface of metathorax dark brown centrally, blackish laterally. Scutellum black. Elytra orange except large, longitudinal black band on anterior half near suture, which does not reach base or suture, widened centrally, distinctly narrowed on its apex, and black posterior area covering the elytra (this area slightly shorter than half of elytral length) with its anterior margin irregular. Profemora with peduncle yellowish-orange and remaining surface brown; mesofemora with about anterior 2/3 of peduncle brownish, posterior third of peduncle and base of club yellowish-orange, remaining surface brown; metafemoral peduncle and base of club pale yellowish-orange, remaining surface brown. Tibiae and tarsi dark brown, almost black. Abdominal ventrite I dark reddish-brown centrally, darker anteriorly, and black posteriorly; abdominal ventrites II–IV dark reddish-brown, apex black; abdominal ventrite V dark brown, almost black.

Head. Frons coarsely confluently punctate (general appearance striated); with minute, very sparse yellowish setae. Vertex finely, sparsely punctate (punctures slightly more abundant laterally); area between antennal tubercles with short, decumbent pale yellow setae not obscuring integument; remaining surface with very sparse, decumbent pale yellow setae, except central area close to prothorax with more abundant brownish setae. Area behind upper eye lobes coarsely, shallowly, partially confluently punctate; glabrous. Area behind lower eye lobes coarsely, partially confluently punctate close to eye, nearly smooth close to prothorax; with a few short yellowish setae near eye. Genae finely, abundantly punctate, except smooth apex; with minute, sparse yellowish setae, and long, erect, sparse setae of same color interspersed, apex glabrous. Antennal tubercles coarsely, confluently punctate on frontal base, posterior basal area finely, sparsely punctate, smooth on remaining surface; with a few short, erect brownish setae on punctate area. Wide central area of postclypeus finely and abundantly punctate, with short, sparse, erect brownish setae; sides smooth and glabrous. Labrum with long yellowish-brown setae directed forward. Gulamentum smooth, posterior 2/3 glabrous, striate-punctate, with a few long, erect yellowish setae on anterior third. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.73 times length of scape (0.54 times distance between outer margins of eyes); in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.81 length of scape (0.60 times distance between outer margins of eyes). Antennae 1.1 times elytral length, reaching posterior fifth of elytra. Scape with short, decumbent, sparse brownish setae dorsally and laterally with both short and long, erect, moderately abundant brownish setae ventrally. Pedicel with long, erect dark setae throughout. Antennomeres III–V with bristly dark pubescence, and long, erect dark setae interspersed dorsally and laterally, and long, abundant dark setae ventrally (slightly sparser on V); antennomere VI with dark pubescence throughout, short, erect dark setae interspersed dorsally, and long, erect dark setae interspersed ventrally; remaining antennomeres with dark pubescence, and short, erect setae interspersed. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 1.30; pedicel = 0.20; IV = 0.90; V = 1.15; VI = 0.85; VII = 0.80; VIII = 0.70; IX = 0.65; X = 0.60; XI = 0.65.

Thorax. Prothorax with sides of anterior half straight, divergent from anterolateral angles; posterior half rounded. Pronotum coarsely, sparsely punctate; light areas with abundant yellow pubescence, partially obscuring integument on some areas, and dark area with brownish pubescence not obscuring integument (appearing to be darker due to the integument color); with long, erect, sparse setae interspersed, orangish on light areas, blackish on dark area. Sides of prothorax with sculpturing, pubescence and erect setae as on light areas of pronotum. Prosternum finely, transversely striate; with minute, sparse yellowish setae; prosternal process with long, erect, sparse yellowish setae laterally, with its narrowest area 0.12 times width of procoxal cavity. Mesoventrite with long, erect brownish setae centrally, more distinctly pubescent laterally. Mesoventral process 0.55 times width of mesocoxal cavity. Mesanepisternum and mesepimeron with brownish pubescence not obscuring integument. Metanepisternum and sides of metaventrite with dark pubescence partially obscuring integument; remaining surface of metaventrite with sparse, erect yellowish-brown setae, and short, sparse yellowish-brown pubescence, with long, erect yellowish-brown setae interspersed on each side of posterior area between metacoxal cavities. Scutellum with dark pubescence not obscuring integument. Elytra. Sides subparallel-sided on anterior quarter, gradually widened from this point to posterior quarter, then rounded toward sutural angle; coarsely, abundantly punctate from base to after middle, rugose on remaining surface (dark posterior area); with yellow pubescence not obscuring integument on light area, brownish, not obscuring integument on dark areas (slightly denser on posterior dark area); with long, erect setae throughout, mostly yellow on light area, dark on posterior dark area.

Legs. Femora pedunculate-clavate, especially meso- and metafemora; with long, erect, sparse setae, yellow on lighter area, brownish on dark area. Tibiae with long, erect, spare dark setae; ventral surface of protibia with dense, bristly pubescence on posterior half; ventral surface of area close to apex of meso- and metatibiae with bristly dark pubescence.

Abdomen. Ventrites with long, erect, sparse brownish setae, sparser centrally; apex of ventrite V truncate.

Dimensions in mm (holotype female). Total length, 9.45; prothoracic length, 1.45; anterior prothoracic width, 1.35; posterior prothoracic width, 1.95; maximum prothoracic width, 2.15; humeral width, 2.70; elytral length, 6.95.

Type material. Holotype female from PANAMA, Panama: 9–14 km N El Llano , 30.I.1992, F.T. Hovore col. ( MZSP).

Remarks. Corynellus elianae new species is similar to C. mimulus Bates, 1885 , but differs by: vertex with triangular black macula close to prothorax; pronotum with one central black band. In C. mimulus , vertex lacks triangular black macula close to prothorax, and pronotum has one black band on each side, and a black macula on center of posterior area. Corynellus mimulus is currently known only by the holotype described from Mexico. According to Bates (1885), the species is mostly black, with the head yellowish-brown, pronotum with the same color except three longitudinal black bands, and basal half of the elytra also yellowish-brown laterally, black centrally, and distal half black. Apparently, there is no dark macula on frons and behind eyes, but they may be omitted in the short description. Furthermore, Bates did not comment on the presence of black bands on the prosternum. Unfortunately, the short original description does not provide better differential features. It is likely that the black areas on the elytra would be variable in C. mimulus as this is common in nearly all species of Cerambycidae with yellow and black areas on elytra. However, in the other Corynellus material available to us the pronotal black bands do not vary.

Corynellus elianae shares with C. ochraceus Bates, 1885 , the shape of the black band on pronotum, and the black band on posterocentral area of the vertex. However, the prothorax in C. ochraceus is uniformly rounded laterally, unlike C. elianae .

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Eliane Nobre Vaz de Oliveira, wife of the first co-author.

Key to Species of Corynellus (see photographs of the species in Bezark 2020)

1. Pronotum without black bands............................................................ 2

— Pronotum with at least one black band...................................................... 4

2(1). Pronotum entirely black; Colombia.................................. C. arrogans (Buquet, 1840)

— Pronotum entirely brownish-orange........................................................ 3

3(2). Elytra four times pronotal length; femora entirely black; Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica........................................................ C. cinnabarinus Chemsak and Linsley, 1979

— Elytra five times pronotal length; femora brownish-orange; Colombia........ C. aureus Linsley, 1961

4(1). Pronotum with a single longitudinal black band centrally...................................... 5

— Pronotum with one longitudinal black band on each side...................................... 6

5(4). Prothorax broadly rounded laterally; Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama....... C. ochraceus Bates, 1885

— Prothorax distinctly narrowed anteriorly (anterior third nearly straight); Panama............................................................. C. elianae Santos-Silva and Wappes , new species

6(4). Distal antennomeres yellowish; Costa Rica........................ C. lampyrimorphus Swift, 2008

— All antennomeres black or nearly black..................................................... 7

7(6). Elytra distinctly widened toward posterior quarter, five times as long as pronotal length; Bolivia.............................................. C. rebeccae Santos-Silva and Wappes , new species

— Elytra not strongly widened toward posterior region, four times as long as pronotal length......... 8

8(7). Sides of the prothorax broadly rounded; Mexico (Veracruz) C. lutescens Noguera and Gutiérrez, 2019

— Prothorax distinctly narrowed anteriorly (anterior third nearly straight); Mexico................................................................................... C. mimulus Bates, 1885

Observations. According to Chemsak and Linsley (1979) on C. cinnabarinus : “Also tentatively assigned as this species is one female from Turrialba, Costa Rica, 2–4 February 1978 (E. Giesbert). This specimen differs by having a broad black longitudinal band on the pronotum and a black scutellum.” We have seen photographs of three specimens from Costa Rica that exactly agree with this description. We believe they are either a variation of C. ochraceus or an undescribed species.

Authors Note

It is with great pleasure we name these two new Corynellus to recognize our spouses. It is a well-deserved token of our gratitude for their many years of fantastic support for our entomological endeavors. Special thanks to Eliane and Rebecca!

Figures

Figures 7–10. Corynellus elianae, holotype female. 7) Dorsal habitus. 8) Ventral habitus. 9) Lateral habitus. 10) Head, frontal view.