Atimiola rickstanleyi Lingafelter & Nearns, 2007

Ivie, Michael A. & Spiessberger, Erich L., 2007, Clarification of the Correct Original Spelling of Caecomenimopsis jamaicensis Dajoz (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Diaperinae: Gnathidiini: Anopidiina), The Coleopterists Bulletin 61 (2), pp. 177-191 : 177-191

Atimiola rickstanleyi Lingafelter & Nearns , new species

( Figs. 1j , 2d )

Description. Very small size, 3–5 mm long; 1.4–2.1 mm wide at humeri; integument mottled light and dark brown and black except for uniformly pale brown at apical third of elytra and entire scutellum. Integument covered with moderately dense, tawny appressed pubescence. Head with broad, nearly flat interantennal tubercle region, antennal tubercles only slightly projecting. Head throughout with dense, deep punctures, covered with sparse appressed tawny pubescence (not obscuring surface) and sparse, long, erect, mostly pale hairs on frons and eye margins. Eyes average in size, coarsely faceted (about 12 facets at greatest height of lower lobe; 6 facets across greatest width of upper lobe), deeply 186 emarginate at insertion of antenna, lower lobe occupying a little less than one-half of head thickness. Antenna 11-segmented, without spines, with vestiture mixture of short, tawny brown and white pubescence, with sparse, stiff, suberect hairs along most antennomeres. Antennomeres 3–11 with basal one-fourth to one-third distinctly annulate with pale pubescence. Scape with small, dense, confluent punctures throughout. Antennae of both sexes similar in length and form, just surpassing elytral apices in male, and about as long as body in female. Third and fourth antennomeres longer than scape, fourth distinctly longer than third, slightly curved mesally, and about two times length of each successive antennomere. Antennomeres 5–11 short and of similar length to one another. Pronotum 1.2 to 1.4 times as broad as long; an acute, post-medial and posteriorly directed lateral spine on each side; distinctly narrowed at base behind tubercle; width of pronotum at base about two-thirds width of elytral base; three vaguely defined dorsal calli, two anteromedially, and one medially. Pronotum densely covered with large, deep punctures, mostly separate from each other; with sparse vestiture of pale or tawny pubescence, not obscuring surface, but with denser pubescent areas around lateral tubercles, adjacent to scutellum, and anteromedially. Prosternum with punctures and pubescence similar to pronotum. Prosternal process moderately broad between procoxae, strongly expanded at apex, closing procoxal cavities posteriorly. Procoxal cavities widely open laterally at proepimeron. Elytra with mottled light and dark brown integument, with apical third very pale and distinctly, arcuately delineated. In some specimens, dark spots form 2–3 rows at basal half; in some specimens a pale, reddish-brown arcuate band extending from humeri to antemedial suture. Elytral surface covered with moderately dense vestiture of appressed tawny and white pubescence, but not concealing surface. Elytral surface with sparse, evenly distributed, longer, semiappressed bicolored hairs, dark at base, white at apex. Punctures dense, deep, coarse, mostly separate; similar in size, shape, and density to those of pronotum. Punctures much more conspicuous on basal two-thirds of elytra. Elytral apices narrowly rounded. Scutellum subtruncate posteriorly, broadly covered with dense off-white pubescence. Legs moderate to short in length, femora only attaining base of fifth ventrite; with sparse pubescence, including longer, appressed bicolored hairs (dark at base, white at apex); femora clavate. Venter moderately pale pubescent throughout, not obscuring surface which has punctures of slightly smaller size, shallower and more densely distributed than those on dorsal surface. Mesosternum with moderately broad mesocoxal process, less than half as wide as mesocoxa, and without lateral projections into mesocoxae. Ventrites one and five very long, each longer than 2–4 combined, which are each short, and similar in length. Fifth ventrite of female with a short, longitudinal groove at middle of base (absent in males). Apex of fifth ventrite sinuate in females, broadly rounded in males. Parameres of males nearly always slightly protruding and visible in ventral aspect.

Etymology. This species is named after Rick Stanley, BBC-Shell Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2006, who was a great companion and the expedition photographer from 2005–2006. The epithet is a noun in apposition.

Discussion. The tribe Desmiphorini is a heterogeneous assemblage of genera in need of phylogenetic analysis. Atimiola rickstanleyi could fit well into Euryestola Breuning 1940 , currently containing seven South American species. However, according to Galileo and Martins (1997), Euryestola are characterized as having appendiculate tarsal claws (those of A. rickstanleyi are simple), justifying the placement of that genus into Calliini . Despite this fundamental difference, A. rickstanleyi is rather similar to Euryestola morotinga Galileo and Martins 1997 . Differences other than the simple claws include the antennomeres with evenly pale annulations at the basal third to half (antennomeres 5, 7, and 9 without annulae and 8 and 10 completely pale in E. morotinga ), and the apical third of the elytra uniformly pale (more pronounced in females) (diffusely and incompletely pale in E. morotinga ). The South American genera Pseudestola Breuning 1940 and Euestola Breuning 1943 of Desmiphorini also include species similar to A. rickstanleyi . These genera were reviewed in Martins and Galileo (1997). However, like E. morotinga , the antennomeres of all species in these genera are not uniformly annulate, and no species have the apical third of the elytra abruptly paler than the rest.

Atimiola was proposed by Bates (1880). He indicated that the majority of characters resemble those of Estola Fairmaire and Germain 1859 , but the acutely spined pronotum and third antennomere shorter than fourth, among others, distinguished it from that genus. He further defined Atimiola as having the pronotum gradually narrowed anteriorly from the postmedial lateral spine and sinuate posterior to the spine—characters which A. rickstanleyi possesses. Our examination of Atimiola guttulata Bates 1880 , the type species, further shows that both species possess elongate ventrites 1 and 5 whereas 2–4 are much shorter. Females of both species have a postmedial longitidinal impression of sternite 5 that is absent from examined Estola species , including the type, Estola hirsuta Fairmaire and Germain 1859 , and Estola attenuata Fisher, 1926 . Both species of Atimiola have pronota similar in proportions, the presence of vague dorsal calli, and punctation. This combination of characters justifies placement of A. rickstanleyi in that genus. Atimiola rickstanleyi differs from A. guttulata in having the apical third of the elytra distinctly pale and arcuately delineated from the remainder in most specimens (in A. guttulata it is only slightly, more noticeably paler and not distinctly margined); in having mostly dark brown to black integument, especially on the legs and head (reddish brown in A. guttulata ); and by having only sparse, longer semiappressed bicolored hairs present on the elytra (these longer subdepressed hairs are much more densely distributed and mostly unicolorous in A. guttulata ). Furthermore, A. guttulata is known only from Central America while A. rickstanleyi is Hispaniolan.

Type Material. Holotype, female: ‘‘ Dominican Republic, Pedernales Prov., PN Sierra de Baoruco, Las Abejas , 1150 m, 18 ° 09.011 9 N, 71 ° 37.342 9 W, beating 17 July 2006, Steven W. Lingafelter’ ’ ( USNM) . Paratypes, 111 (all from Dominican Republic, Pedernales Province unless otherwise specified): same data as holotype (3 males, USNM) ; 25 km N of Cabo Rojo , 18 ° 06.769 9 N, 71 ° 37.245 9 W, 679 m, 15 July 2006, Steven W. Lingafelter, beating (1 female, USNM) ; same data except 10 July 2004, day collecting, Steven W. Lingafelter (1 male, USNM) ; Parque Nacional Sierra de Baoruco, Las Abejas , 1150 m, 18 ° 09.011 9 N, 71 ° 37.342 9 W, blacklight, night beating, 11 July 2004, Steven W. Lingafelter (4 males, 1 female USNM) ; same except Charyn J. Micheli (3 males, 3 females, JCPC) ; same except (1 male, 1 female, JEWC) ; same data except beating tree fall, 18 June 2005, Nearns & Lingafelter (1 male, ENPC) ; 25 km N. Cabo Rojo , 700 m, 10 July 1996, Coll. M. C. Thomas (1 male, FSCA) ; 3.3 km northeast Los Arroyos , 18 ° 15 9 N, 71 ° 45 9 W, 1450 m, 16–18 July, 1990, L. Masner, J. Rawlins, C. Young, wet montane forest sweep samples, CMNH specimen number 333,216 (1 female, CMNH) ; 24 km north Cabo Rojo , 610 m, 21 August 1988, wet forest at light & night beating, M. Ivie, Philips & Johnson (1 female, 1 male WIBF) ; same except 19 August , 1988 (1 female, 1 male, WIBF) ; same except 26 August 1988, M. Ivie, 188 Philips, & Johnson (1 female, WIBF) ; Parque Nacional Sierra de Baoruco, Las Abejas , 1240 m, 18 ° 09.023 9 N, 71 ° 37.387 9 W, 9 August 1999, M. A. Ivie (4 females, 2 males, WIBF) ; same except 8 August 1999, Ivie & Guerrero at light (1 male, WIBF) ; same except 22 July–9 August 1999, malaise trap, Ivie (1 male, WIBF) ; Haiti, Morne Guimby , 22 km. SW Fond Verrettes, 19 July 1956, 6500 9, B. & B. Valentine (38 females; 34 males, WIBF) ; Haiti, Dept. Sud-Oueste, Parc National la Visite, Morne , la Visite, south slope, 2040–2150 m, 23 May 1984, Coll. M. C. Thomas (2 males, FSCA) ; same except 2100 m, 12 May, 1984 (2 females, 1 male, FSCA) ; same except Morne, d’Enfer, Massif de La Salle , 15 May, 1984 (2 females, FSCA) ; same except ca. 1 km south Roche Plat , 22 May, 1984 (1 female, FSCA) .

Figures

Fig. 1. a–f. New species of Cerambycidae from Dominican Republic, along with similar taxa: a) Hormathus giesberti Lingafelter & Nearns, male; b) Hormathus bicolor (Zayas), male; c) Hormathus cinctellus Gahan, male; d) H. giesberti Lingafelter & Nearns, female;

Fig. 2 a–d. Photographs of live specimens of new species from Dominican Republic (all photos by Rick Stanley): a, Eburia pseudostigma Lingafelter & Nearns; b, Ataxia hovorei Lingafelter & Nearns; c, Drycothaea indistincta Lingafelter & Nearns; d, Mating pair of Atimiola rickstanleyi Lingafelter & Nearns.