Paracleodoxus minutus Vlasak and Santos-Silva, 2023

Vlasak, Josef & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2023, Description of three new Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) species from Ecuador, Insecta Mundi 2023 (998), pp. 1-13 : 9-12

Paracleodoxus minutus Vlasak and Santos-Silva , new species

( Fig. 18–24 )

Description. Holotype male ( Fig. 18–22 ). Head capsule dark brown; anteclypeus dark brown close to postclypeus, brown close to labrum, except sides irregularly yellowish-brown; labrum dark brown on posterior 2/3, dark yellowish brown on anterior third; ventral mouthparts dark brown, except blackish palpi; scape brown basally, orangish brown on remaining surface; pedicel orangish brown; antennomeres III–X orangish brown except dark-brown apex, dark area longer on VIII–X; antennomere XI orangish brown except brown apical third. Pronotum and sides of prothorax brown, except pronotum orangish brown close to posterior margin and dark brown on gibbosities. Ventral surface of pro-, meso-, and metathorax dark brown. Scutellum brown, slightly lighter toward apex. Elytra mostly brown on anterior quarter, darker between centrobasal crests, dark brown on centrobasal crests, and with irregular dark-brown maculae laterally; posterior quarter pale with irregular brown maculae interspersed; remaining surface mostly light brown, slightly darker close to inner region of longitudinal carina, and with dark-brown spots close to humeral carina and dark-brown macula on dorsal carina after middle of elytra. Femoral peduncles orangish; femoral clubs orangish brown dorsally and on inner lateral surface, except irregular dark-brown maculae on posterior half of inner lateral surface, dark brown with irregular orangish brown areas on outer lateral surface and ventrally. Protibiae brown basally on dorsal surface, reddish brown on remaining basal half, blackish on apical half; mesotibiae dark brown basally, brown on remaining basal half, except orangish ventral surface; metatibiae dark brown on base of dorsal surface, blackish on remaining dorsal surface and entire apical half, remaining surface orangish. Basal quarter of protarsomere I and basal third of protarsomere V dark reddish brown, remaining surface blackish; protarsomeres II–IV dark brown; basal half of meso- and metatarsomere I orangish, remaining surface dark brown; basal half of meso- and metatarsomere V reddish brown; meso- and metatarsomeres II–IV dark brown. Abdominal ventrites dark brown.

Head. Frons abundantly, finely punctate, somewhat minutely rugose; with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument; with a few long, erect dark-brown setae close to eyes. Median groove distinct from near clypeus to area between upper eye lobes. Vertex with sculpturing as on frons, depressed close to posterior region of area between antennal tubercles, forming oblique sulcus on each side of median groove; area between antennal tubercles with somewhat abundant, both yellowish-brown and brownish pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous median groove; area between upper eye lobes and sides of area between eyes and prothorax with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument; remaining surface of vertex with abundant dark yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument; with one long, erect dark-brown seta close to eyes, and area around it glabrous. Area behind upper eye lobes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence. Area behind lower eye lobes with abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence denser close to eye. Genae with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence frontally, slightly sparser toward lateral surface, except glabrous apex; with a few long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed laterally. Wide central area of postclypeus with sculpturing and pubescence as on frons, except area close to anteclypeus with long, erect yellowish-brown setae directed forward; with one long, erect seta on each side, seta dark brown basally, gradually pale toward apex. Sides of postclypeus glabrous. Labrum with somewhat abundant yellowish-brown pubescence on posterior third, glabrous on remaining surface, except anterior margin with fringe of yellowish-brown setae; with sparse, long, erect dark-brown setae interspersed on posterior third. Antennal tubercles abundantly, finely punctate; with abundant brownish pubescence not obscuring integument frontally, and abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument on remaining surface. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous, except anterocentral region with sparse yellowish-white pubescence. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.42 times distance between outer margins of eyes, almost equal to twice maximum diameter of scape; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.70 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 2.4 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at apical fifth of antennomere VI. Scape, pedicel, and antennomeres III–XI with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except dark apical area of III–XI with sparser dark pubescence with decumbent yellowish-white setae interspersed, and apex of XI with tuft of white setae; pedicel with somewhat long, erect dark-brown seta ventrally; antennomere III with a few, somewhat long, erect yellowish-brown setae ventrally; ventral apex of antennomeres III–X with short, dark-brown setae directed backward. Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.92; pedicel = 0.17; IV = 0.92; V = 0.84; VI = 0.77; VII = 0.73; VIII = 0.65; IX = 0.65; X = 0.61; XI = 0.61.

Thorax. Prothorax wider than long; anterior constriction well marked; lateral tubercles small, conical, located on posterior third, with apex not directed backward; sides slightly divergent from anterior constriction to lateral tubercles, subparallel-sided between lateral tubercles and posterolateral angles. Pronotum with three slightly elevated gibbosities, one oblique on each side, from about anterior quarter to slightly after middle, another centrally, shorter, located from slightly after middle to posterior quarter; somewhat abundantly, coarsely punctate, except gibbosities abundantly, very finely punctate; sides with abundant pale-yellow pubescence partially obscuring integument, from anterior constriction to posterior margin; anterior constriction almost glabrous laterally; anterior margin with fringe of short pale-yellow setae; central region with wide, longitudinal pubescent band, pubescence sparser, yellowish brown on anterior third, gradually pale-yellow on remaining surface, absent on central gibbosity; area close to anterior constriction with sparse yellowish-brown pubescence between central and lateral pubescence; posterior third with somewhat sparse pale-yellow pubescence between central and lateral pubescence; central gibbosity glabrous; anterolateral gibbosities with somewhat abundant dark-brown pubescence not obscuring integument; with a few long, erect dark-brown setae on sides of posterior quarter. Sides of prothorax with abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous area of anterior constriction; anterior margin with fringe of pale-yellow setae. Prosternum glabrous anteriorly except anterior margin with fringe of pale-yellow setae; remaining surface with abundant pale-yellow pubescence laterally, gradually yellowish white toward central region. Prosternal process with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument; narrowest area 0.33 times procoxal width. Wide central area of mesoventrite with abundant yellowish-white pubescence centrally not obscuring integument, sparser laterally; sides with abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument. Mesanepisternum and mesepimeron with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Mesoventral process with abundant yellowish white pubescence not obscuring integument; apex 0.42 times mesocoxal width. Metanepisternum and sides of metaventrite with dense pale-yellow pubescence; remaining surface of metaventrite with somewhat abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous posterocentral region. Scutellum with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Elytra. Parallel-sided on anterior 2/3, gradually narrowed on posterior third; apex individually rounded; abundantly, coarsely punctate, punctures sparser, shallower on posterior quarter; centrobasal crest moderately elevated, slightly shorter than distance between upper eye lobes, with short, arched dark-brown setae; humeral carina well marked on anterior half, gradually disappearing from posterior quarter; dorsal surface with slightly oblique, longitudinal carina from near humerus to posterior third and another slightly distinct carina from apex of centrobasal crest to before middle of elytra; with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence yellower on some areas and denser basally, except short, longitudinal whitish pubescent band close to apex of centrobasal crest; dorsal carina with dense whitish pubescent band from apex of its basal third to after middle, longitudinal band with somewhat abundant, arched dark-brown setae from apex of previous whitish pubescent band to about posterior quarter, and another dense whitish pubescent band apically; remaining dark maculae and spots with somewhat sparse dark-brown pubescence; area between dorsal carinae on posterior half and most of posterior quarter with whitish pubescence not obscuring integument. Legs. Femoral peduncles with abundant white pubescence not obscuring integument; femoral clubs mostly with abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument. Protibiae with somewhat abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument, except dorsal and lateral surfaces of anterior third 1/3 with sparse yellowish pubescence, and apical 3/4 of ventral surface with abundant, bristly yellowish-brown pubescence. Meso- and metatibiae with abundant pale-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument, except abundant, bristly yellowish-brown pubescence on posterior third of ventral surface, sparse yellowish-white pubescence on apical half of dorsal and lateral surfaces of metatibiae, sparse yellowish-white pubescence on apical half of lateral surfaces of mesotibiae, and apical half of dorsal surface of mesotibiae with abundant, short, erect dark-brown setae; dorsal surface of metatibiae with a few short, thick, erect dark-brown setae. Dorsal surface of tarsomeres I with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument; dorsal surface of tarsomeres II with somewhat sparse yellowish-white pubescence on basal half and somewhat sparse, both yellowish-white and dark-brown pubescence on remaining surface; tarsomeres III–IV with somewhat sparse, both yellowish-white and dark-brown pubescence; and tarsomeres V with somewhat sparse yellowish-white pubescence on basal 2/3 and sparse dark-brown pubescence on apical third; metatarsomere I 1.5 times longer than II–III together.

Abdomen. Ventrites 1–4 with abundant pale-yellow pubescence laterally not obscuring integument and abundant yellowish-white pubescence on remaining surface, except entire apex of ventrite 1 with fringe of pale-yellow pubescence; ventrite 5 mostly with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument; apex of ventrite 5 concave.

Female ( Fig. 23–24 ). Similar to male; differs by the shorter antennae, 2.1 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at basal third of antennomere VII.

Variation. Basal quarter of elytra with wide, transverse dark-brown band; posterior half of elytra with wide, longitudinal, sinuous dark-brown band dorsally.

Dimensions (mm) (Holotype male/ paratype female). Total length, 5.05/4.95; prothoracic length, 0.80/0.70; anterior prothoracic width, 1.00/1.00; posterior prothoracic width, 1.15/1.15; maximum prothoracic width, 1.35/1.30; humeral width, 1.75/1.75; elytral length, 3.50/3.55.

Type material. Holotype male from ECUADOR, Napo: Pacto Sumaco , [0°40′12″S 77°35′53″W], 1500 m, 24.XI.2022, J. Vlasak leg. ( MZSP) . Paratype female, same data as holotype ( JVCO).

Etymology. The specific epithet “minutus” is Latin, meaning small and refers to the small size of the species.

Remarks. According to Monné et al. (2020), “ Sternacutus , due to the different shape of the scape, metafemora, and body width of the included species, probably includes more than one genus.” The new species would belong to the group of species of Sternacutus Gilmour, 1961 with distinct humeral carina, which includes the type species of the genus, S. cristatus Gilmour, 1961 (= S. zikani (Melzer, 1925)) . The key from Monné et al. (2020) does not allow including this group of species in Sternacutus , and needs to be adapted after a full revision of this genus. The real differences between Sternacutus and Paracleodoxus are not clear to us. However, based on the features pointed out by Monné and Monné (2010) and the similar general appearance, we prefer to include the new species in Paracleodoxus .

Paracleodoxus minutus new species can be separated from the other species of the genus by the following key:

1. Distance between upper eye lobes almost equal to twice maximum diameter of the scape. Ecuador.................................................. P. minutus Vlasak and Santos-Silva , sp. nov.

— Distance between upper eye lobes at most as wide as maximum diameter of the scape............. 2

2(1). Pronotum with blackish longitudinal bands; centrobasal crest of the elytra with tuft of erect setae. Venezuela.............................................. P. simillimus Monné and Monné, 2010

— Pronotum without blackish longitudinal bands; centrobasal crest of the elytra without tuft of erect setae. Colombia, Venezuela............................... P. cineraceus Monné and Monné, 2010

Figures

Figures 18–24. Paracleodoxus minutus sp. nov. 18–22) Holotype male. 18) Dorsal habitus. 19) Ventral habitus. 20) Lateral habitus.21) Head, frontal view.22) Centrobasal crest of the elytra.23–24) Paratype female. 23) Dorsal habitus. 24) Ventral habitus.