Brachiacantha papiliona Nestor-Arriola, Toledo-Hernandez & Solis, 2021

Nestor-Arriola, Jorge Ismael, Toledo-Hernandez, Victor Hugo, Solis, Angel, Gonzalez, Guillermo & Vetrovec, Jaroslav, 2021, The Brachiacantha Dejean, 1837 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of Central America, ZooKeys 1024, pp. 157-196 : 157

Brachiacantha papiliona Nestor-Arriola, Toledo-Hernandez & Solis sp. nov. Figure 10

Holotype.

Female , pinned, with genitalia in a separate microvial. Original labels: “PANAMÁ, Chiquiri. Prov., cont’l Divide trail, 04-VII-1997, col. Wappes and Morris" ( USNMNH) (1♀).

Paratypes.

Costa Rica • 1♀; Guanacaste, Est. Cacao, SW side Volcan Cacao , 1000-1400 m; 1988-1989; GNP. Biodiv. Survey exped.; malaise trap; 323300_375700 ( MNCR) . 1♀; Puntarenas, Monteverde, San Luis ; 1000-1350 m; Feb. 1994; Z. Fuentes leg.; L N 449250_250850, #2615 ( MNCR) .

Diagnosis.

Dorsal color pale yellow with black macula. Elytron with part of the elytral suture black, a sub-apical black spot and a large black spot on the anterior margin.

Description.

Holotype. Female. Length 3 mm, width 3.6 mm; body oval-rounded; convex. Dorsal color pale yellow except pronotum with the central part black; scutellar shield black; each elytron with three black spots: a macula over the elytral suture, a large oval spot at the center of the second half of the elytron and an irregular macula over the anterior margin of the elytron (Fig. 10 ). Ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metasternum and abdomen black; legs, mouth parts and antennae yellow. Head punctures small, separated by their diameter or less, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by less than their diameter; elytral punctures as large as pronotal punctures, separated by their diameter; metaventral punctures larger than elytral punctures, separated by 1½× their diameter to two diameters. Elytral suture with apex dentiform. Clypeus straight. Carinae on prosternal process convergent, joined, longer than half prosternum. Protibia not flanged, basal tooth small. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite slightly flattened along posterior ventrite margin, ventrite with sparse, long pubescence and small, dense punctures. Ventrites II-VI pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense. Genitalia with two curved sclerotized arms at bursa copulatrix; apical strut long, flattened laterally, straight sided, slightly widened at apex; spermathecal capsule slender, widened and rounded at cornu.

Male. Unknown.

Variation.

Unknown.

Etymology.

The name refers to the basal elytral spot in the shape of butterfly wings.

Type locality.

Panamá, Chiriqui: Hornito , 8°44'50"N , 82°13'84"W.

Distribution.

Panamá and Costa Rica.

Discussion.

This species resembles B. hazel Gordon et al. (2014) for the basal macula on the elytron, but the color pattern is different in lacking the sub-apical spot over the sutural margin. Gordon and collaborators did not describe the female of B. hazel , but the missing sub-apical elytral spot is not associated with sexual dimorphism in Brachiacantha species. Another remarkable character of B. papiliona is the presence of a tooth at the apex of the elytral suture, a rare character among Coccinellidae .

Figures

Figures 9 - 12. Brachiacantha sp. 9 Brachiacantha guatemalensis comb. nov., male 10 Brachiacantha papiliona sp. nov., female 11 Brachiacantha mimica sp. nov., female 12 Brachiacantha gorhami comb. nov., female.