Cephaloleia cyanea Staines, 1996

Staines, Charles L. & Garcia-Robledo, Carlos, 2014, The genus Cephaloleia Chevrolat, 1836 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae), ZooKeys 436, pp. 1-355 : 104-105

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Chrysomelidae

Cephaloleia cyanea Staines, 1996 Fig. 109

Cephaloleia cyanea Staines 1996: 25. McKenna and Farrell 2006: 10949 (phylogeny).

Description.

Oval; subconvex; head, pronotum, and scutellum black; elytra dark metallic blue; legs reddish. Head: vertex shallowly, sparsely punctate, without sulcus; frons not projecting; not depressed between eyes. Antenna: reaches to humerus; slender; antennomere 1 subglobose; 2 cylindrical, elongate, longer than 1; 3 elongate, longer than 1-2 combined; 4-10 elongate, decreasing in length, each shorter than 3; 11 pointed at apex, subequal in length to 4; 1-11 setose. Pronotum: transverse; lateral margin straight for basal ½ then rounding to anterior angle, canaliculate; anterior angle produced; posterior angle acute; anterior margin emarginate behind head; disc subconvex; with slight depression in posterior angle; surface impunctate; basal impression absent; pronotal length 0.6-0.9 mm; pronotal width 1.0-1.3 mm. Scutellum: pentagonal, impunctate. Elytron: lateral margin straight, dentate, especially on apical ½, margined; apex rounded; sutural angle without tooth; humerus rounded, slightly produced; slightly constricted behind humerus; punctures shallow; rows converge and unite near apex; punctures are larger and more impressed on elytral disc, rest almost obsolete; elytral length 2.6-3.3 mm; elytral width 1.4-1.7 mm. Venter: pro-, meso-, and metasterna smooth medially, punctate laterally; abdominal sterna punctate, each puncture with pale seta; suture between sterna 1 and 2 obsolete medially, punctate laterally. Leg: slender; punctate; femur and tibia with row of setae on inner margin; tibia with fringe of setae on inner margin of apex. Total length: 3.4-4.1 mm.

Diagnosis.

This is a distinctive species which can be distinguished by the metallic blue color, by the smooth lateral margins of the pronotum, and by the serrulate lateral margins of the elytra.

Host plant.

Adults have been collected on Chusquea sp. ( Poaceae ) ( Staines 1996).

Distribution.

Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela.

Type material examined.

Holotype: Venezuela: Aragua, Rancho Grande, 8 May 1973, 1100 m., Ginter Ekis/ Holotype Cephaloleia cyanea Staines, Des. C. L. Staines 1994 [red label] (USNM).

Specimens examined.

COLOMBIA: Boyaca- 11 km NW Arcabuco, 13 July 1982 (USNM). COSTA RICA: Puntarenas- Monteverde Reserve, 1500 m, 19 August 1987 (CMNC), 1400m 27 February 1980 (CMNC). VENEZUELA: Distrito Federal- Caracas, 1921 (USNM). Total: 10.