Agrilus (Agrilus) delsinnei, Curletti, Gianfranco, 2015

Curletti, Gianfranco, 2015, Four new species of the genus Agrilus Curtis, 1825 from Ecuador (Coleoptera, Buprestidae), Zootaxa 3985 (4), pp. 575-582 : 575-576

Agrilus (Agrilus) delsinnei n. sp.

( Fig. 1 a, 1b, 1c).

Material examined. Holotype ♂: Ecuador, 23.X.2014, Cajanuma, 3000 m, T. Delsinne leg. on Macrocarpaea arborescens Gilg ( MCCI). Paratypes: 5 ♀ and 3 ♂ idem ( CISEC and MCCI).

Holotype description. Length 6.8 mm. Entirely metallic green. Head: frons glabrous with punctiform sculpture. Clypeus without transverse carina. Antennae black, serrate from fourth article. Pronotum depressed at the sides, wider in middle, with posterior angles obtuse. White pubescence few visible at the anterior angles. Superficial and transverse sculpture, dotted with small punctures. Premarginal carinula interrupted, not entire. Marginal carinae joined at the base. Mentonniere with anterior margin slightly sinuate in middle. Prosternal plate wide and parallel. Scutellum with transverse carina absent, replaced by a thick callus. Elytra rounded at the apex, with coarse and sparse denticulation; disc with 4 (2+2) slightly visible spots of white pubescence along the suture: the first pair at of the length, the second at the apex. Underside with two white spots of pubescence at the sides of ventrites 2 and 3. One white spot also at the base of the first laterotergum. Legs with all claws simply toothed; metatarsus shorter than the metafemur. Basal metatarsomere little longer than the second (1<2+3). Aedeagus as in fig. 1c.

Variation. Paratypes range in length from 6.5 to 7.9 mm. Two specimens have the elytral pubescent spots not visible. Two males have the frons dark green, almost black. The only apparent secondary sexual character is in the color of the frons of the females being golden, though one has a green frons like the males.

Etymology. I name this beetle after my friend and colleague Thibaut Delsinne, discoverer of the species.

Comments. All specimens were found on the foliage of Macrocarpaea ovalis (Ruiz & Pav.) Ewan = Macrocarpaea arborescens Gilg (Gentianaceae) ( Fig. 5 ), where they had found refuge from adverse weather. The fact that all the specimens were found on the same species of plant suggests that this may be the larval host. The altitude where the specimens were found shows the great climatic adaptability of the genus Agrilus . To my knowledge, however, the record in height for South America belongs to a species in Bolivia: A. altitudinalis Curletti, 2015 that was found at 3,800 m. Among the South American species that have a similar pattern of pubescent spots, A. delsinnei is the only one known without a carinate scutellum.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Agrilus delsinnei n. sp.: a) back, b) profile, c) aedeagus 1.6 mm.

FIGURE 5. Cajanuma: biotope of Agrilus delsinnei n. sp. In the foreground Macrocarpaea ovalis (Ruiz & Pav.) Ewan (photo T. Delsinne).