Brachiacantha brevicuspidata, Nestor-Arriola & Toledo-Hernández, 2017

Nestor-Arriola, Jorge Ismael & Toledo-Hernández, Víctor Hugo, 2017, New species of Brachiacantha Dejean, 1837 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Mexico and Central America, Zootaxa 4365 (1) : -

Brachiacantha brevicuspidata sp. nov.

( Figs. 13‒16 )

Diagnosis. Males with four spots on each elytron, females with three spots on each elytron. Third ventrite with a very small, barely visible cusp on each side of midline. Basal lobe of male genitalia with oblique apeX ( Fig. 14 ).

Description. Holotype: Male: Length 3.5 mm, width 2.4 mm; body oval. Dorsal color black eXcept head pale yellow; pronotum with anterolateral angles and anterior border pale yellow; each elytron with four orange spots: a pale small humeral spot, a rounded middle-lateral spot, a rounded discal spot touching the middle-lateral spot and a subapical oval spot ( Fig. 13 ). Ventral surface with head, prosternum, metaventrite and abdomen black; mouthparts yellow, antenna yellow with the two apical articles dark brown. Legs yellow. Head punctures small, separated by one diameter to one and a half diameters, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures as large as head punctures, separated by one diameter to one and a half diameters; elytral punctures larger than pronotal punctures, separated by one diameter; metaventral punctures as large as elytral punctures, separated by one diameter. Clypeus not emarginate, curved, lateral angles slightly emarginate. Pronotum narrowed from base to apeX, sides curved. Prosternal carinae half as long as prosternum, straight, convergent to the prosternal anterior part, not joined. Protibial tooth large, protibia flanged. Epipleuron narrow, emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Abdomen with postcoXal line on basal abdominal ventrite slightly curved along posterior ventrite margin, ventrite with sparse, short pubescence and dense, medium punctures; ventrites 2‒6 pubescent throughout, punctures dense and fine; ventrite 3 with small, barely visible cusp on each side of the midline; ventrites 4, 5 and 6 slightly emarginate and depressed. Genitalia with the basal lobe a little shorter than paramere, asymmetrical, sides almost parallel, apeX without apical hook ( Fig. 14 ); paramere scimitar shaped, wide, long, rounded at apeX, with a small tooth on the concave margin and abundant long bristles on the conveX and apical margins, shorter bristles on the apical fourth of the concave margin ( Fig. 15 ); siphon with lateral, short, oval alae at the apeX ( Fig. 16 ); siphonal capsule not crested, inner arm large and wide, apeX rounded.

Female. Length 3.5 mm, width 2.7 mm. Similar to male eXcept head black with a frontal orange or yellow spot, pronotum without the yellow anterior margin, elytra without humeral spot; abdomen without modifications. Genitalia with 2 sclerotized arms in the bursa copulatriX, apical strut elongate, laterally flattened with parallel sides.

Variation. Length 3.5 to 3.6 mm, width 2.4 to 3.0 mm. The mid-lateral and discal spots can be joined into a transverse band or completely separated.

Distribution. MeXico; states of Morelos and Veracruz.

Type material. Holotype: MEXICO: “ Morelos, Tetela del Volcán, C. Tetela, 18°54'33.3" N, 98°43'13" W, 2400 msnm, 20-III-2003, 17:20, col. I. Mora, durazno, bosque miXto, SHCO 8675” ( CCFES-Z) (1♂).

Paratypes: MEXICO: “ Morelos, Tetela del Volcán, C. Tetela , 18°54'33.3" N, 98°43'13" W, 2400 m , 20-III- 2003, 17:20, col. I. Mora, durazno, bosque mixto, SHCO8679 ” ( CCFES-Z) (1♂); “ Morelos, Tlaltizapán, Poza Honda , 26-IX-2015, col. J. I. Nestor A., red, hierbas” (CIUM) (1♂); same location, “ 6-VI-2015, col. J. I. Nestor A., hierbas” ( CIUM) (1♂) ; same location, “ 13-VI-2015, J. I. Nestor A., hierbas” ( CIUM) (1♂) ; same location, “ 26-IX- 2015, col. J. I. Nestor A., Red, hierbas” ( CIUM) (4♀, 2♂); “ Veracruz, Cotaxtla , 18° 50' 06.57'' N, 096° 56' 49.00'' W , 25-IV-1948, col. D. Candia”, donated by the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias del Bajío (CIUM) (1♀, 1♂).

Type locality. Tetela del Volcán, Morelos, MeXico.

Remarks. This species is similar to others, such as Brachiacantha indubitabilis Crotch and B. barberi Gordon. The presence of a humeral spot in males and the male genitalia separates it from B. indubitabilis . The lack of cusps on the fourth ventrite separates it from B. barberi . Based on the cusps on the third ventrite and the asymmetrical genitalia this species belongs to the dentipes group.

Etymology. From the Latin “brevis” (short), “cuspis” (spear head) and “ata” (possessing). The name refers to the really small cusps on the male abdomen.

Figures

FIGURES13‒16. Brachiacantha brevicuspidata.13) dorsal habitus; 14) tegmen, concave side vieW;15) tegmen, lateral vieW; 16) apex of the sipho.