Plagiometriona scenica ( Boheman, 1855 )

Flinte, Vivian, Viana, Jéssica Herzog, Macedo, Margarete Valverde, Windsor, Donald & Sekerka, Lukáš, 2016, Revalidation and redescription of three distinct species synonymized as Plagiometriona sahlbergi (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 743-754 : 750

Plagiometriona scenica ( Boheman, 1855) stat. restit.

( Fig. 3 )

Coptocycla scenica Boheman, 1855: 377 (original description).

Type locality. ‘Brasilia’.

Type material examined. LECTOTYPE (designated by BOROWIEC 1999): ♀, pinned, ‘ Brasil [white and printed label] || M. Berl [white and printed label] || Type. [white and printed label] || LECTOTYPE | des. L. Borowiec [red and printed label] || NHRS-JLKB | 000022596 [white and printed label]’ (ZMHB).

Remarks. Validity of this species requires further study as we examined only the lectotype which is female and hence we could not compare aedeagi, which are often diagnostic in Plagiometriona . The specimen has a postsctutellar spot as in P. multisignata , however, all elytral spots are pale yellow (humeral, middle four and posterior four red in the latter). The red color in elytra of some museum specimens has vanished, however, we have examined numerous historical specimens and the red color was always distinct in fully sclerotized individuals. The lectotype of P. scenica is a fully sclerotized specimen entirely lacking red color. Also, P. multisignata always has large elytra spots while these are small in P. scenica and therefore we assume it is a distinct species from both P. multisignata and P. sahlbergi . For further characters see Table 1.

Figures

Fig. 3. Plagiometriona scenica (Boheman, 1855), lectotype, dorsal aspect.