Erratamelitta eliasi, Clarke & Flora & Fauna & Casilla & de & Sierra & Bolivia, 2016

Clarke, Robin O. S., Flora, Hotel, Fauna, Casilla, de, Santa Cruz, Sierra & Bolivia, 2016, Provisional revision of the genus Epimelitta Bates, 1870 and associated genera, with a brief synopsis of the genus Acorethra Bates, 1873 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), Insecta Mundi 2016 (504), pp. 1-43 : 26-27

Erratamelitta eliasi sp. nov.

( Fig. 34 )

Holotype male, total length 10.00 mm. Deposited in MZSP.

Description of holotype. Moderately small; narrow (total length/width metasterna 5.88). Forebody (f) distinctly shorter than abdomen (a), f/a 0.80. Color: head black, labrum, base of mandibles and mouth parts orange; thoracic segments mostly black, the following orange: apical border of pronotum, prosternal process and area adjacent to procoxal cavities; center of mesosternum; mesal half of metasternum (partly suffused dusky). Elytra orange, basal half and apices suffused black (but humeri and epipleur orange); translucent panels testaceous. Abdomen entirely brownish-yellow. Antennae black with three basal segments, and base of antennomeres IV-XI orange. Front and middle legs orange (including coxae) with chestnut infusion on femoral claves, apical half of tibiae, and tarsi. Hind leg orange with broad chestnut band around femoral clave, apical half of tibiae black, and tarsi chestnut. Surface ornamentation: notable tufts of pubescence only found on apical half of metatibiae (the setae black in color). Forebody almost entirely clothed with brassy colored pubescence; especially dense and recumbent on frons, interocular, below eyes, sides of mesosterna and most of metasterna (including apex of metepisternum); moderately dense and somewhat untidy encircling pronotal disc and center of prosternum. Longer, less dense erect hairs on pronotum, sides of prosternum and metasterna. Scutellum hidden by brass pubescence; elytra pubescent, becoming dense in two diagonal, golden colored patches between humeri and suture; and similar patches clothing latero-basal angles of urosternites (the rest of abdomen rather sparsely clothed with longer suberect hairs). Head: narrower than prothorax (widths prothorax/head with eyes 1.19); rostrum broad and short (width/length 3.60). Width of inferior lobe four times interocular distance. Superior lobes of eyes separated by three times the width of one lobe. Antennae: antennomere III (0.65 mm), 1.08 longer than scape; IV (0.40 mm); V and VI (0.55 mm); VII (0.50 mm); VIII (0.45 mm); IX (0.40 mm); X (0.35 mm); XI (0.45 mm). Prothorax: quadrate. Base of prosternal process narrow, 6.7 times narrower than width of procoxal cavity; the gap between apex of post coxal process and apex of prosternal process 0.15 mm. Elytra: rather narrow; 1.63 longer than width across humeri. Abdomen: widest between segments II-IV, and narrowest at base of I; urosternites unequal in length, I (1.4 mm); II (1.0 mm); III (0.95 mm); IV (0.7 mm), V (0.50 mm), apical margin notched at middle. Legs: ratio lengths front/middle/hind leg 1.0:1.3:2.5; body length/length of legs 2.8, 2.4, 1.3 respectively; lengths femora/ tibiae 1.08, 1.46, 1.16 respectively. Middle and hind leg femora length/lateral width of femoral claves 3.80, 5.58 respectively.

Male variation. The single paratype is considerably smaller (6.50 mm); the prothorax slightly transverse (pronotal length/width 0.96), and elytra shorter (length of elytra/width across humeri 1.54).

Diagnosis. Erratamelitta eliasi and Erratamelitta erato share the narrow strigose puncturation of the pronotum, thereby separating them from all other epimellitids.

Erratamelitta eliasi is readily separated from E. erato by the following male characters: in E. eliasi prothorax quadrate with regularly rounded sides widest well before middle (in E. erato prothorax more trapezoidal, the sides converging towards apex, abruptly rounded towards base, and widest well behind middle); in E. eliasi urosternite V when viewed laterally with rhombic-shaped wings (in E. erato wings triangular-shaped); in E. eliasi abdomen entirely brownish-yellow in color (in E. erato entirely dark chestnut, or mostly so); in E. eliasi front and middle legs orange, hind legs and antennae colored by contrasting shades of yellow and black (in E. erato legs variable in color, but not contrasting, usually piceous with paler base, and antennae may be yellowish at base, the rest usually piceous).

HOLOTYPE and paratype males, BRAZIL, Espírito Santo, Baixo Guandu, X.1971, P.C. Elias col. (MZSP).

Etymology. This species is named after P.C. Elias who collected this species, and others of particular interest.

Figures

Figures 31-36. Genus Charisia revalidated and Erratamelitta gen. nov. Fig. 31-32. Charisia mneme (Newman, 1841): 31) male, dorsal aspect; 32) male, ventral aspect. 33. Charisia ornaticollis Zajciw, 1973, holotype, female. 34.Erratamelitta eliasi sp. nov., paratype, male lateral aspect. Fig. 35-36. Erratamelitta erato (Newman, 1840), dorsal aspect: 35) male; 36) female.