Temnaspis puae

Li, Kaiqin, Liang, Zongli & Liang, Hongbin, 2013, Two new species of the genus Temnaspis Lacordaire, 1845, (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea: Megalopodidae) from China and Myanmar, with notes on the biology of the genus, Zootaxa 3737 (4), pp. 379-398 : 380-383

Temnaspis puae Li & H.B. Liang, sp. nov.

( Figs 1–14 , 39 , 51)

Material examined. Types. Holotype: m (IZCAS) / CHINA, Yunnan Province, Ruili City, Nongdao Town, Alongba, 900m, 2003. XI.17, Jinxin Song coll. / Holotype Temnaspis puae sp. n., des. by K.Q. Li & H.B. Liang, 2012 [red label] /; paratype (paralectotype of T. flavicornis Jacoby, 1892 ): 1 f (MSNG), Carin Chebá, 900–1100m, L. Fea, V XII–88 / flavicornis Jac. / Temnaspis flavicornis Jac. [blue label] / Syntype Temnaspis flavicornis Jacoby, 1892 [red label] / Museo Civico di Genova / Paratype Temnaspis puae sp. n., des. by K.Q. Li & H.B. Liang, 2012 [red label] /.

Description. BL = 13.5–14.0 mm, BW = 5.0– 5.3 mm. Head, pronotum, scutellum, prosternum, meso-, and metaventrite red; labrum, clypeus, antennae, abdomen, metafemora and metatibiae yellow; pro- and mesofemora brown; elytra, tarsi, pro- and mesotibiae black; pubescence on head and pronotum yellow, on elytra black.

Head: eyes prominent, inner margin with distinct canthus; vertex coarsely and densely punctate, with small deep median fovea ( Figs 3 , 7 ); occiput constricted; clypeus trapezoid, punctate and pubescent laterally; labrum rectangular, densely punctate and pubescent; antennae reaching slightly beyond elytral bases, antennomeres 1–4 cylindrical with sparse long setae, 5–11 strongly flattened and widened, densely pubescent, length of first antennomere 1.3x third antennomere.

Thorax: PW/PL = 1.3–1.4, PBW/PAW = 1.1; basal and apical pronotal margins nearly straight; anterior transverse pronotal groove deep laterally, obsolete medially, posterior groove absent; pronotal disc convex, slightly impressed along midline, sparsely punctate and pubescent, punctures sparser than on vertex; lateral margins nearly parallel; each basal angle produced as an indistinct tubercle. Scutellum trapezoid, slightly emarginate at apex, sparsely punctate and pubescent.

EL/EW = 1.6–1.7; elytral humeri broad, projecting antero-laterally; elytra laterally slightly widened from humeri to posterior third, then convergent to suture; disc convex, shiny, finely punctate and pubescent; epipleura densely punctate and pubescent. Metaventrite sparsely punctate and pubescent, each side raised to a prominent conical tubercle. Hind femora swollen, with two large ventral teeth at apex, on inner and outer surfaces, outer slightly longer than inner ( Figs 4 , 8 ); hind tibiae curved in male ( Figs 1–2 ), less so in female.

Abdomen: apex of last abdominal sternite concave in female, rounded in male. Median lobe flattened, strongly curved in lateral view ( Fig. 10 ), sides and apex strongly sclerotised, dorsocentral portion membranous ( Figs 10– 12 ), sides parallel, apex rounded ( Fig. 12 ); median struts rod-shaped, widely separated from each other, 1.5–2.0 times as long as median lobe ( Figs 10–11 ); tegmen trapezoid, basal piece rod-like, tegminal ring gradually narrowed towards parameres, apical margin of parameres with dense setae ( Fig. 13 ); endophallus membranous, with paired elongate stick shaped sclerites at base in repose (EdpS, Figs 10–11 ). Spiculum relictum short, basal portion strongly sclerotised, apical portion rounded, weakly sclerotised ( Fig. 14 ). Ovipositor long (Fig. 51), base broad, apex narrow, divided into two vaginal palpi, two baculi at each side connected at their bases, the outer short, the inner long, coxite strongly sclerotised and sub-quadrate, apical margin with long setae, stylus small and distinct (Fig. 52).

Distribution. China (Yunnan); Myanmar (Kayin).

Etymology. The specific name puae is proposed in memory of Professor Fuji Pu, who greatly contributed to taxonomy of Chinese Megalopodidae .

Remarks. On October 2, 2012, H.B. Liang went to Alongba, the type locality of the new species, where he found a few damaged shoots of Rubus alceaefolius ( Figs 15–16 ). From what is known of other Temnaspis species (Yu 1977; Yu & Yang 1994), this was probably caused by Temnaspis adults. No adults were found on this or the succeeding two days. From October 21 to November 7, 2012, our colleague Mr. X. Huang looked for Temnaspis in the same area. He found only one Megalopodinae larva inside a shoot of R. alceaefolius , almost certainly of T. puae , since no other Megalopodidae are known from the area

The two syntypes of Temnaspis flavicornis Jacoby, 1892 , in MSNG belong to different species. One syntype, with two outer teeth on the hind femora ( Figs 18, 20 ), fits the original description of T. flavicornis , and is designated lectotype of T. flavicornis (see below). However, the other, with a single outer tooth on the hind femora, is identical to the holotype of T. puae sp. nov. ( Figs 5–9 , 51), and is designated a paratype of T. puae sp. nov., as well as being a paralectotype of T. flavicornis .

The new species differs from T. flavicornis by: the apex of the femora with single outer and inner teeth (two outer teeth and no inner tooth in T. flavicornis , Figs 18, 20, 23 ); pronotum sub-quadrate ( Fig. 39 ) with apex slightly constricted laterally (pronotum trapezoid with apex distinctly constricted in T. flavicornis , Fig. 40 ); median lobe of aedeagus more curved ( Figs 45–46 ), sides parallel and apex rounded (median lobe less curved, sides convergent from base to apex, and apex acute in T. flavicornis , Figs 45–46 ); ovipositor bases and outer baculi (Fig. 51) strongly sclerotised (weakly sclerotised in T. flavicornis , Fig. 52). Photographs of the holotype of Temnaspis bidentata Pic, 1922 , show that is it correctly placed as a junior synonym of T. flavicornis ( Figs 22–23 ).

Temnaspis nigriceps also has black elytra and one ventral outer tooth on the femora, and occurs in China and Myanmar (Medvedev 2002; Yu & Liang 2002). Photographs of type material of T. nigriceps and its two junior synonyms (Medvedev 2002): T. insignis Baly, 1859 , and T. nigripennis Jacoby, 1889 , ( Figs 25–35 , 48–50 ), show that this is a different species. Temnaspis puae differs from T. nigriceps by having: pronotum sub-quadrate, with tubercle of basal angle less protruding (pronotum trapezoid with tubercle of basal angle more protruded in T. nigriceps ); eyes less prominent (eyes more prominent in T. nigriceps Baly ); median lobe strongly curved with longer apical lamella (median lobe less curved with shorter apical lamella in T. nigriceps Baly ).

Finally, T. puae differs from Temnaspis omeiensis (Gressitt 1942) by antennae yellowish-brown, pronotum with tubercle of basal angle less protruding, head nearly as wide as pronotum (antennae blackish-brown, tubercle of basal angle more protruding, head wider than pronotum in T. omeiensis, Figs 36–38, 41 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Holotype of Temnaspis puae sp. nov., male: 1, dorsal; 2, ventral; 3, head, anterior; 4, teeth of right hind femur, ventral. Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 1 – 2); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 3 – 4).

FIGURES 5 – 9. Paratype of Temnaspis puae sp. nov., female: 5, dorsal; 6, ventral; 7, head, anterior; 8, teeth of right hind femur, ventral; 9, labels attached to paratype (paralectotype of T. flavicornis Jacoby). Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 5 – 6); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 7 – 8).

FIGURES 10 – 14. Holotype of Temnaspis puae sp. nov., male genitalia: 10, aedeagus, lateral; 11, median lobe (Mdl) and median struts (Mds), ventral; 12, median lobe, dorsal view; 13, tegmen (Teg), dorsal; 14, spiculum relictum (Spi), dorsal. Abbreviations: basal piece (Bpi); endophallus (Edp); parameres (Par); sclerites of endophallus (EdpS); tegminal ring (Tgr). Scale line = 2.0 mm. (Figs 10 – 11); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 12 – 13); scale line = 0.5 mm. (Fig. 14).

FIGURES 39 – 44. Pronotum of Temnaspis species. 39, holotype of Temnaspis puae sp. nov.; 40, lectotype of Temnaspis flavicornis Jacoby, 1892; 41, Temnaspis omeiensis (Gressitt, 1942) from Sichuan (China); 42, syntype of Temnaspis nigriceps Baly, 1859; 43, syntype of Temnaspis insignis Baly, 1859; 44, syntype of Temnaspis nigripennis Jacoby, 1889. Scale line = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 15 – 16. Rubus alceaefolius Poir, at Alongba, Yunnan, possible host plant of Temnaspis puae, sp. nov., showing typical adult megalopodine damage.

FIGURES 17 – 24. Lectotype of Temnaspis flavicornis Jacoby, 1892, female: 17, dorsal; 18, ventral; 19, head, anterior; 20, teeth of right hind femur, ventral; 21, labels attached to specimen. Syntype of Temnaspis bidentata Pic, 1922: 22, dorsal; 23, lateral; 24, labels attached to specimen. Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 17 – 18, 22 – 23); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 19 – 20).

FIGURES 45 – 50. Male genitalia of Temnaspis species. Temnaspis flavicornis Jacoby from Yunnan (China), male genitalia: 45, median lobe and median struts, lateral; 46, median lobe, dorsal; 47, tegmen, dorsal. Temnaspis nigriceps Baly from Yunnan (China), male genitalia: 48, median lobe, dorsal; 49, median lobe and median struts, lateral; 50, tegmen, dorsal. Scale line = 2.0 mm. (Figs 45, 48); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 46 – 47, 49 – 50).

FIGURES 25 – 28. Holotype of Temnaspis nigriceps Baly, 1859: 25, dorsal; 26, lateral; 27, head, anterior; 28, labels attached to specimen. Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 25 – 26); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Fig. 27).

FIGURES 29 – 32. Syntype of Temnaspis nigripennis Jacoby, 1889: 29, dorsal; 30, ventral; 31, head, anterior; 32, labels attached to specimen. Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 29 – 30); scale line = 1.0 mm (Fig. 31).

FIGURES 33 – 38. Syntype of Temnaspis insignis Baly, 1859: 33, dorsal; 34, labels attached to specimen. Temnaspis insignis Baly from Yunnan (China): 35, head, anterior; Temnaspis omeiensis (Gressitt, 1942) from Sichuan (China), female: 36, head, anterior view; 37, dorsal view; 38, ventral view. Scale line = 5.0 mm. (Figs 33, 37 – 38); scale line = 1.0 mm. (Figs 35 – 36).