Acmaeodera noguerai, Westcott

Westcott, Richard L., Hespenheide, Henry A., N, Jesús Romero, Solorio, Armando Burgos & M, Armando Equihua, 2008, The Buprestidae (Coleoptera) of Morelos, Mexico, with description of six new species, and a partially annotated checklist, Zootaxa 1830, pp. 1-20 : 2-4

Acmaeodera noguerai, Westcott , new species

( Fig. 1 )

Holotype male: Length 9.13 mm, width 2.83 mm, widest across base of elytra, but almost equally wide across middle of pronotum; head, pronotum and ventral surface black with slightly coppery reflections that are more pronounced on head, pronotum with a small lateral sub-basal spot on each side, elytra black with purple and, to a lesser extent, blue reflections, and with yellow markings as in Fig. 1 , submarginal interval yellow between and slightly beyond each median spot that reaches it; appendages black; setae white.

Head flattened, very shallowly depressed along middle, surface coarsely reticulate-punctate; clypeus deeply depressed at base, front margin broadly, arcuately emarginate; antennae abruptly and widely serrate from antennomere 5, reaching to about hind margin of pronotum. Pronotum broadly, rather steeply evenly convex, with a well-define narrow median depression extending from base to shortly before apex; punctures coarse, reticulate and well-defined medially, becoming larger and more closely reticulate laterally; anterior margin deeply emarginate, with a distinct narrow lobe at middle; posterior margin truncate; lateral margins well-defined, broadly and evenly arcuate, scarcely visible from above; front angles distinctly pronounced, subquadrate, hind angles quadrate; setae rather long and suberect on disc, distinctly thicker and subrecumbent on sides. Elytra weakly convex on disc, rather steep-sided, with very prominent shining black finely and sparsely punctured umbones; humeral angles blunt-triangular, projecting to apex of hind angles; lateral margins becoming weakly serrate past middle, then distinctly and more strongly so apically; sutural area flattened basally but becoming elevated from just in front of middle and more distinctly so apically; strial punctures coarse dense deep and well-defined except somewhat confused basally, and becoming smaller and placed in grooves apically on disc, interstrial punctures tiny to indistinct; intervals 4–8 very narrow, ninth most prominent, especially before apex, sixth and eighth ending well before apex; setae shorter and thicker than on pronotal disc, suberect, becoming subrecumbent to recumbent laterally, some of them becoming narrowly and shortly bifurcate along margin. Underside with setae mostly recumbent, squamiform, finely and deeply dissected, moderately dense on thorax, very dense on abdominal ventrites 1–4, except those of ventrite 5 unmodified, thin, erect, more sparsely placed; prosternum with front margin broadly evenly shallowly emarginate, not attaining front angles of pronotum; ventrite 5 with apical margin rather narrowly subtruncate and a welldeveloped thickened subapical plate.

Type specimens: Holotype ( UNAM) labeled “ MEXICO, Morelos, 2.5 km N, 4 km O Huautla, Estación CEAMISH, 13-VI-1996, Alt. 940 m, 18°27.671’ N, 99°02.475’ O, Col. F.A. Noguera, 120 RA. One male paratype ( EBCC) with exact same data.

Variation: The single male paratype is a close match to the holotype, the only significant difference being that it lacks pronotal spots.

Comparison: This species seems most closely related to the recently described A. rodriguezae Westcott (2005) , based primarily on arrangement and type of ventral abdominal setae, which are digitate except on the fifth ventrite, where they are long, hair-like and suberect. Also, A. rodriguezae is distinctly smaller, more robust, and the elytral markings are fewer and more regularly placed.

Etymology: I take pleasure in dedicating this species to my friend and fellow Coleopterist, Felipe Noguera, who has collected many specimens of Buprestidae in Mexico and has extended to me numerous courtesies during my years of study in his country.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. 1, Acmaeodera noguerai Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 2, Acmaeodera tenuivittata Westcott, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 3 – 5, Agrilus cyphothoracoides Hespenheide, sp. nov.: 3, dorsal habitus; 4, lateral view; 5, dorsal view aedeagus. 6 – 7. Agrilus pseudosallei, Hespenheide sp. nov.: 6, dorsal habitus; 7 dorsal view aedeagus. 8, Brachys exquisitus Hespenheide, sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 9 – 10. Chrysobothris tessellata Westcott, sp. nov.: 9, dorsal habitus; 10, dorsal view aedeagus.