Brachiacantha emma Gordon and Canepari, 2014

Gordon, Robert D., Canepari, Claudio & Hanley, Guy A., 2014, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XVI: systematic revision of Brachiacantha Dejean (Coccinellinae: Hyperaspidini), Insecta Mundi 2014 (390), pp. 1-76 : 17-18

8. Brachiacantha emma Gordon and Canepari , new species

Description. Male holotype. Length 3.4 mm, width 2.5 mm; body elongate oval, convex. Dorsal surface with head alutaceous, dull, pronotum alutaceous, feebly shiny, elytron feebly alutaceous, shiny. Color yellow except pronotum with short, narrow, dark brown basomedian macula, macula with anterior margin broadly, deeply emarginate with yellow, small, obliquely triangular, pale brown spot medially on each side of middle, apex of macula triangularly emarginate with yellow medially; elytron black with 5 large, yellow spots arranged in 2 rows plus apical spot, mediolateral and apical spots transversely oval ( Fig. 41 ); ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrites black; abdomen dark brown except lateral 1/4 yellowish brown. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by less than to twice a diameter, elytral punctures larger than on pronotum, separated by 1 to 2 times a diameter; metaventral punctures larger than on elytron, separated by less than a diameter. Clypeus emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 5 eye facets long, angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin straight, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron narrow, grooved, not descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia narrowly flanged, flange narrower than remainder of protibia, outer margin straight, smooth, basal tooth small, triangular, about 1/6 width of tibia at base, sponda slightly extended beyond protibial flange. Carinae on prosternal process widely separated at apex, parallel, not joined, ended slightly anterior to middle of prosternum. Metaventrite without setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite flattened along posterior ventrite margin, extended forward at apex, ventrite with sparse, long pubescence and small, dense punctures; ventrites 2–6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; ventrite 3 without cusp on each side of middle; 5th ventrite depressed in median 1/3, apex shallowly emarginate; 6th ventrite medially depressed, apex deeply emarginate. Apical tergite finely, densely punctured, apex weakly emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe longer than paramere, symmetrical, sides slightly convergent in basal 2/3, wide in apical 1/3, apex lunulate with sides angled toward apex of basal lobe; paramere slightly Psc, short, slender, slightly widened from base to apex, not dorsally flattened, apex rounded ( Fig. 42, 43 ); sipho robust, strongly curved in basal 1/2, apical 1/2 lost, basal capsule heavily sclerotized, inner arm short, narrow, apex abruptly rounded, outer arm wider and longer than inner arm, with accessory piece, basal border not emarginate ( Fig. 44 ).

Female. Similar to male except head black with clypeus and rounded macula on base of frons yellow, pronotum with large, dark brown, median macula, macula extended 7/8 distance to anterior pronotal border, lateral 1/4 of pronotum yellow. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule short, narrowed from wide base to apex; bursal cap without visible sclerotized arms, apical strut short, widened from base to spatulate apex ( Fig. 45 ).

Variation. Length 3.2 to 3.4 mm. Size and shape of yellow elytral spots slightly variable.

Type material. Holotype male; ( Brazil) Hist.-Coll. ( Coleoptera ) Nr. 4484, Brachiacantha spec. , Brazil, v. Olfers, Zool. Mus. Berlin. ( ZMHB). Paratypes; 3, same data as holotype except one paratype with additional labels “4484/ Brasil v. Olf. (handwritten) ( ZMHB).

Remarks. Similar in external appearance to B. esther and B. pauline , this species is recognized by the short protibial tooth, distinct, brown, obliquely triangular spots on middle of pronotum in the male, and small basomedian pronotal spot broadly, deeply emarginate on the anterior margin. In addition, male genitalia differ from those of other species in this group by having the paramere narrow and the dorsal surface not flattened. The male pronotal color pattern is similar to that of B. esther , but that species has the obliquely triangular pronotal spots pale, difficult to see.

Figures

Figures 36–50. 36–40. Brachiacantha pauline. 36) Habitus. 37) Phallobase ventral. 38) Phallobase lateral. 39) Sipho. 40) Enlarged siphonal apex.41–45. Brachiacantha emma. 41) Habitus. 42) Phallobase ventral. 43) Phallobase lateral. 44) Sipho (basal 2/3). 45) Female spermathecal capsule and bursal cap. 46–50. Brachiacantha jamie. 46) Habitus. 47) Phallobase ventral. 48) Phallobase lateral. 49) Sipho. 50) Enlarged siphonal apex.