Agra piranha Erwin, 2010

Erwin, Terry L., 2010, Agra, arboreal beetles of Neotropical forests: pusilla group and piranha group systematics and notes on their ways of life (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini, Agrina), ZooKeys 66, pp. 1-28 : 17-18

Agra piranha Erwin sp. n. Figs 8, 9 11

Holotype:

Ecuador: Orellana, 1 km S Onkone Gare Camp, Entomology Transect, 216m, "0.6569°S, 76.4527°W," 2 July 1995 (T.L. Erwin, et al.)(NMNH: ADP 087440, male).

Derivation of specific epithet.

The epithet " piranha " or piraña, is a translation of the Huaorani word, Onkone Gare, the name of the camp near which the holotype was discovered.

Proposed English vernacular name.

Piraña Elegant Canopy Beetle.

Diagnosis.

With the attributes of the genus and species-group as described above and brassy pronotum, legs unicolored, frons laterad unicarinate, smooth, prothorax not setiferous laterally, and elytra barely constricted at apical third, side margin slightly arcuate, apex truncate, barely lobed medially.

Description.

( Fig. 8, 9 ). Size: Very small, ABL = 7.18 - 7.29 mm, SBL = 5.98 - 6.13 mm, TW = 1.76 - 1.86 mm. Color: Head black with bluish reflection posteriorly, body and legs with metallic blue reflections, elytra metallic cobalt blue; antennae and mouthparts piceous, scape with slight metallic blue reflections. Luster: Shiny metallic, elytra matte. Head: Labrum moderately elongate and rounded at corners, slightly emarginate medially. Frons medially raised and smooth, laterally depressed and uni-carinate. Gena slightly tapered, hind angle obtuse to constricted neck in both sexes. Genae and occiput with moderately dense and coarse punctures, some setiferous. Prothorax: Slightly broader medially, flared basally; surface densely punctuate, disc each side with three long setae; lateral elongate callous with single row of non-setiferous punctures along middle. Pterothorax: Elytron markedly convex, intervals moderately costate, interneurs of rows of somewhat laterally ovate punctures, apex truncate, barely lobate, apical dentation asymmetric, lateral tooth small, acute, sutural apex not produced, rounded. Metasternum sparsely setiferous in both sexes. Legs: Middle tibia of male with dense brush of short setae on medial margin. Abdomen: Abdominal sterna III, IV, and V of both sexes sparsely setiferous bilaterally; sternum VII of both sexes very slightly emarginate. Male genitalia: Phallus ( Fig. 8 ) elongate, narrow, with moderately broad arrow-shaped apex; ostium elongate. Parameres small, left twice the size of the right, both broadly rounded. Female ovipositor: Stylomere 2 ( Fig. 9 ).

Dispersal potential.

These beetles are macropterous and are probably capable of flight; they are swift and agile runners.

Way of life.

Adults are found in the canopy of terre firme rainforest trees; known larvae of this genus ( Arndt et al. 2001) are found under the bark of these trees, however they must also roam on the surface, as they have been collected by insecticidal fogging techniques in the very early morning before first light. Members of Agra piranha occur at lowland altitudes in the Amazon Basin. Adults are active in July and October, in both the rainy and transition seasons. The holotype was fogged from the hardwood Eschweilera cf. laevicarpa in the familyLecythidaceae. The paratype was fogged from a mixed canopy consisting of the palms Iriartea deltoidea Ruiz. & Pav. and Wettinia maynensis Spruce, and the hardwood Macrolobium cf. ischnocalx , plus an unidentified species ofApocynaceae.

Other specimens examined.

Ecuador: Rio Tiputini, Erwin Transect, 232m, "0.63173°S, 76.14420°W," 23 October 1998 (T.L. Erwin, et al.)(NMNH: ADP 117227, female paratype).

Geographic distribution.

( Fig. 11 ). This species is currently known from the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin.

Figures

Figure 11. Distribution map of the species of the piranha group.

Figures 8 - 9. 8 Agra piranha Erwin, sp. n., male genitalia (dorsal, ventral, left lateral aspects) (ADP 087440) 9 Agra piranha Erwin, sp. n., female stylomeres (dorsal aspect) (ADP 117227).