Eupogonius pulcher, Bezark & Santos-Silva, 2023

Bezark, Larry G. & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2023, American biodiversity in Lamiinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae): description of three new species of Eupogonius LeConte and new distribution records, Zootaxa 5296 (3), pp. 406-420 : 414-417

Eupogonius pulcher sp. nov.

( Figs 12 , 20–23 )

Description. Holotype male. Integument mostly dark brown, more blackish on some areas; ventral mouthparts brown, darker on some areas, except palpi blackish with yellowish-brown apex; anterior 2/3 of anteclypeus brownish; anterior third of labrum yellowish brown; pedicel, basal 3/4 of antennomere III, and basal 2/3 of IV dark reddish brown; basal 2/3 of protibiae and metatibiae, and basal half of mesotibiae reddish brown (orangish brown depending on light intensity). Elytral suture testaceous from anterior third; posterior quarter of elytra brown.

Head. Frons abundantly, coarsely punctate; with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument; with long, erect white setae interspersed, and a few long, erect yellowish setae close to eyes.Area between antennal tubercles with sculpturing and pubescence as on frons, with long, erect white setae interspersed. Remaining surface of vertex and area behind upper eye lobes abundantly, coarsely punctate; with dense yellow pubescence close to eyes; area between upper eye lobes with abundant whitish pubescence partially obscuring integument; remaining surface with somewhat abundant, bristly yellowish-white setae; area close to eyes with long, erect dark-brown setae and remaining surface with long, erect brownish setae interspersed. Area behind lower eye lobes abundantly, coarsely punctate, punctures shallower close to prothorax; with dense yellow pubescence close to eye, pubescence gradually paler toward ventral surface, and long, erect white setae interspersed, erect setae more abundant toward ventral surface; area close to prothorax glabrous. Genae 0.4 times as long as lower eye lobe; finely, sparsely punctate, except smooth apex and subsmooth area close to frons and clypeus; with abundant yellowish-white pubescence, with long, erect setae of same color interspersed, except glabrous smooth and subsmooth areas. Antennal tubercles sparsely, coarsely punctate; with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument and long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed. Wide central area of postclypeus abundantly, coarsely punctate; area close to frons with abundant, bristly white pubescence not obscuring integument, and long, erect dark brown setae interspersed; area close to anteclypeus with moderately abundant and long, decumbent yellowish-white setae directed forward. Sides of postclypeus with abundant yellowish pubescence close to eyes, glabrous on apex. Labrum with sparse whitish pubescence on posterior half, long, erect yellowish setae directed forward from middle to anterior quarter, and long, erect dark brown setae interspersed about middle; anterior quarter glabrous, except fringe of short yellowish-brown setae on anterior margin. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous; intermaxillary process with sparse whitish pubescence and a few long, erect setae of same color interspersed. Eyes coarsely faceted; widest area of upper eye lobes with six rows of ommatidia ( Fig. 12 ); distance between upper eye lobes 0.19 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.59 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 1.7 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at apical third of antennomere VIII. Scape widened on basal third, cylindrical on apical 2/3; somewhat sparsely, coarsely punctate; with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument, with long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed throughout, and a few long, erect white setae interspersed ventrally. Pedicel with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence sparser ventrally, except entire apex with dense white pubescence; with long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed throughout, and a few long, erect white setae interspersed ventrally. Antennomere III with a few short, decumbent white setae on basal 3/4, white setae distinctly denser on outer surface of basal half, and long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed, erect setae longer ventrally. Antennomere IV with abundant white pubescence dorsally and laterally on basal half, sparse ventrally; erect setae as on III. Antennomeres V–XI with abundant dark-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, and minute yellowish-white setae interspersed; V–X with long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed, some yellowish apically, more abundant ventrally; XI with long, erect yellowish setae interspersed. Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.64; pedicel = 0.16; IV = 0.84; V = 0.38; VI = 0.32; VII = 0.32; VIII = 0.29; IX = 0.26; X = 0.22; XI = 0.29.

Thorax. Prothorax slightly wider than long; sides with short, acute tubercle centrally, slightly divergent from anterolateral angles to lateral tubercle, slightly convergent from lateral tubercle to posterolateral angles. Pronotum abundantly, coarsely punctate, punctures sparser close to posterior margin; with dense, longitudinal yellow pubescent band laterally, from anterior to posterior margin; with narrow, irregular, longitudinal yellow pubescent band centrally on anterior third, not reaching anterior margin; with yellow pubescent spot centrally on posterior third; outermost area close to yellow pubescent band with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument; remaining surface with sparse, both white and yellow pubescence; with long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed throughout. Sides of prothorax abundantly, coarsely punctate; with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument close to pronotum and prosternum and abundant yellow pubescence not obscuring integument centrally; with long, erect white setae interspersed throughout. Prosternum sparsely, coarsely punctate; with abundant white pubescence partially obscuring integument, except wide, transverse area on each side of central region with sparse white pubescence; with long, erect white setae interspersed. Prosternum abundantly punctate, punctures finer on basal 2/3, coarser on apical third; with abundant white pubescence partially obscuring integument on basal 2/3, and long, erect white setae interspersed, erect setae more abundant apically; narrowest area 0.28 times procoxal width. Mesoventrite with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument, with yellow pubescence interspersed laterally, except glabrous anterocentral region. Mesanepisternum and mesepimeron with abundant yellow pubescence not obscuring integument. Mesoventral process with abundant white pubescence, pubescence yellowish-white on center of basal 2/3, and long, erect white setae interspersed; apex 0.41 times mesocoxal width. Metanepisternum with dense yellow pubescence. Metaventrite abundantly, coarsely punctate laterally, punctures sparser centrally; with abundant yellow pubescence partially obscuring integument laterally and abundant white pubescence partially obscuring integument centrally; with long, erect white setae interspersed. Scutellum with dense yellow pubescence. Elytra. Abundantly, coarsely punctate on anterior half, punctures gradually finer and sparser toward apex on posterior half; with four large, dense yellow pubescent maculae dorsally, posterior one elongate almost reaching apex; remaining dorsal surface with white pubescence, abundant on some areas, sparser on others; sides with abundant yellow pubescence partially obscuring integument on some areas, except epipleural margin with white pubescence; with somewhat abundant, long, erect brown setae throughout, and long, erect white setae laterally, white setae more abundant on wide central area; apex rounded. Legs. Femora with abundant white pubescence, denser and bristly ventrally, except yellowish pubescence on dorsal surface of club and absent on ventral surface of peduncle and inferior margin of sides; with long, erect, both white and dark-brown setae interspersed. Protibiae with white pubescence not obscuring integument dorsally and laterally, pubescence sparser toward apex, and basal third of ventral surface; apical 2/3 of ventral surface with dense, both yellowish-brown and dark-brown pubescence, pubescence bristly toward apex; dorsally and laterally with somewhat abundant, long, erect white setae interspersed, and a few dark-brown setae interspersed. Mesotibiae with both short and decumbent and long and erect white setae on basal half, some erect setae yellower, abundant dorsally, sparser laterally and ventrally; sides of apical half with sparse both whitish and dark-brown pubescence; dorsal surface of apical half with abundant, thick, erect dark-brown setae; apical half of ventral surface with bristly dark-brown pubescence; with long, erect, both whitish and dark-brown setae interspersed. Metatibiae with both short, decumbent and long and erect white setae, both more abundant dorsally, except apical third of ventral surface with short, bristly dark-brown setae. Dorsal surface of tarsomeres I with sparse white pubescence, II with a few white decumbent setae, and remaining tarsomeres with a few yellowish decumbent setae; tarsomeres I–III and V with long, erect dark-brown setae.

Abdomen. Sides of ventrites 1–4 and apex with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence, and remaining surface with abundant whitish pubescence; ventrite 5 with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument and yellowish-brown pubescence interspersed laterally; with long, erect yellowish setae interspersed laterally on 1–4, and both yellowish and dark-brown setae interspersed on 5.

Dimensions (mm). Total length, 5.10; prothoracic length, 1.05; anterior prothoracic width, 0.95; posterior prothoracic width, 1.00; maximum prothoracic width, 1.20; humeral width, 1.55; elytral length, 3.65.

Type material. Holotype male from MEXICO, Nayarit: 26–40 km NE jct. Santa Maria de Oro / rd. to El Saladito , 900–1100’, 8.VII.2019, J. Rifkind & E. Martinez leg. ( CASC, formerly LGBC).

Etymology. The specific epithet “ pulcher ,” Latin for “beautiful,” refers to the distinctive appearance of the elytra with the large bold, golden pubescent maculae.

Remarks. Although the holotype male of Eupogonius pulcher sp. nov. was collected at the same place and date as holotype female of E. martinezi sp. nov., the eyes, size of ommatidia and distance between upper eye lobes are very different, a condition that does not occur in other species of the genus. Therefore, they cannot be male and female of the same species. In E. pulcher sp. nov. the distance between upper eye lobes ( Fig. 12 ) is less than the maximum diameter of the scape (larger ( Fig. 9 ) in E. martinezi sp. nov.), the upper eye lobes have six rows of ommatidia at widest area (five in E. martinezi sp. nov.), the lower eye lobes ( Fig. 23 ) are distinctly longer than genae (slightly longer ( Fig. 19 ) than genae in E. martinezi sp. nov.), and the prothorax has short, but distinct acute lateral tubercle (absent in E. martinezi sp. nov.). The new species also differs from E. arizonensis ( Fig. 14 ) and E. affinis ( Fig. 13 ) by the shorter distance between upper eye lobes. See remarks under Eupogonius rifkindi sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 7–15. Eupogonius spp. 7–8) E. rifkindi sp. nov., head, dorsal view: 7) Holotype female; 8) Paratype male. 9) E. martinezi sp. nov., holotype female, head, dorsal view. 10) E. rifkindi sp. nov., holotype female, upper eye lobe. 11) E. martinezi sp. nov., holotype female, upper eye lobe. 12) E. pulcher sp. nov., holotype male, head, dorsal view. 13) E. affinis Breuning, 1942, holotype, head, pronotum, and antennomere III. 14) E. arizonensis Knull, 1954, male from Guatemala (Alta Vera Paz, near Agua Blanca), head, pronotum, and basal antennomeres. 15) E. guerrerensis Wappes & Santos-Silva, 2020, female from Mexico (Jalisco, near La Cumbre), head, dorsal view.

FIGURES 20–23. Eupogonius pulcher sp. nov., holotype male. 20) Dorsal habitus; 21) Lateral habitus; 22) Ventral habitus; 23) Head, frontal view.

FIGURES 16–19. Eupogonius martinezi sp. nov., holotype female. 16) Dorsal habitus; 17) Ventral habitus; 18) Lateral habitus; 19) Head, frontal view.