Chrysoprasis imitatrix, Galileo & Martins & Tirant & Santos-Silva, 2014

Galileo, Maria Helena M., Martins, Ubirajara R., Tirant, Stéphane Le & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2014, Five new species of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) from Peru and Bolivia, and two new records for Peru, Insecta Mundi 2014 (376), pp. 1-13 : 2-4

Chrysoprasis imitatrix sp. nov.

( Figures 1–6 )

Description. Integument metallic green (color variable depending of angle of incision of light), darker on elytra; base and apex of scape, and apex and lateral sides of postclypeus violaceous; urosternites brown-reddish; peduncle of femora violaceous; metafemoral club golden-green, except apex dark-green with violaceous reflex; pedicel, antennomeres, tibiae, and tarsi dark-brown with violaceous reflex.

Head. Frons coarsely, abundantly, confluently punctate; almost all punctures with short setae; some laterally with long setae. Coronal suture well marked from clypeus to area between antennal tubercles. Postclypeus with transverse, impunctate, elliptical gibbosity at center, close to frons; surface coarsely, confluently punctate, distinctly finer, sparser on violaceous apex, laterally impunctate on violaceous areas; green surface with short, moderately abundant setae, laterally with long setae. Antennal tubercles coarsely, confluently punctate on frontal area, gradually sparser towards posterior area, impunctate on area close to the antennal fovea. Vertex with sculpture and pubescence as on frons. Area behind superior ocular lobes with sculpture and pubescence as on frons; area behind region of connection of ocular lobes, shiny, with sparse punctures; area behind inferior ocular lobes coarsely, confluently punctate close to the eyes, punctate-striate towards prothoracic margin. Genae, coarsely, abundantly punctate (punctures coarser than on frons), impunctate on area close to the apex. Gulamentum transversely striate on area closer to thorax (centrally smooth), coarsely striate-punctate on area closer to maxilla; this latter area with long, abundant setae. Distance between superior ocular lobes equal to 0.8 times length of scape; distance between inferior ocular lobes, in frontal view, equal to 1.1 times length of scape. Antennae as long as 2.2 times elytral length; reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere VIII; scape coarsely, abundantly punctate; antennomeres III–VI with distinct spine at inner apex; distal antennomeres somewhat flattened, with outer distal angle projected; antennal formula based on antennomere III: scape = 0.53; pedicel = 0.19; IV = 0.60; V = 0.67; VI = 0.72; VII = 0.72; VIII = 0.69; IX = 0.65; X = 0.60; XI = 0.72.

Thorax. Prothorax wider than long; lateral sides rounded. Pronotum moderately finely, densely punctate; laterally with short, dark setae, mixed with sparse long setae. Lateral sides of prothorax coarser, shallower punctate than on pronotum (slightly striate-punctate); with long and short setae. Prosternum densely, finely striate-punctate; with long, abundant whitish setae. Prosternal process shallow punctate; with moderately abundant setae. Mesosternum with sculpture as on prosternum (slightly coarser towards apex); pubescence moderately short, abundant (sparser than on prosternum). Mesosternal process with sculpture and pubescence as on apex of mesosternum; apex deeply emarginate. Metepisterna moderately finely, densely punctate, coarser towards apex. Metasternum coarsely, abundantly punctate; pubescence long, abundant. Scutellum finely, abundantly punctate, with narrow impunctate band close to the margin. Elytra. Surface microsculptured; coarsely, abundantly punctate; each puncture with short, thick, dark setae; apex wide, slightly sinuous, with outer angle projected and sutural angle rounded.

Abdomen. Finely, moderately sparsely punctate; with long, moderately abundant setae. Legs. Femora coarsely, densely punctate (striate-punctate on club); with thick, moderately abundant setae.

Dimensions in mm (male). Total length, 12.7; length of prothorax at center, 2.9; anterior width of prothorax, 2.2; posterior width of prothorax, 2.9; largest width of prothorax, 3.3; humeral width, 3.8; elytral length, 8.1.

Type material. Holotype male from BOLIVIA, La Paz Department: Caranavi (1300 m), 1–25.XII.2007, local collector ( MZSP).

Etymology. From the Latin imitatrix (imitator), alluding to the general appearance somewhat similar to that of C. hypocrita .

Remarks. Chrysoprasis imitatrix is similar to C. hypocrita Erichson, 1847 , but differs as follows (more than 200 specimens examined, including some from Peru, where the type was collected): punctures of metasternum finer ( Fig. 6 ); elytra slightly finely, densely punctate ( Fig. 4 ); femoral club golden-green ( Fig. 3 ) (though possibly this condition is simply an extreme variation). In C. hypocrita the punctures of metasternum are coarser ( Fig. 9 ), the elytra is slightly coarsely, sparsely punctate ( Fig. 8 ), and the femoral club is dark-green ( Fig. 7 ). Chrysoprasis imitatrix differs from C. pilosa Galileo and Martins, 2003 by the femoral club lighter, by the punctation on metasternum sub-uniform. In C. pilosa the femoral club is dark and the sides of metasternum are finely, densely punctate antero-laterally, with the remaining surface coarsely punctate (diameter of punctures larger than distance between them) (Galileo and Martins, 2003).

Chrysoprasis imitatrix can be included in the alternative of couplet “9”, from Napp and Martins (1998) (translated; modified):

9(8).

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Females. Scape slender, projected at outer apex, longer than half the length of antennomere III. Elytra finely, not corrugated punctate, without rough appearance. Pronotal alveoli large and regular. Prosternum sub-glabrous. Metasternum sub-glabrous with juxtaposed fovea. Brazil (Pará) ................................................................... C. icuara Napp and Martins, 1998

Males and females. Scape robust, not projected at outer apex, shorter or about as long as half the length of antennomere III. Elytra with rough, corrugated punctation on base and sides of suture. Pronotum finely alveolate, with reticulate appearance on disc. Prosternum with denser pubescence. Metasternum with long pubescence, and rounded, not juxtaposed punctures .... .................................................................................................................................................... 9’

9’(9).

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Punctures on elytra and metasternum finer ( Fig. 4, 6 ); femoral club golden-green. Bolivia..... .................................................................................................................. C. imitatrix sp. nov.

Punctures on elytra and metasternum coarser ( Fig. 8, 9 ); femoral club dark-green. Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil (all territory), Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay.................... .................................................................................................... C. hypocrita Erichson, 1847

Figures

Figures 1–13. 1–6) Chrysoprasis imitatrix, holotype male: 1) Dorsal habitus; 2) Ventral habitus; 3) Lateral habitus; 4) Elytral punctation; 5) Head, frontal view; 6) Metasternal punctation. 7–9) Chrysoprasis hypocrita, male: 7. Lateral habitus; 8) Elytral punctation; 9) Metasternal punctation. 10–13) Carneades vigneaulti, holotype male: 10) Dorsal habitus; 11) Ventral habitus; 12) Lateral habitus; 13) Head, frontal view.