Mannophorus minor ( Bates, 1880 ), 2024

Mannophorus minor ( Bates, 1880) , new combination

( Fig. 178–187 View Figures 178–187 )

Ischnocnemis minor Bates 1880: 83 View in CoL ; Lameere 1883b; civ (cat.); Bates 1885: 328 (dist.); Aurivillius 1912: 473 (cat.); Blackwelder 1946: 590 (cat.); Chemsak et al. 1992: 83 (cat.); Monné 1994: 64 (cat.); Monné and Giesbert 1994: 146 (cat.); Noguera and Chemsak 1996: 402 (dist.).

Redescription. Male: Length 13 mm. Form small, elongate, slightly tapered apically; integument metallic bluish black, sternum and femora metallic bluish black with aeneous luster, each elytron with two elevated, narrow, yellowish costae, subsutural yellow costa reaching apical tenth, submarginal costa shorter, reaching slightly beyond apical fifth; pubescence on dorsum and femora short, pale, suberect to erect. Head small; vertex confluently punctate; front finely, irregularly punctate; postclypeus finely, confluently punctate on bottom half, upper half with impunctate area in middle; antennal tubercles flattened, integument between tubercles abruptly declivous in middle to mid-cranial sulcus; genae narrow, anterior margins of lower eyes almost contiguous with base of mandibles, integument nitid, impunctate, lower half triangular, finely punctate beneath; pubescence on antennal tubercles, dorsal anterior margins of genae and upper margin of eyes, sparse and erect, setae on lower half of genae sparse, short and depressed; labrum finely, densely punctate, densely clothed with depressed pubescence; mandibles with sides strongly angulate near base then arcuate to apices, pubescence sparse, depressed; antennae slender, exceeding elytral apices by two antennomeres; scape conical densely, deeply, contiguously punctate, pubescence short, pale, suberect; antennomeres II to basal half of VII rugulose, coarsely, densely punctate with short depressed setae, remaining antennomeres from apical half of VII opaque, densely, micro-punctate, pubescence minute and appressed with few longer, depressed setae on apices; antennomeres vaguely carinate on outside from IV–VI, on inside of IV–VIII, and on dorsum of III–IV; antennomer III longer than I; IV shorter than III, longer than I; V longer than IV; VI, VII, VIII, and IX subequal to V; X slightly shorter than IX; XI longest non-appendiculate. Pronotum wider than long (L/W: 0.93), sides rounded slightly behind middle; disc shallowly convex with five vague dorsal calli, one each on either side of anterior half, three on basal half, one longitudinally elongate, glabrous one in middle and one each on either side closer to the base ( Fig. 185 View Figures 178–187 ); integument densely, confluently punctate with short, erect, pale setae; apical margin collared, sides narrowly constricted behind, base impressed on sides; proepisternal area more irregularly, sparsely punctate compared to disc; prosternum slightly concave with apical half transversely plicate, basal half densely, confluently punctate with puncture in middle coarser than those on the sides above coxae, pubescence long, pale, erect; mesosternum nitid, glabrous, concave and depressed in middle, densely contiguously punctate on sides and above mesocoxae, pubescence sparse, pale, suberect; mesepisterna finely, densely, contiguously punctate, sparsely clothed with appressed setae; mesepimera densely clothed with short, appressed pubescence; metasternum finely, densely, deeply, punctate, punctures in middle on either side of midline sparser and integument glabrous, punctures near base of mesocoxae and along sides finer, denser and contiguous, pubescence obscure, long and depressed; metepisterna densely clothed with appressed, pale pubescence. Scutellum dark metallic blue, sparsely punctate. Elytra 2.6 times as long as broad; each elytron with two narrowly raised, glabrous, yellowish costae, subsutural costa with yellowish vittae on either side attaining apical tenth, submarginal costa starting below humerus attaining apical fifth; integument between costae closely, uniformly punctate; pubescence sparse, short, suberect, and pale; apices unarmed, rounded, vaguely serrate. Legs slender; femora slightly clavate, finely, densely punctate, dorsum sparsely clothed with short, depressed setae, inner surface clothed with longer, pale, suberect setae; metafemora slightly arcuate near base, falling far short of elytral apices; tibiae densely punctate clothed with short, depressed setae; protibiae with inner surface densely clothed with short, depressed, pale pubescence; metatarsomere I subequal to tarsomeres II and III combined. Abdomen aeneous metallic dark blue with reddish tint, nitid, sparsely, finely punctate in middle, pubescence pale, suberect, sides very densely, minutely, punctate, densely clothed with appressed pubescence; apex of last sternite narrow and rounded.

Female: Length 12–13 mm. Form slightly more robust than male, parallel sided. Prosternum coarsely striate-punctate throughout. Antennae about an antennomere longer than apices of elytra, carinae on inner, outer, and dorsal surface less pronounced than in male. Abdomen with apex of last sternite broadly truncate.

Materials examined. MEXICO: Puebla: 56 km SE Jct. 115/160, 14 Oct. 2005, B.K. Eya (1 male, BKEC) ; MX 190, 5

km E Izucar Matamoros, 16 Oct. 2001, F. Skillman and J. Davidson (1 female, EMEC) ; Microondas Xuchapa Hwy 190, 11 km SE Izucar de Matamoros, N18°31′46″, W98°25′05″, 8/ 16 Oct. 2005, F.W. Skillman (1 male, FWSC) GoogleMaps .

Discussion. According to Bates (1880: 83), this species is narrow, elongate, brassy-black, or chalybeous black in color. Each elytron has two elevated, eburneous costae, which nearly reach the apices. The integument of elytra between the costae are interspersed with close, uniform punctures, and the apices are rounded. The thorax is distinctly narrowed at apex with disc unequally, closely, confluently punctate. The scutellum is wide at base and subelongate and acute apically. Antennae of female are scarcely longer than the body. The first tarsomere of metatarsi is subequal to the following two combined. The body underneath is metallic steel-blue, nitid, glabrate and discretely punctate. The length of female is 5 1/2 lines (i.e., 1.2 cm.), and the habitat reported by Bates is Mexico. Bates (1885: 328) further notes that “the precise locality of this species is Puebla based on Sallé collection” and differs from Ischnocnemis costipennis Thomson by the slenderer form and underside that is very shiny, “deep brass or chalybeous black.” Based on the photo of Ischnocnemis minor , holotype ( Bezark 2024, id: 16963) from MNHN, the collection location is also noted as Puebla, Mexico. The three specimens that I have in hand, which are all from Puebla, appear to be this species.

Mannophorus minor (Bates) new combination closely resembles Lophaliamorpha based on the overall form and morphology of the head capsule. The front is declivous in the middle, base of mandibles is angulate, and genae are very narrow where the anterior margins of lower eyes are almost contiguous with the base of mandibles. However, unlike Lophaliamorpha Eya new genus the mesosternal process is not protuberant, and the apical margin of the pronotum is distinctly collared laterally as in Mannophorus laetus . Also, the antennal tubercles of this species are flattened, and the integument between tubercles is abruptly declivous in the middle on either side of mid-cranial sulcus. Other Mannophorus species have short but more prominent genae with the anterior margins of lower eyes well separated from the base of the mandibles and the sides of mandibles that are arcuate.

Mannophorus minor differs from Mannophorus virgulata ( Chemsak, 1987) new combination by the shorter pubescence on the head, thorax, sternum, and femora. The pronotal disc is unequally closely, confluently punctate, and metasternum is finely, densely punctate ( Bates 1880: 83). The head, thorax, sternum, and femora of M. virgulata are covered with long, erect flying setae. The punctures on the pronotal disc are moderately coarse and subconfluent, and the metasternum is sparsely, shallowly punctate. The male and female pair of M. minor described above have the submarginal yellow costa starting at the base of elytra compared to M. virgulata which starts below the humeri.