Sesaspis Casey, 1907

Foley, Ian A. & Ivie, Michael A., 2008, A phylogenetic analysis of the tribe Zopherini with a review of the species and generic classification (Coleoptera: Zopheridae), Zootaxa 1928 (1), pp. 1-72 : 29-32

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.1928.1.1
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/887B878A-FFBE-FF88-768A-51D0FD06D644
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Sesaspis Casey
status

Treatment

Genus Sesaspis Casey NEW SENSE

Figs. 2 View FIGURES 1–5. 1–3 , 17–19 View FIGURES 16–19 , 26–29 View FIGURES 26–29 , 30 View FIGURES 30–31 , 33 View FIGURES 32–34 , 54 View FIGURES 54–56. 54–55 , 72 View FIGURES 71–72

Sesaspis Casey, 1907b: 469 . Gebien, 1936: 669. Neave, 1939: 182. Blackwelder, 1945: 514. Doyen and Lawrence, 1979: 341. (Type species Nosoderma denticulata Solier, 1841: 33 by original designation).

Sesapis Doyen and Lawrence, 1979: 341. (lapsus calami).

Diagnosis: This genus is defined by having the ventral body surfaces covered by punctures with single inserted setae (tubercles in Phloeodes and Verodes ) and the presence of a short arcuate cavity on the hypomeron (also present in Nosoderma , but that genus has a distinct transverse groove on the prosternum).

DESCRIPTION (of male): Length 11–19 mm. Brachypterous. Dorsal vestiture tomentose to densely setose; vestiture consisting of dense bristle-like setae, or combination of very short matted woolly setae and golden setae inserted in punctures, never with obvious tubercles; ventral surface similar with setae inserted in punctures. Head not constricted behind eyes; suprantennal ridges distinctly raised above antennal insertions. Anterior clypeal margin relatively straight to concave. Subgenal ridges present and strong. Eye elongate oval, posterior margin slightly emarginate. Antenna 10-segmented; antennomere 2 shorter than 1 or 3; antennomere 3 short and transverse equal in size to 4, or slightly to considerably longer than 4; at least antennomere 1 and up to basal 6 antennomeres with dense patch of golden setae on apical margin; antennal club 2-segmented, weak. Mandible ( Fig. 33 View FIGURES 32–34 ) bidentate, without membranous prostheca; last segment of maxillary palp acutely acuminate; labial palps inserted laterally, insertions exposed; apical margin of labium with setose fringe or setae inserted in fossae.

Lateral margin of pronotum weakly arcuate to weakly bisinuate; disc with strong lyriform to weakly arcuate ridge laterally, simple along midline to paired parallel ridges running entire length, more strongly elevated at apex and base; anterior angles rounded, produced forward. Hypomeron with distinct short arcuate cavity near apical margin, shallow depression behind cavity; prosternal process 2.0–2.5X as wide as coxal cavity, apex concave; procoxal cavities externally closed.

Scutellum not visible. Elytra with or without distinct ridges and nodules; with 8 rows of fairly regular punctures; never with obvious tubercles.

Mesocoxae separated by distance subequal in width to coxal cavity; laterally closed. Tarsal formula 5-5-4, tarsi with all segments with dense patches of golden setae creating weak median strip; apex between claws simple without setose empodium. Nodules on femora absent, present on all legs, or present only on pro and mesofemora. Abdomen with ventrites 1–4 medially flattened or rounded; with setose punctures, never with tubercles; ventrite 5 with narrow arcuate preapical groove.

FEMALE: Similar to male except lacking nodules on femora. When the nodules are totally absent in the male ( S. emarginata ), there is no discernable external difference.

Distribution: The genus occurs in Central America north up the Sierra Madre Oriental into Texas. This is a relatively small geographic area to support 7 species, but the mountainous pine forest of this area are highly fragmented sky islands that have led to the formation of several allopatric species.

Notes: This genus was described by Casey without examining actual specimens and was based on the published description of Nosoderma denticulata Solier , the type species, by original designation. Sesaspis was later synonymized with Nosoderma Solier by Doyen and Lawrence (1979). The current morphological analysis supports the recognition of Sesaspis as a distinct genus that occurs from Mesoamerica to Texas. The five described species placed in this genus were most recently placed in the genera Nosoderma (not Guérin- Méneville) ( S. denticulata , S. lutosa , and S. sylvatica ) and Phloeodes (= Noserus ) ( S. emarginata and S. doyeni ). The independent phyletic lineages of Noserus (sensu Doyen and Lawrence 1979) were recognized by García-París et al. (2001), who suggested the genus was possibly paraphyletic, with a Mexican Gulf and Pacific lineage, but took no action to correct the generic definition or component species. García-París et al. (2001) also returned Noserus to valid status after it had been synonymized with Phloeodes (Ṡ lipi ń ski and Lawrence 1999). From this sense of Noserus , Noserus plicatus is confirmed as a member of Phloeodes (Ṡ lipi ń ski and Lawrence 1999, Ivie 2002) and the other two described species are here placed in Sesaspis .

The name Nosoderma denticulata has historically been applied to a species that is relatively common in Central America. Based on the examination of the Solier type of this species these identifications are incorrect. Solier (1841) described the species Nosoderma denticulata from Mexico, but only a single specimen of the presumed species has been examined from Mexico, and it was in southern Chiapas (IEXA). The true identity of Nosoderma denticulata lies with a species that has only been recorded from a handful of localities in eastern and central Mexico and is closely related (possibly the sister-species) to Noserus emarginatus Horn from Texas. Both of the species that the name Nosoderma denticulata has been applied to are supported as true members of the genus Sesaspis Casey. Therefore the type species of the new sense of the genus remains Nosoderma denticulata Solier 1841 .

While there has been some confusion about species identity, amazingly there are no synonyms described in Sesaspis . This could be due to the fact that the genus is rarer and more isolated in habitat than the genera Phloeodes and Verodes . For example, Noserus emarginatus was described in 1878 from Texas. This species has been reported from a relatively wide geographic area of southern Texas, including highly populated areas, but relatively few specimens (very few when compared to Phloeodes ) have been collected. The rarity of specimens (Casey never saw any 1907a, b) during a time of questionable taxonomy, saved the genus from the accumulation of synonyms that have plagued the related genera. The two new species described here, and the two most recent species additions to the tribe ( García-París et al. 2001 and 2006), both belong in this genus and are the result of relatively recent collecting efforts in northern Mexico and Central America.

General relatedness patterns can be identified among the species based on morphology. The species Sesaspis doyeni and Sesaspis ashei , Sesaspis emarginata and Sesaspis denticulata , and Sesaspis lutosa and Sesaspis sylvatica are all probably sister-species pairs. This leaves the species Sesaspis triplehorni relatively isolated in Central America and sharing general sculptural patterns with four of the other species ( S. emarginata , S. denticulata , S. lutosa and S. sylvatica ) which almost certainly represent a separate clade within Sesapis defined by the loss of the male nodule on at least one femora, the dense setose vestiture, and distinct sculpture of elevated ridges and nodules. On the other hand, Sesaspis doyeni and Sesaspis ashei are similar in the reduced elytral sculpture, and presence of nodules on all femora of the male. The little biological information that is available for these species suggests that S. doyeni , S. ashei , S. sylvatica , and possibly S. lutosa all occur in high elevation cloud forests, while S. triplehorni and S. emarginata occur in lowland hardwood forests.

García-París et al. (2006) at least partially based their synonymy of Noserus and Phloeodes with Nosoderma (Solier not Guérin-Méneville) on the conclusion that N. sylvaticum was intermediate between the genera. In actuality, the species currently placed in Sesaspis-, share more characters with the species correctly placed in Nosoderma Guérin-Méneville from Cuba, including many similarities in the vestiture and surface sculpture.

At least two species have been collected from oak ( Quercus sp. , label data), Sesapis doyeni was described from under loose bark of dead pine stumps ( García-París et al. 2001), and S. sylvatica from rotten fungus covered logs in cloud forests ( García-París et al. 2006).