Cyrea kristen Canepari and Gordon, 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 : 98-99

85. Cyrea kristen Canepari and Gordon , new species

Description. Male holotype. Length 2.0 mm, width 1.7 mm; body elongate oval, convex. Dorsal surface with head alutaceous, dull, pronotum and elytron smooth, shiny. Color yellow except pronotum with dark brown basomedian macula extended 2/3 distance to anterior pronotal margin, apex of macula narrowly incised with yellow, anterior brown projection on each side with indistinct, reddish yellow “eyespot”, lateral 1/4 of pronotum yellow; elytron dark brown with 5 small yellow spots, humeral spot short, oval, median lateral spot projected inward, discal spot irregularly oval, apical spot transversely oval, with apical border weakly emarginate ( Fig. 470 ); ventral surface with head, prosternum, meso- and metaventrites dark brown; abdomen yellowish brown, slightly paler toward lateral margin. Head punctures small, separated by a diameter or less, each puncture about as large as an eye facet; pronotal punctures larger than head punctures, separated by less than to twice a diameter, elytral punctures larger than on pronotum, separated by less than to twice diameter; metaventral punctures smaller than on elytron medially, separated by 1 to 3 times a diameter, becoming larger and separated by a diameter or less toward lateral margin. Clypeus weakly emarginate apically, lateral angle rounded, surface with sparse, long pubescence. Eye canthus about 6 eye facets long, angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal and anterior angles abrupt, lateral margin straight, basal margin without trace of bordering line medially. Epipleuron narrow, feebly grooved, not descending externally, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibia without oblique angle, basal tooth absent, sponda slightly extended beyond protibia. Carinae on prosternal process narrowly separated at apex, convergent toward base, joined just before base of prosternum. Metaventrite without setal tuft. Basal abdominal ventrite without setal tuft. Abdomen with postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite rounded throughout, extended forward at apex, ventrite with sparse, long pubescence and coarse, dense punctures; ventrites 2-6 pubescent throughout, punctures fine, dense; 5th ventrite depressed in median 1/3, apex shallowly emarginate; 6th ventrite medially depressed, apex very shallowly emarginate. Apical tergite finely, densely punctured, apex emarginate. Genitalia with basal lobe about as long as paramere, slightly asymmetrical, sides convergent from base to abruptly rounded apex; paramere Psc, wide, same width from base to apex, apex rounded ( Fig. 471, 472 ); sipho robust, strongly curved in basal 1/2, without visible alae, basal capsule weakly sclerotized, inner arm short, narrow, apex bifid, outer arm slender, long, as wide as and longer than inner arm, with accessory piece, basal border shallowly emarginate ( Fig. 473, 474 ).

Female. Unknown.

Variation. Mediobasal brown area of pronotum variable in size, in both paratypes it is slightly larger than in holotype, and the lateral “eyespot”, although present, is indistinct in both paratypes. Male genitalia of each type specimen has a basal lobe that differs slightly from the others.

Type material. Holotype male; ( Brazil) Santar Cm (handwritten Santarem?), Cleothera gacognii Muls. (BMNH) . Paratypes; 2, 1, Brazil, Santarem, Acc.No. 2966 ( CMNH) ; 1, ( Brazil) Santarem , June 1919, S. M. Klages, Acc. 6324 ( CMNH) .

Geographical distribution. Brazil.

Remarks. This is one of the very small species in the difficult tessulata group. It has pronotal eyespots similar to those of the much larger C. laurie , and is distinguished from other species by a combination of small size, pronotal “eyespots”, and median lateral spot on elytron projecting inward. All 3 specimens bear labels with the same type locality, and all male genitalia slightly differ from each other. These slight differences are attributed to variation within species.

One specimen of another species is mounted on the same pin below the holotype. This is an unrecognized female not dealt with herein.

Figures

Figures 470-486. Cyrea spp. 470-474) Cyrea kirsten. 470) Habitus. 471) Phallobase ventral. 472) Phallobase lateral. 473) Sipho. 474) Enlarged siphonal apex. 475-480) Cyrea vanessa. 475) Habitus. 476) Phallobase ventral. 477) Phallobase lateral. 478) Sipho. 479) Enlarged siphonal apex. 480) Female genitalia. 481-486) Cyrea alma. 481) Habitus. 482) Phallobase ventral. 483) Phallobase lateral. 484) Sipho. 485) Enlarged siphonal apex. 486) Female bursal cap and apical strut, spermathecal capsule.