Charisius mexicanus Campbell

Campbell, J. M., 2014, New species and records of Charisius Champion from Mexico and Central America (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Alleculinae), ZooKeys 415, pp. 269-293 : 274-275

3. Charisius mexicanus Campbell Figs 5, 14

Charisius mexicanus Campbell (1965: 49, Figs 4, 8, 11, 18).

Type.

Holoype, male, 5.2 miles west Acultzingo (Veracruz), Puebla, Mexico ( Campbell 1965: 49). The specimen is in the BMNH.

Distribution and records.

This species was previously known from Mexico in the states of Morelos and Puebla. The species has been collected at elevations ranging from 1800 to 2700 m. The following new records are cited.

MEXICO: Guerrero: 1.3 km SW Filo de Caballo, 2700 m, 17.VII.1992, RS Anderson (CMNC) 1; 3 mi SW Filo de Caballo, 17.VII.1984, Carroll, Schaffner, Friedlander (EGRC) 3; 18-20 km SW Filo de Caballo, 9000 ft, 17.IX.1989, E Giesbert & JE Wappes (JEWC) 2. Mexico: San Cayetano, Villa de Allende, 16.IX.1953, V. Aguilar Vegs. (JMCC) 1; 3.6 km W Villa Victoria, 1925/10002, 2,530 m, 15-16.VII.1979, EL & KW Sleeper (CASC) 1. Michoacan:: Cerro Estimbo, 15.9 km NW Quiraga, 1943/10148, 13-14.VII.1979, 2,225 m, EL & KW Sleeper (CASC) 1. Morelos: Tres Marías, Wickham (USNM) 3. Oaxaca: El Cerazal, 16 km NE Oaxaca, 2300 m, 12.VI1979, H & A Howden (CMNC) 2; 20 mi S Juchatengo, Route 131, 6,000 ft, HF Howden (JMCC) 1; Hwy 131, 70 km S Oaxaca, 2150 m, 17.VI.1979, H &A Howden (CMNC) 1; 14 km N San Juan del Estado, 2600 m, 4.VIII.1986, H & A Howden (CMNC, JMCC) 2; Hwy. 175, 3 mi N Suchixtepec, 9500 ft, 4.VI.1971, DE Bright (CNCI) 1; 8 km S Suchixtepec, 6.VIII.1986, H & A Howden (CMNC, JMCC) 4.

Remarks.

There is little variation in the color pattern of this species (see Fig. 5). As previously mentioned, males of Charisius fasciatus from the state of Chiapas in Mexico may be distinguished from those of Charisius mexicanus with certainty only by examination of the male eighth sternal lobes. The adults of Charisius mexicanus can usually be distinguished by the distinctly coarser punctation of the pronotum (Fig. 14) and by the shorter apicale of the aedeagus (apicale 2.5-2.9 as long as basale).

Most adults were collected by beating dead leaves of oak trees. The specimens collected by EL Sleeper were taken in a boreal forest and an oak-pine woodland. All known records of Charisius mexicanus are from north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and those of Charisius fasciatus are from south of the Isthmus.

This species was previously known only from the highlands of central Mexico. These are the first records of the species from the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.