Brasiella philipi, Acciavatti, Robert E., 2011

Acciavatti, Robert E., 2011, Taxonomic Revision of Hispaniola Tiger Beetles in the Genus Brasiella Rivalier 1954 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Cicindelinae), ZooKeys 147, pp. 99-182 : 134-138

Brasiella philipi sp. n. Figs 1213

Holotype.

Male! labeled "DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: / Santiago Province / Cierrecita above / Mata Grande, 1290 m / Brian Farrell,coll." [typeset black on white label]; "15 August 2008 / 19-13-05N, 070-59-52 W / North slope of the / Cordillera Central" [typeset black on white label]; "HOLOTYPE / Brasiella / philipi / Acciavatti" [typeset black on red label]. [Genitalia in glycerin in a microvial pinned beneath specimen.]

Allotype.

Female! labeled with same locality data as the holotype; allotype with "ALLOTYPE / Brasiella / philipi / Acciavatti" [typeset black on red label).

Paratypes.

Specimens! as follows: 1) 3 males and 3 females labeled with same locality data as the holotype, each with "PARATYPE / Brasiella / philipi / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label]; [these paratypes each labeled with a CMNH Unique Number]; 2) 1 male and 2 females labeled "fthills Cord.Cent. / S. of Santiago / June'38,Dom.Rep. / Darlington" [typeset black on white paper]; "C. (Brasiella) / dominicana Mandl / det. R. Freitag / April 1988" [typeset black on white label]; "PARATYPE / Brasiella / philipi / Acciavatti" [typeset black on blue label]; [these paratypes each labeled with a CMNH Unique Number on file].

Additional Specimens.

Male specimen! not a paratype labeled "DOMINICAN REPUBLIC / Los Tablones-Aqüita Fria, / Parque Nac. A. Bermúndez / La Vega Prov., 18.vii.2002, / DPerez, BHierro, RBastardo" [typeset black on white label]; "Specimen is property of / Museo Nacional de / Historia Natural / Santa Domingo, / Républica Dominicana" [typeset black on white label]; "Brasiella / philipi / Acciavatti" [typeset black on white label]. This male specimen agrees with the concept of this new species and appears conspecific with its holotype based on comparing its genitalia. However, because the specimen originated in a different province from the type locality, I have decided not to include it in the type series. This non-paratypic male is at MNHN.

Type Depositories.

Holotype, allotype, 4 paratypes (2 each sex) at MCZH; 5 paratypes (3 males, 2 females) at CMNH. [Male paratypes at CMNH with Carnegie Museum Specimen Numbers: CMNH-536,894; 539,785; 542,951. Female paratypes CMNH with Carnegie Museum Specimen Numbers: CMNH-488,249; 497,224.] One non-paratypic male at MNHN.

Type Locality.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Santiago Province, Cierrecita above Mata Grande, 19°13'05"N, 70°59'52"W, north slope of the Cordillera Central, 1290 m. Cierrecita is a small community on a ridge to the north of Mata Grande which itself lies on the north side of the Rio Bao. Aerial view in Fig. 19E.

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from other Brasiella species on Hispaniola by the following combination of characters: 1) elytral lunules tawny, fully developed, wide and contrasting with darker, dull copper brown background; 2) middle band of nearly uniform width and distinctly recurved anteriorly near suture; 3) male genitalia bulky, aedeagus distal neck short and broadly, apical hook evenly rounded, tip elongated and nearly at right angle to aedeagus; 4) aedeagus inner sac stylet tip recurved, tapering to sharp point; 5) aedeagus inner sac shield tapered distad; 6) aedeagus inner sac apical spine field in neck short and wide, forming a distinct pad; 7) female 5th abdominal sternum with transverse wrinkles, a narrow membranous band along the midline, and a small membranous wedge along posterior margin; 8) female 6th abdominal sternum with large lateral gibbosities.

Description.

General.Figs 12A, 13A. Body. Formelongate; head narrow, eyes prominent, slightly bulging laterally; pronotum subarcuate, wider than long; elytra broadened distad, each slightly rounded. Size.Males, length 6.0-6.4 mm, width 1.9-2.0 mm; females, length 6.4-6.7 mm, width 2.0-2.1 mm.

Head. Figs 12B, 12D, 13D, 13F. Shiny dark copper brown to dark brown dorsally and blue green ventrally; entire surface glabrous except for two pairs of supraorbital sensory setae. Frons finely and longitudinally rugose. Vertex more coarsely rugose, transverse rugae along anterior margin narrow and irregularly arranged, 15-18 more or less complete longitudinal rugae between eyes and middle where rugae converge into an arcuate pattern; rugae transition abruptly into a posterior area with a finely and irregularly granulate surface. Eyes prominent, slightly bulging laterally. Genae longitudinally rugose. Clypeus finely and irregularly granulate, narrowed mesad. Labrum testaceous with a dark brown margin, subrectangular, width to length ratio 2.2 in holotype male, ratio 2.6 in allotype female; anterior margin sinuate, a small bulge on either side of a tiny medial tooth in most specimens, tooth absent in others specimens; posterior margin broadly arcuate mesad; medial carina narrow, distinctly raised with a broad depression on either side; 6-8 setae in an irregular row near middle, most often symmetrically arranged. Maxillae and labium mainly testaceous, only distal palpal segments dark brown with metallic blue green reflections. Mandibles sexually dimorphic; in male, surface mainly testaceous, only teeth metallic green; in female, surface only testaceous in basal half, apical half and teeth shiny brown; mandibles symmetrical, four teeth distad of molar, apical tooth longest, third and first tooth coequal in length, second tooth shortest; gaps between three intermediate teeth narrow in male, wide in female. Antennae 11 segmented; scape dorsally shiny green with a single subapical sensory seta; antennomeres 2-4 shiny green, glabrous except for a few, short erect setae along their length and distally; antennomeres 5-11 black green, sheathed with dense short sensory setae.

Prothorax.Figs 12C, 12D, 13C, 13D. Pronotum shiny dark copper brown. Proepisterna shiny copper black, surface wrinkled dorsad. Prosternum shiny green. Pronotum glabrous except for short, decumbent, white setae distributed in several, irregular rows medially directed, originating close to, and lying in a narrow band distinctly removed from lateral margin, in a sparse narrow band transversely and anteriorly oriented within broad anterior margin, and in a sparse narrow band laterally oriented on each side of midline extending nearly to the narrow posterior margin; transverse submarginal sulci distinct, anterior sulcus shallow, posterior sulcus deeper and deepest at posterior angles; transverse rugae within broad anterior margin irregular and shallow, interrupted at middle by an irregularly arranged pattern, within posterior margin more distinctly and deeply engraved especially medially and extending onto midline; surface sculptured by fine, transverse rugae angled on disc and interrupted by a finely engraved longitudinal midline, and more finely and irregularly sculptured elsewhere. Proepisterna glabrous except for white, erect and appressed setae arising from small, setigerous punctures scattered over ventral half and along posterior margin in males, only near ventral margin females. Prosternum glabrous.

Pterothorax.Figs 12C, 13C. Mesepisterna glabrous except for appressed setae near ventral margin; female coupling sulcus represented by a small depression medially situated, a distinct groove extends only dorsally from pit, surface smooth below pit. Mesepimeron with sparse appressed setae. Metepisterna with scattered appressed setae, more abundant in male than female. Prosternum and mesosternum glabrous, smooth to slightly wrinkled; metasternum glabrous except for long, dense white appressed setae laterad, surface smooth mesad and coarsely sculpted laterad where setae originate. Scutellum triangular, copper to dark cupreous black.

Legs.Figs 12A, 13B. Segmentsmetallic green with copper reflections or metallic green and testaceous. Coxae shiny metallic brown green; trochanters shiny testaceous; femora and tibiae testaceous with metallic green reflections anteriorly along most of their lengths except distal ends; tarsomeres dark metallic violet black; white, appressed setae on front and middle coxae, and laterally on hind coxae; erect setae and suberect closely spaced in several regular and irregular rows on all femora; setae widely spaced in a few rows on all tibiae; middle tibiae with patch of appressed setae dorsally along distal half; tarsomeres with short scattered setae on ventral surface; distal tarsomeres with two asymmetrical rows each with a few to several small, erect setae; an erect subapical seta present only on front trochanter, absent on middle and hind trochanters; males with dense pad of erect setae ventrally on proximal three tarsal segments; tarsal claws small.

Elytra.Figs 12A, 13A. Form narrow in male, broadened slightly distad and broadest at outer apical angle in female; evenly curved along posterior margins with apices separately rounded; sutural spine small, feebly withdrawn from apex; posterior margins finely microserrulate. Surface finely granulate, impunctate, numerous small, irregular metallic blotches comprised of shiny green or blue green flecks of various sizes scattered over a dull, dark copper brown background; fully developed elytral pattern of bold markings contrasting with the darker elytral ground color; setigerous punctures with short, erect, transparent setae indistinct in subsutural rows on disc, but distinct at elytral base, and at inner humeral angles, each surrounded by a metallic fleck slightly larger than flecks elsewhere on elytra; surface slightly depressed in humeral area and on disc creating a slight but distinct raised area basally. Elytral markings tawny, fully developed, wide and contrasting with darker, dull copper brown background; pattern consisting of humeral and apical lunules and middle band; humeral lunule complete terminating as a slightly enlarged end on disc in most specimens, slightly broken at posterior end in a few specimens; middle band of nearly uniform width, distinctly recurved anteriorly near suture, and slightly expanded along lateral margin; apical lunule wide, complete and broadened near suture in all specimens examined. Elytral epipleura testaceous except for narrow, metallic green to copper green band along dorsal margin.

Abdomen.Figs 13B, 13E. Surface of 1st-5th sterna shiny black with green reflections, 6th sternum entirely shiny black to black brown; posterior margins of male 3rd-5th sterna and female 3rd-4th sterna narrowly black; posterior margin female 5th sternum broadly black; 3rd-5th sterna medially smooth with scattered, fine, erect setae in both sexes; male 1st-6th sterna and female 1st-5th sterna laterally covered with dense, scattered, appressed white setae and roughened from setal punctures; male 6th sternum glabrous medially with a broad, deep concave notch; female 5th sternum with moderately raised, transverse wrinkles and a membranous band at midline extending anteriorly along most of the sternum from a small, transverse membranous wedge along posterior margin; female 6th sternum entirely glabrous, posterior margin with a row of 6-10 erect spines and a large lateral gibbosity on each side.

Male Genitalia.Figs 12E, 12F, 12G. Shape bulky, narrow only basally, uniformly broad along most of its length, distal neck short and broad, apical hook evenly rounded, tip elongated and nearly at right angle to aedeagus. Aedeagus inner sac sclerites: stylet tip recurved, tapering to sharp point; shield tapered distad; large tooth long and pointed at tip with large root and large dark fields; arched piece long and thin; spine field within aedeagus neck short and and wide, forming a distinct pad.

Ecology.

This species occurs along dirt roads, road cuts, and bare areas in fields in the foothills on the north slope of the Cordillera Central at 1290 m elevation (Figs 19E, 19F). From the collection records June, July, and August, it is concluded that adults of this new species are active during most summer months.

Distribution.

Fig. 22. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Santiago Province, and La Vega Province, on the north slopes of the Cordillera Central. This species likely will be found in suitable habitats distributed over the entire northern slopes of the Cordillera Central.

Etymology.

This Latinized eponym, genitive case, is based on the first name of the late Philip J. Darlington, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Darlington was the distinguished American carabidologist who pioneered studies of Carabidae island biogeography in the Mid-20th Century. The first specimens of this new species were collected by Darlington during his 1938 expedition to the Dominican Republic. Brian Farrell, also from MCZH, in 2008 collected additional specimens with more precise locality data, while retracing the route of Darlington's expedition 50 years earlier.

Remarks.

Both Brasiella philipi , new species, and Brasiella bellorum , new species, are allopatric in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic, the former species on the northern slopes and the latter species in the mountainous central areas. The elytral pattern of both species is very similar and only differs in the form of the elytral lunules. Brasiella philipi possesses more fully developed and wider lunules of nearly uniform width, whereas the lunules of Brasiella bellorum are narrow and broken. These lunule differences are most obvious in the shape of the hook at the discal end of the middle band. Although the elytral patterns are similar, the distinctiveness of each species is established by differences in their genitalia, especially the form of the sclerites and spine fields within the aedeagus of the males. A comparison of the other morphological characters presented in the key and the descriptions for each species further support their distinctiveness. Although these two species are apparently allopatric based on available collection data, more collecting in the Cordillera Central will help confirm their allopatry. Despite their distinctiveness as separate species and apparent allopatry, it should be noted that these two species are found in similar mountain habitats with adults of both species active during the same summer months. Their geographic distributions in close proximity to each other in similar high elevation habitats suggest a common lineage.