Chrysobothris thomsoni Waterhouse.

Westcott, Richard L., 2008, A new species of Xenorhipis LeConte and of Mastogenius Solier from Mexico, with a discussion of Chrysobothris ichthyomorpha Thomson and its allies and notes on other Mexican and Central American Buprestidae (Coleoptera), Zootaxa 1929, pp. 47-68 : 54

Chrysobothris thomsoni Waterhouse.

( Figs. 8, 10 , 13 )

Chrysobothris collaris Thomson, 1878: 76 (nec Deyrolle, 1865). Chrysobothris thomsoni Waterhouse, 1887: 35

This species and C. ichthyomorpha have been quite thoroughly confused in the literature, though based on structure of the aedeagus ( Fig. 13 ) and female last ventrite ( Fig. 8 ) probably it is closer to C. chiriquita . In my opinion, those characters are the only sure way to distinguish the three species being treated here, although distribution can be helpful. Unlike C. ichthyomorpha (q.v.), the hind angles of the pronotum were found to be bright coppery-red in all specimens of C. thomsoni that I examined. Additionally, the apical foveae in the latter are usually separate, while in C. ichthyomorpha they are usually joined; however, this is far from being a uniformly reliable character. The female holotype ( Fig. 10 ) of C. collaris (MNHN) is 12.6 mm long and labeled “Caracas, Sallé (green)/Th. TYPE / Collaris (LaF. M.ss, Type Th./Ex. Musaeo JAMES THOMSON.” This specimen is atypical in that the median elytral green spots are coalesced into a fascia, and the apical fascia is divided into distinct spots. I examined specimens as follows: COLOMBIA, Valle de Cauca, CLBC, MNMS. VENEZUELA, Aragua: Rancho Grande, Portachuelo, 1100 m, 6-IX-52 & 8-V-79; Pozo Diablo, cr. Maracay, 27-II-55; El Limón, 15-VI-70; Bolivar: km 125 El Dorado-Santa Elena, 1100 m, 26-IX-67. D.F., El Valle, 6-X-42, MIZA. ECUADOR, Lita, BMNH. All of the specimens (BMNH) cited by Waterhouse (1887) are instead C. ichthyomorpha . There is a specimen from Brazil (no other data) in NMPC that is questionably this species. Based on the structure of the aedeagus ( Fig. 14 ), specimens from Trinidad may represent another taxon; however, other characters, including the female last ventrite, match well to C. thomsoni . I have seen additional examples from Guaico (Sangre Grande), 7-26-VIII-69, CLBC, FSCA; 6.5 mi. post, Maracas Bay, 80- VIII-69, FSCA. Besides the three species just discussed, there are others in this group in this group from South America; however, I have seen only C. viridifasciata Gory (photo of type, MNHN), C. rutilans Kerremans (originally considered a variety of the former) and the little-known C. lucifera Théry (photo of type [MNHN], Fig. 9 ; and a specimen from Venezuela, Rancho Grande, 1100 m, 12-VII-52, MNMS). I examined the male holotype (BMNH) of C. rutilans , which appears most closely related to C. ichthyomorpha but is coppery in color, differently marked, and the aedeagus is not at all similar.

Figures

FIGURES 3 – 10. 3 – 5, Chrysobothris Adult dorsal habitus: 3, C. chiriquita, Costa Rica; 4, C. ichthyomorpha, Mexico; 5, same, Panama. 6 – 8, female last abdominal ventrite: 6, C. chiriquita; 7, C. ichthyomorpha; 8, C. thomsoni. 9, C. lucifera, holotype. 10, C. collaris (= C. thomsoni), holotype.

FIGURES 11 – 16, Aedeagus of Chrysobothris and Xenorhipis. 11, Chrysobothris chiriquita; 12, C. ichthyomorpha; 13, C. thomsoni, Colombia; 14, same, Trinidad; 15, Xenorhipis bajacalifornica, dorsal; 16, same, ventral.