Oxycoleus laetus Júlio, 1997

Nascimento, Francisco Eriberto De L. & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2021, The interesting and complex tribe Oxycoleini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae): a new genus, new species, and taxonomic notes, Zootaxa 5060 (3), pp. 353-370 : 367-368

Oxycoleus laetus Júlio, 1997

( Figs 36–37 )

Oxycoleus laetus Julio, 1997: 3 ; Júlio et al., 2000: 23 (holotype); Martins & Galileo, 2003: 59; Monné, 2005: 427 (cat.); Monné & Monné, 2016: 27 (holotype); Monné, 2021: 623 (cat).

Remarks. Júlio (1997) compared O. laetus with O. ruficollis ( Zajciw, 1964) . However, the species appears to be more similar to O. brasiliensis ( Tippmann, 1953) . Comparing the photographs of the holotype male of O. laetus and O. brasiliensis (wrongly described as a female, see Zajciw (1964) and Martins & Galileo (2003)), the most reliable difference appears to be the length of the antennae: longer in males of O. brasiliensis (the antennae extend about a third of their length beyond the body – Tippmann (1953)) than in O. laetus (antennae surpassing elytral apex by the two last antennomeres – Júlio (1997)). Unfortunately, the holotype and paratypes of O. laetus , as well as the holotype of O. brasiliensis were destroyed during the fire in 2018 at the MNRJ.

Júlio (1997) also reported on the elytra (translated): “elytral carina restricted to a short shining area on apical 1/6.” However, the two females examined by us have no elytral carina even on the apical area.

Material examined. BRAZIL, Mato Grosso: Chapada , 2 females, no date and collector indicated ( MZSP) .

Figures

FIGURES 32–37. 32–35) Oxymerus brachypterus (Clarke, 2008): 32) Paratype female, dorsal habitus; 33) Paratype female, ventral habitus; 34) Paratype male, dorsal habitus; 35) Paratype male, ventral habitus. 36–37) Oxymerus laetus Júlio, 1997, female from Brazil (Mato Grosso): 36) Dorsal habitus; 37) Ventral habitus.