Cyrea ferruginiceps (Weise) Canepari & Gordon & Hanley, 2016

Canepari, Claudio, Gordon, Robert D. & Hanley, Guy A., 2016, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XVII: Systematic revision of the genera Cyrea Gordon and Canepari and Tiphysa Mulsant (Hyperaspidinae: Brachiacanthini), Insecta Mundi 2016 (486), pp. 1-180 : 109-110

96. Cyrea ferruginiceps (Weise) , new combination

Cleothera ferruginiceps Weise, 1906:229 .

Hyperaspis ferruginiceps: Korschefsky 1931:188 ; Blackwelder 1945:447.

Description. Male. Length 4.5 mm, width 3.0 mm; body elongate, somewhat parallel sided, convex. Dorsal surface with head alutaceous, weakly shiny, pronotum alutaceous, dull, elytron slightly alutaceous, weakly shiny. Color reddish yellow except pronotum with large, black basomedian macula extended 3/4 distance to anterior pronotal margin, apex of macula sinuate, middle of macula with small, elongate, triangular yellow spot, obscure, narrow, obliquely oval reddish spot on each side, lateral 1/6 reddish yellow; elytron black with 5 large yellow spots, humeral spot triangular, scutellar spot irregularly rectangular, median lateral spot oval, projected inward, discal spot irregularly rectangular, apical spot transversely oval, apical border of spot deeply emarginate ( Fig. 532 ); ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrite black; abdomen reddish yellow. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures slightly larger than head punctures, separated by 1 to 3 times a diameter, elytral punctures larger than on pronotum, separated by less than to about a diameter; metaventral punctures fine, sparse, becoming larger and separated by less than a diameter laterally. Head with deep impression on side posterior to clypeus. Clypeus prominent, emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, angled from lateral angle to eye canthus, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus short, 3 or 4 eye facets long, angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin slightly curved, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron narrow, grooved, not descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia with slight oblique angle, basal tooth absent, sponda slightly extended beyond angle ( Fig. 533 ). Carinae on prosternal process narrowly separated at apex, convergent and joined at basal 1/3 of prosternum. Metaventrite without setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite extended to apex of ventrite, then right angled and abruptly terminated, ventrite with sparse, short pubescence and fine, dense punctures; ventrites 2-6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; 5th ventrite not depressed in median 1/3, apex shallowly emarginate; 6th ventrite depressed at apex, apex deeply emarginate. Apical tergite coarsely, densely punctured, apex emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe longer than paramere, slightly asymmetrical, sides slightly convergent from base to rounded apex; paramere Psc, narrowed in apical 1/2 ( Fig. 534, 535 ); sipho slender, strongly curved in basal 1/2, with visible alae immediately posterior to apex, basal capsule weakly sclerotized, inner arm short, narrow, apex rounded, outer arm straight, wider and longer than inner arm, with accessory piece, basal border not emarginate ( Fig. 536 ).

Female. Similar to male except head black with large, reddish yellow spot on base of frons and vertex, pronotum with black basomedian macula extended to, or nearly to, pronotal apex, lateral 1/8 of pronotum yellow. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule short, widest at base, narrowed to acute apex; bursal cap without sclerotized arms, apical strut short, widened from narrow base to spatulate apex ( Fig. 537 ).

Variation. Length 4.3 to 5.0 mm, width 2.8 to 3.2 mm. Pronotal pattern variable from that described above to entirely reddish yellow, or reddish yellow with obscure, short basomedian macula, elytron varies from that described above to having scutellar and discal spots broadly connected, or with all spots very small and scutellar spot entirely lacking.

Type locality. Argentina, Tucuman.

Type depository. MBR (lectotype here designated).

Geographical distribution. Argentina.

Specimens examined. 14. Argentina. Chaco, colonia Benitez ; Salta, Cafayete ; Salta, Cerrillos, INTA Salta, Cnel. Maldes ; San Luis, S. Geronimo. ( JEBC) ( MBR) ( USNM) .

Remarks. Cyrea ferruginiceps is certainly one of the most distinctive of all Cyrea species because of the (usually) large size; post clypeal depressions of male head; very short eye canthus; clypeus produced anteriorly; and short, abruptly angled postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite. Specimens from all localities except Chaco are typically large and boldly marked. Chaco specimens are smaller, with all or mostly reddish yellow pronota, and elytral spots usually severely reduced in size, or with scutellar spot completely absent.

A type specimen in the MBR labeled “Rep. Argentina, Prov. Tucuman, 1-III-1900, C. bruch/TYPUS/ Cleothera ferruginiceps Weise ” is designated as the lectotype.

Figures

Figures 519-537. Cyrea spp. 519-524) Cyrea rosemary. 519) Habitus. 520) Phallobase ventral. 521) Phallobase lateral. 522) Sipho. 523) Enlarged siphonal apex. 524) Female bursal cap and apical strut, spermathecal capsule. 525-531) Cyrea flavoguttata. 525) Habitus. 526) Protibia. 527) Phallobase ventral. 528) Phallobase lateral. 529) Sipho. 530) Enlarged siphonal apex. 531) Female bursal cap and apical strut, spermathecal capsule. 532-537) Cyrea ferruginiceps. 532) Habitus. 533) Protibia. 534) Phallobase ventral. 535) Phallobase lateral. 536) Sipho. 537) Female genitalia.