Euscelus dentipes (Fabricius)

Hamilton, Robert W., 2007, Euscelus species of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Attelabidae), Zootaxa 1495 (1), pp. 1-34 : 9-11

Euscelus dentipes (Fabricius)

( Figs. 4 , 25–28)

Attelabus dentipes Fabricius, 1798

Attelabus coccolobae Wolcott, 1924

Attelabus dentipes var. anserinus Gyllenhal, 1833

Type locality: America

Type data: Type not examined

Type holder: Zoological Museum , University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark ( ZMUC)

Specimen data: CUBA: 1 male, Isle of Pines, Nueva Gerona, June 1912 ( CMNH). PUERTO RICO: 1 female, Arecibo, June 24–26; 1 female, Arecibo, Acc. 360-1923, GN Wolcott coll.; 2 males & 1 female, Isabela, iv-16-31, MD Leonard; 1 male, Mayaguez, iv-27-1917, RH Van Zwalenburg coll.; 1 male, Quebradillas, June 23, 1915; 1 male, Anasco, vi-21-15; 1 female, Pt. Salinas, Acc# 127, 1920, GN Wolcott coll.; 1 male, Dorado, 1-25 ( AMNH). 1 male, Palo Seco, 7.77.W. 6-15-11[?]; 1 male & 1 female, Vega Baja, Aug. 7, 1922, GN Wolcott ( BMNH). 8 males & 16 females, Punta Santiago, 10-vii-1969, H & A Howden ( CMNC). 2 males, Hwy. 184, 11 mi. E San Juan beach, 7-30-1999, CW O’Brien, P Kovarik; 2 males & 3 females, Muelle, Arecibo, ii-8-1969, Coccoloba uvifera , L & CW O’Brien; 1 male & 1 female, Yabucoa, Palmas del Mar, 20- vii-1975, on Coccoloba uvifvera, J Micheli ; 1 male, Maricao For. Res., 23-vii-1977, J Micheli; 1 male, Cambalache Forest Res., July 28, 1979, CW O’Brien; 3 males & 1 female, P. R., Santa Rita, Apr. 1914, EG Smyth coll. ( CWOB). 3 males & two females, Porto Rico [sic], West Indies, America ( UMRM). 3 males & 1 female, Yab. Pal. d. Mar [?], 20-vii-1975, J Micheli; 1 male & 1 female, Ponce, 1933-1934, RG Oakley; 3 males & 3 females, West Indies America; 1 male & 1 female, Mayaguez, vi-1962, J Maldonado, C Capiles; 1 male, Guanica, 25-ix-1947, Caldwell; 2 males & 4 females, Ramey AFB [Air Force Base] at San Juan, 8-vi-1962, Coccoloba uvifera, LT Sanders ; 2 males & 2 females, Ponce, San Juan, 22-vii-1933, on leaves Trophis racemosa, RG Oakley ; 1 female, Anasco Dist. P. R., 3-vii-1917, H Morrison; 2 females, Bayamon, 24-ii-1922, on sea grape Coccoloba uvifera, GN Wolcott ; 3 females, Ramey, San Juan, 21-ix-1957, Coccoloba uvifera leaves; 1 female, Guanica, 20-xii-1938; 1 female, Guanica, 18-iv-1940, D Leon; 1 male & 1 female, Guanajibo, 20-viii-1934, Coccoloba uvifera, AG Harley ; 1 male, Pt. Salina [?], 14-I, G N Wolcott; 2 males & 4 females, Punta Santiago, 10-vii-1969, H & A Howden; 1 male, Palo Seco, 15-vi-1946 ( USNM). VIRGIN ISLANDS: 1 female, British Virgin Isl., Guana I., White Beach, 30-ix-1992, lvs. Coccoloba uvifera , Polygonaceae, RR Shelling ; 1 female, U. S. Virgin Isl., St. Thomas, Stauffer Hotel, 14-i-1995, R Morris ( CMNC). 1 male, Brit. Virgin Isl., Guana Island, 5-23 July 1985, 0-80 m, SE & PM Miller ( USNM).

Description: Color: Dark reddish-brown throughout with the following areas pale reddish to yellowishbrown: antennae, extreme base of elytra around scutellum, basal ½ of middle and hind femora, tibiae and tarsi. Size range: Male (n = 48) 4.9 x 2.1 mm to 7.2 x 3.0 mm; Female (n = 54) 5.6 x 2.6 mm to 6.4 x 2.8 mm. Head elongate, sub-rectangular, widened only slightly at base, densely punctured; interspaces rugose, finely and transversely rugose in basal ½; frons about ½ as wide as rostral base; with median line like channel; channel extends posteriorly just into vertex and anteriorly on rostrum to level of antennal insertions. Rostrum short, moderately punctured, distinctly widened from antennal insertions to apex; apex about ½ wider than rostral base. Antennae long, slightly longer than head and rostrum together; scape ovo-globose, robust; funicle segment 1 short, only about ½ as long as scape, bead like; funicle segments 2–6 elongate, clavate; 2 and 6 slightly shorter than 3–5; funicle segment 7 subequal in length to 2 or 6, wider apically, less clavate, more cone shaped; club segments subequal in length; terminal segment acuminate. Pronotum wider than long, widest at base, arched out above procoxae, densely punctured; punctures masked by transversely rugose interspaces; with oblique groove each side of middle; anterior collar band like, distinctly set off by deep groove, with few punctures; postocular area with small blunt tipped denticle; postero-lateral corner with apically rounded curved projection; anterior basal carina narrow, smooth; posterior carina very narrow, only about ½ as wide as anterior carina. Scutellum sub-trapezoidal; widest across base; with median smooth dome like protuberance; with few small punctures; sides sinuate. Elytra longer than wide, widest at humeri, slightly narrowed from humeri to apices; striae large, deep, sub-quadrate, irregularly spaced; intervals raised, weakly costate; interspaces and intervals weakly reticulate; humeri simple; with small narrowly rounded posthumeral denticle. Abdominal ventrites sparsely setose and moderately punctured; punctures more dense laterally.

Femoral sexual dimorphism: The profemur of the male is armed with two projections. The mid-ventral projection is large, elongate, weakly sinuate and bluntly knobbed at the apex. The disti-ventral projection is small and beak-shaped. A round setose sensillum is located at the outer base of the mid-ventral projection. The profemur of the female is armed with two projections. The mid-ventral projection is tuberculate with a blunt apex and the disti-ventral projection is beak-shaped and like that of the male.

Distribution: Euscelus dentipes has been reported from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica by O’Brien and Wibmer (1982). Wolcott (1926) reports this species from St. Thomas, near Santo Domingo City and along the north coast of Haiti. Specimens examined were from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Comments: E. dentipes can be identified by the color pattern and the small narrowly rounded posthumeral elytral denticle. A distinct projection at the postero-lateral corner of the pronotum is present in the males of this species.

Host plant: Label data associates this species with the sea grape, C. uvifera . Wolcott (1926) states that its only host is the sea grape, C. uvifera .

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Male genitalia of West Indies Euscelus species, 64 X: a) tegmen, dorsal view b) median lobe with endophallic sac and transfer apparatus in repose, ventral view 1) Euscelus armatus, Dominican Republic, La Vega Province 2) Euscelus scutellatus, Dominican Republic, Barahona Province 3) Euscelus postoculidens, Dominican Republic, Elias Pina, Sierra de Neiba 4) Euscelus dentipes, Puerto Rico, Punta Santiago.