Cassida foveolatipennis Borowiec & Świętojańska, 2001

Borowiec, Lech & Świętojańska, Jolanta, 2022, A monograph of the Afrotropical Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Part 6. Revision of the tribe Cassidini 3, the genus Cassida L., Zootaxa 5171 (1), pp. 1-250 : 68-69

Cassida foveolatipennis Borowiec & Świętojańska, 2001

(figs. 11, 331, 332)

Cassida sp. 2 : Kleinjan & Scott, 1996: 103.

Cassida foveolatipennis Borowiec & Świętojańska, 2001: 157 .

Description. L: 5.80–6.30 mm, W: 4.90–5.30 mm, Lp: 2.00–2.20 mm, Wp: 3.60–4.00 mm, L/W: 1.17–1.19, Wp/ Lp: 1.80–1.81. Body almost circular, sides regularly rounded ( fig. 331 ).

Uniformly yellow, including ventrites, legs and antennae, in dry specimens elytra often with diffused green colour ( figs. 331, 332 ).

Pronotum elliptical, with maximum width in the middle, sides subangulate. Surface of disc moderately coarse, shallowly punctate, punctures much finer than those of elytral disc, area above head finely punctate than top and sides of disc. Distance between punctures from as wide as to twice wider than puncture diameter. Surface between punctures regular. Explanate margin of pronotum very shallowly punctate, surface between punctures regular, semitransparent with honeycomb structure.

Base of elytra not or only slightly wider than base of pronotum, humeral angles distinctly protruding anterad, angulate. Disc moderately, regularly convex in profile, without impressions ( fig. 332 ). Punctation very coarse, next to C. cordula the largest in the group, dense, distance between punctures mostly twice narrower than puncture diameter, but surface between punctures regular. Marginal row absent, punctation of disc continued to punctation of explanate margin without distinct border. Explanate margin broad, moderately declivous, in the widest part slightly less than three times narrower than disc, punctate, punctures as coarse as to slightly coarser but sparser than on disc.

Eyes quite large, gena slightly elongate, distance between under margin of eye and lateral angle of labrum slightly shorter than half eye length. Clypeus very broad, approximately 1.2 times as wide as long, clypeal grooves distinct, converging in regular triangle, surface of clypeal plate flat, shiny, with several small, setose punctures. Labrum shallowly emarginate.Antennae moderately slim, segments 9–10 slightly elongate. Length ratio of antennal segments: 100:50:58:58:60:62:64:56:58:61:100. Segment 3 approximately longer than 2 and approximately as long as 4.

Prosternum narrow in the middle, strongly expanded apically, area between coxa impressed, shiny, without special sculpture, expanded apex slightly convex, shiny, with several small, setose punctures.

Claws simple.

Host plants. Asteraceae : Chrysanthemoides incana (Burm.f.) Norlindh , Ch. monilifera pisifera (Linnaeus) Norlindh ( Kleinjan & Scott 1996, Borowiec & Świętojańska 2001).

Distribution. South Africa: W Cape (fig. 11).

Remarks. A member of the Cassida litigiosa species–group. It is well characterized by its extremely coarse elytral punctation. Only C. cordula has such large punctures but differs in a slimmer body with elytra slightly converging posterad (almost circular in C. foveolatipennis ). The elytral punctation in C. cordula is extremely dense and the surface of elytra appears rugose, while in C. foveolatipennis the punctation is sparser and the surface of the elytra appears regular.

Types examined. Holotype and paratype: [ SOUTH AFRICA] : Cape, nr. Yserfontein , 33.20 S 18.10 E, 24 VIII 1989, on Chrysanthemoides monilifera, J. Scott, Kleinjan (NIC) ; paratype: [ SOUTH AFRICA] : Cape, 8 km West of Langebaanweg , 32.59 S 18.04 E, 19 IX 1989, on Chrysanthemoides incana, J.K. Scott (MNHW) .

Figures

FIGURES 331–332. Cassida foveolatipennis. 333–335. Cassida pudens. 331, 333–334. Dorsal; 332, 335. Lateral.