Ora discoidea Champion, 1897

Epler, J. H. & Gimmel, Matthew L., 2019, Notes on the Marsh Beetle Genus Ora Clark (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) in the Southeastern USA and Central America, The Coleopterists Bulletin 73 (3), pp. 521-527 : 522-525

Ora discoidea Champion, 1897

( Figs. 1–7 , 17 , 19 )

There appear to be two basic forms of this species: one with bicolored, vittate elytra; the other with primarily testaceous elytra or testaceous with some dark spotting on the basal half of the elytra. In material from Louisiana, all individuals of the vittate form proved to be male, and all testaceous forms were female. However, in material from Costa Rica, Mexico, and Texas, some males possessed unmarked, or lightly marked, testaceous elytra. No differences could be discerned between the genitalia of these lightly marked specimens and the bicolored forms.

Champion (1897) described this species as a vittate form based on material from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. He also noted two varieties: “Var. α”, with the “discoidal vitta of the elytron obliterated or reduced to a narrow streak, the elytra sometimes with irregularly scattered brownish spots” and “Var. β” which is “Above and beneath, the legs, and antennae testaceous, the head, prothorax, scutellum, and posterior knees brown or reddish-brown; the elytra as in α.”

Champion (1897) made no mention of sexual dimorphism in his description. All known USA female specimens would fit Champion’ s “Var. α”; there are several males in the USNMNH’ s Central American material that would also fit there. One specimen that fit his “Var. β”, from Due~ nas, Guatemala, is in the USNMNH; it may be a teneral specimen. Another specimen from Due~ nas was a male mislabeled as a female.

Following a request for scirtid specimens by JHE in 2009, MLG reported that he had several specimens of an unknown Ora that he had collected in Louisiana; JHE identified these as O. discoidea . MLG also reported that similar material from Alabama existed in LSAM. JHE first noted this species in Florida when contacted by Michael Thomas at the FSCA with an identification request in 2012; further examination of the collection at FSCA revealed a Florida specimen collected in 2007. Louisiana specimens were externally compared by MLG with the syntypes of O. discoidea located in The Natural History Museum, London, and agreed in essential respects. Records from BugGuide (bugguide.net) of the species in southeastern Texas led to a request of TAMU material of Ora . Edward Riley made TAMU material available, along with material from EGRC. This resulted in

additional records of O. discoidea , some dating back to the 1960s, and an additional species of Ora previously unknown from the USA.

In the material listed below, the following abbreviations are used to describe the appearance of the elytra: [V] = vittate; [L] = lightly marked; [U] = unmarked. It was not possible to determine the sex of the BugGuide material. A single slash (/) indicates a line break, two slashes (//) indicate a different label.

COSTA RICA: Turrialba / Sept. 1953 / NLH Krauss (1♂ [U], USNMNH) . Turrialba / VII-15- 1965 / P.J. Spangler (1♂ [U], USNMNH) . GUA- TEMALA: Due ~ nas/ Guatemala / G.C. Champion // B.C.A.Col. III. (1). (1♂ [mislabeled as ♀][V], 1♀ [U], USNMNH) . MEXICO: TAB.[asco]/ Villahermosa /VII-6.1964/ Paul J. Spangler (1♂ [U], USNMNH) . Pureza Ver. [acruz]/ Mex Apr 13 ‘35/ J. Camelo G/ 3038//5 th r. r. sta / Veracruz /to Jalapa (1♂ [L], USNMNH) . Veracruz / Los Tuxtlas area , seeps/at “Las Cabanas”/ 8-15 May 1981 / C.M & O.S Flint, Jr. (2♂♂ [intermediate between V and L], USNMNH) . On banana/ship from Mex / Jun. 21, 1934 / WW Chapman / Phila 23082 (1♂ [L], USNMNH) . USA: ALABAMA: Baldwin Co.: Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge , 30°15 ′ 46 ′′ N, 87°45 ′ 27 ′′ W, 12 May 1994, blacklight and mercury vapor, coll. M.E. Oard, William H. Cross Expedition (1♂ [V], LSAM) . FLORIDA: Collier Co. / Immokalee, SW FL REC/ 14-20-IX-2007 /coll. S. Halbert / suction trap (1♂ [V], FSCA) ; Collier Co. / Immokalee, SW FL REC/1/XI/20112/ 8/XI/2012 / Coll. Susan Halbert / Suction Trap – MIDDLE (1♂ [light V], FSCA) . LOUISIANA: Lafourche Par.: Golden Meadow , 29°23.559 ′ N, 90°16.474 ′ W, 03 September 2009, at light, coll. M. Gimmel & J.-S. Park (9♂♂ [V], 15♀♀ [L,U], LSAM) ; Saint Tammany Par. : 4.2 mi NE of Abita Springs, sec 24, T6S, R12E, 30 September 2006, coll. V.A. Brou (1♂ [V], LSAM) . TEXAS: Aransas Co., Goose Island State Park , 30 November 1973, W.E. Clark (3♂♂ [V], TAMU) ; Bastrop Co., Bastrop State Park , 23 July 1988, E.G. Riley (1♂ [V], EGRC) ; Bastrop Co., Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp, 20 October 2012 (1 [V], [bugguide.net/node/view/717278]); Brazoria Co. , Brazoria NWR, 20 July 2010, Graham Montgomery (1 [V], [bugguide.net/node/view/ 429916]); Brazos Co. , Bryan , 17 June 1988, E.G. Riley (1♂ [V], 1♀ [L], EGRC) ; same except 19 June 1988 (1♀ [L], EGRC) ; same except 26 June 1988 (1♀ [L], EGRC) ; Brazos Co., College Station , 11 June 1989 (1♂ [V], EGRC) ; same except June 1989 (2♂♂ [V], EGRC) ; Brazos Co., College Station , 14 June 1995, UV light, E.G. Riley (1♀ [L], TAMU) ; Brazos Co., College Station, Riley Estate , 30°35’18”N, 96°15’12”W, 16 September 2004, E.G. Riley (1♀ [L], EGRC) ; same except 22 September 2004 (1♀ [L], EGRC) ; Brazos Co., College Station, Riley Estate , 30.58849°N, 96.25366°W, 5 September 2015, UV, E.G. Riley (1♂ [V], EGRC) ; same except March 2016 (1♀ [L], EGRC) ; same except October 2016 (1♂ [V], EGRC) ; Cameron Co., Sabal Palm Grove , 9 June 1994, E.G. Riley (1♂ [V], EGRC) ; Chambers Co., High Island , 3 October 1992, blacklight in sand dunes, Wm. Godwin (1♀ [L], TAMU) ; Chambers Co., 15 April 2017, Jose Hernandez (1 [L], [bugguide.net/node/view/ 1362125]); Fort Bend Co., Brazos Bend State Park , 4 April 2004, E.G. Riley & B.T. Raber (1♂ [L], TAMU) ; Kaufman Co., Forney , 32.7670°, -96.4601°, September 2009, blacklight, B. Hayes (1♂ [V], 1 [L], TAMU) ; San Patricio Co., Lake Corpus Christi State Park , 13 April 1974, G.H. Nelson (1♂ [V], FSCA) ; San Patricio Co., Corpus Christi State Park , 9 June 1969, Board & Hafernik (5♂ ♂ [V], TAMU) ; San Patricio Co., Welder Wildlife Refuge , 27 June 1969, Board & Hafernik (11♂♂ [V], TAMU) ; same except 28 April 1969, blacklight (4 ♂ ♂ [V], TAMU) ; same except 30 November – 3 December 1973, C.W. & L.B.

THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 73(3), 2019 525

O’ Brien, Marshal, Riek (2 ♂♂ [V], 2♀ ♀ [L], EGRC); same except 30 November 1973, at night, G.B. Marshall (1♂ [V], 1♀ [L], EGRC) .

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Ora discoidea from Louisiana. 1) Male vittate form, dorsal habitus; 2) Same male, ventral habitus; 3) Female, dorsal habitus; 4) Same female, ventral habitus. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Figs. 5–15. Ora species, dorsal habitus. O. discoidea: 5) Male vittate form, Guatemala; 6) Male unmarked form, Mexico; 7) Male lightly marked form, Mexico. 8) O. depressa, Mexico; 9) O. hyacintha, Florida; 10) O. cf. marmorata, Texas; 11) O. texana, Florida. O. troberti: 12–14) Specimens from Florida; 15) Specimen from Texas. Figs. 9 and 11–15 from Epler (2010). Not to scale.

Figs. 16–18. Ora species, apex of male genitalia, penis shaded. 16) O. depressa, Mexico; 17) O. discoidea, Florida; 18) O. cf. marmorata, Texas.

Fig. 19. Distribution of Ora discoidea in the USA.