Coelocephalapion paleariae De Sousa & Anderson, 2022

Sousa, Wesley Oliveira De & Anderson, Robert S., 2022, Two new Brazilian species in the Coelocephalapion nodicorne species-group (Brentidae, Apioninae, Apionini, Oxystomatina) associated with Euphorbiaceae, Zootaxa 5205 (3), pp. 220-230 : 222-225

Coelocephalapion paleariae De Sousa & Anderson sp. n.

( Figs. 1–14 )

Diagnosis. This new species differs from other C. nodicorne group species by the frons medially slightly sulcate; subocular lateral ridges ending on a U-shaped margin; prescutellar fovea sulciform, slightly depressed, not exceeding the basal half of pronotal disc; elytral sutural interval without postscutellar spot of denser scales ( Figs. 1–4 ).

Description

Measurements (in mm): male holotype: Total length: 1.77: Rostrum: length: 0.60; width at apex: 0.06; mesorostral width: 0.16. Head: length: 0.25, width: 0.16. Distance from eye to antennal insertion: 0.10. Antennae (length × width): scape: 0.09 × 0.04; desmomere 1: 0.05 × 0.04; desmomere 2: 0.04 × 0.02; desmomere 3–7: 0.03 × 0.03; club: 0.14 × 0.07. Scutellum: length: 0.03; width: 0.02. Pronotum: length: 0.39; width at base: 0.56; width at apex: 0.36. Elytra: length: 1.14; width: 0.66.

Integument dark brown; femora, tibiae and tarsomeres, excluding onychium, light brown.

Vestiture conspicuous, heterogeneous, off-white to yellowish; meta- and mesorostrum scales sparsely distributed, absent on prorostrum apex; scales of head and pronotal disc sparse, with centrifugal pattern; denser on sides of prosternum, meso- and metaventrite and anterior face of procoxae; elytra interstria with one or two irregular rows of light brown scales, basal portion of interstria 3 with three rows; elytra striae each with one row of scales; ventral region with off-white scales, uniformly distributed on abdominal ventrites; legs with very sparse scales.

Rostrum nearly straight in lateral view, deflexed and robust in basal third; about 3.1 times longer than maximum width; 1.7 times pronotum length along midline; in dorsal view side of mesorostrum at antennal insertion produced into an acute dentiform process, about 2.6 times wide than apex of prorostrum; apical 1/4 polished and finely punctured; ventral and dorsal surface in basal half of rostrum finely microreticulate, including bottoms of scrobes.

Head with frons medially slightly sulcate, with two rows of marginal scales smaller than subocular scales; subocular lateral ridges developed, not extending to posterior margin of eyes, ending in a U-shaped margin; area between subocular lateral ridges microreticulate and impunctate. Eyes round, convex and prominent. Antennae inserted at basal 0.20 of rostrum length; scape 0.56 times mesorostral width, 2.25 times as long as wide, 0.6 times club length; desmomere 1 as long as wide, as long as desmomere 2, desmomeres 3–7 as long as wide; club oblong, compact, 2 times as long as wide, as long as the last 5 desmomeres, sutures weakly marked.

Thorax with pronotum campaniform in dorsal view, slightly constricted before apex, about 0.93 as long as wide, base 1.47 times apex width, bisinuate with slightly median rounded projection toward scutellum, with basal flange; outline in lateral view slightly convex; pronotal disc with surface irregular, with prescutellar fovea sulciform, slightly depressed, not exceeding basal half; punctures covered by scales. Scutellum as long as wide, rounded, glabrous, depressed at middle. Elytral length 2.10 times width, sub-rectangular, convex in profile; humeri present; striae catenulate, at base straight, 1 st not surpassing apex of scutellum, others surpassing apex of scutellum, except 6 th and 7 th shortened into the humeral callus and 9 th before base; striae as wide as interstriae from base to end of elytral declivity; striae strongly punctate apically, at apex joining 1+9, 2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8; interstriae 9 with one specialized seta in apical half. Macropterous; hind wings with radial window; cubito-anal vein remnants paired, cubital vein (Cu1) continued with colored apical fold, anal vein (2A) weak and without spurs, 3A vein absent; anal notch deep ( Fig. 5 ). Procoxae contiguous; prosternum as long as hypomeron; hypomeral lobes not divided by median suture, not separated from sternellum. Mesocoxae separated by union of meso- and metaventral apophyses. Metaventrite narrowed, posterior rim of mesocoxae absent. Mesofemora as robust as pro- and metafemora. Tibiae without mucro, 1st protarsomere 2.2 × as long as wide, subtriangular, 2nd 1.8 × as long as wide, subtriangular, 3rd strongly bilobate, wider than 2nd, onychium 2.5 × longer than wide, surpassing lobes of tarsomere 3 by ca. 1/2 length of onychium; claws dentate.

Abdomen with ventrites 1–2 strongly convex, 1–5 with midline length ratios: 40–22–9–9–20; ventrite 5 apically rounded; pygidium of incomplete apionine type, with 0.12 of the total length exposed ( Figs. 6, 7 ), semicircular, 1.1 times longer than wide, with distinct transverse sulcus not reaching lateral margins of pygidium, profile distinctly interrupted by sulcus.

Male terminalia with ninth sternite (spiculum gastrale) Y-shaped, manubrium ca. 2.6 times arm length ( Fig. 8 ). Penis ( Fig. 9 ) depressed, slightly curved, pedon with apex straight in side view, rounded and acuminate apically in dorsal view; tectum without clear margins; penal apodemes (temones) about 0.76 times pedon length; internal sac with four rows of teeth near orifice. Tegmen ( Figs. 10–11 ): tegminal plate fused to Y-shaped basal piece; tegminal apodeme 3.3 as long as fork of basal piece, with apex broad; tegminal plate undivided (not lobate), pointed apically, lacking macrochaetae and fenestrae; linea arquata visible; prostegium elongate, with medial emarginate protrusion.

Measurements: male/female paratypes (range in mm): total length 1.57–1.77 /1.39–1.87; rostrum length 0.53– 0.60/0.56– 0.78; maximum width 0.16/ 0.16; pronotum length 0.34–0.39/ 0.34–0.39 and maximum width 0.56/0.56; elytra length 1.00–1.14/1.12–1.24 and maximum width 0.56–0.66/ 0.59–0.78.

Female. In general, females have the same external characteristics as the male. There are slight variations in relation to the length and width of the body; the rostrum is thinner, slenderer, with a less squamous metarostrum; and ventrite 5 is slenderer.

Female genitalia. Spiculum ventrale straight, very elongate, 3.25 longer than ovipositor, apical plate membranous and setiferous ( Fig. 13 ). Ovipositor ( Fig. 12 ): coxite length about 4.8 times width, with microchaetae; styli subcylindrical, length about 2.0 times width, with 4 macrochaetae. Spermatheca C-shaped ( Fig. 14 ), corrugated, no nodulus or ramus; cornu narrower than corpus, with an apical protuberance.

Type material. Holotype male dissected [red border printed label] ( DZUP), glued on paper triangle. Brasil, Botucatu-SP, 16/II/2017, Paleari, L. M. col., Croton glandulosus . Paratype [black border printed label], same information as holotype: 1 male (dissected and dismantled), 2 females (1 dissected) ( DZUP), 2 males, 2 females ( CEIOC), 2 males, 2 females ( MNRJ), 2 males 2 females ( MZSP), 2 males, 1 female ( CMNC), glued on paper triangle, with genitalia stored in glycerol in a separate microvial .

Biology. Coelocephalapion paleariae develops in seeds of Croton gladulosus L., a ruderal annual species native to tropical America. This plant is one of the most common and widespread species of the genus, widespread in urban and rural areas in Brazil ( Lorenzi 2008). Larvae feed internally in seeds, consuming endosperm and embryo, preventing seed germination, and adults consume nectar and small portions of young leaves of the same plant.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Dr. Lucia Maria Paleari, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Botucatu, who for many years studied the role of glandular structures and secretions of Croton glandulosus L in the dynamics of visiting insect species and seed predators and who provided us with these specimens of the new species. Biological and ecological information are published in the Croton project FAPESP/UNESP/IBB available at http://projetocroton.blogspot.com/.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Coelocephalapion paleariae sp. nov.: holotype male, lateral (1) and dorsal view (2), paratype female, lateral (3) and dorsal view (4); hind wing (5).

FIGURES 6–14. Coelocephalapion paleariae sp. nov.: male pygidium, dorsal (6) and lateral view (7); spiculum gastrale (8); penis dorsal view (9); tegmen, dorsal (10) and lateral view (11); ovipositor coxite and stylus (12); spiculum ventral (13) and spermatheca (14).