Leptocometes rectangulus, Vlasak & Santos-Silva & Bezark, 2024

Leptocometes rectangulus sp. nov.

( Fig. 1-10)

ZooBank:https://zoobank.org/ F4B9C5F6-6076-4463-93CF-5BA9F64F5900

Holotype, ♂, ECUADOR, Pichincha: Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge (Tandayapa), 2300 m, 2-3 Jul 2023, J. Vlasak leg.( MZSP, formerly JVCO).

Paratypes, ECUADOR

- Pichincha: 1 ♂ & 8 ♀ , same data as holotype ( 1 ♀ MZSP, 1 ♂ and 7 ♀ JVCO) ;

- Imbabura: 1 ♂ & 1 ♀ , Cabañas Intag Colibri, Intag , 1900 m, 17-19 Jun 2023, J. Vlasak leg. ( JVCO) ;

- Pichincha: 1 ♂, El Septimo Paraiso hotel, Mindo, 1600 m, 4 Jul 2023, J. Vlasak leg. ( JVCO) ;

- Napo: 2 ♂, El Reventador, 7 April 2000, R. L. Penrose leg. ( LGBC, CSCA) .

Description of the holotype ( Fig. 1- 5)

Coloration. – Head capsule dark brown, except light-brown area on each side of ventral surface close toprothorax andapex of antennaltubercles; ventral mouthparts reddish brown with irregular dark-brown areas, except palpomeres mainly dark brown with yellowish-brown apex; anteclypeus with wide dark yellowish-brown macula centrally, dark brown on remaining surface; labrum dark brown on posterior half, yellowish brown on anterior half; scape reddish brown, gradually darker toward apex; pedicel orangish basally, mostly reddish brown on remaining surface; antennomeres III-IV reddish brown on basal half, graduallydarkertoward blackishapex onremaining surface;antennomeresV-X orangish brown except dark-brown apex; antennomere XI orangish brown. Prothorax dark brown, slightly lighter on some areas, especially on pronotum, except pronotum with one oblique, black macula on each side of anterior half and irregular black macula on each side of posterior half, these latter fused anteriorly to a narrow zig-zag dark-brown band, and light-brown apex of prosternal process. Ventral surface of meso- and metathorax dark brown. Scutellum somewhat dark brown laterally, light yellowish brown centrally. Elytra dark brown anteriorly, slightly, gradually lighter toward apex, with abundant, irregular black maculae, largest one located dorsally just after middle, except reddish-brown macula about middle of dorsal surface and centrobasal crest reddish brown with base of dorsal surface black. Coxae dark brown with irregular orange areas; trochanters and femoral peduncles orange, except inner surface of metafemoral peduncle with longitudinal brown band; femoral clubs dark brown, slightly lighter on irregular areas; basal third of tibiae dark reddish brown; apical half of tibiae dark brownwith irregular dark reddish-brown areas; remaining basal half of tibiae yellow; tarsomeres I-II reddish brown with blackish apex; tarsomeres III-IV reddish brown; tarsomere V reddish brown on basal half, blackish on apical half. Abdominal ventrites mostly reddish brown, except anterocentral area of ventrite 1 orangish brown, central apex of ventrites 2-4 dark brown, and apex of ventrite 5 blackish.

Head. – Frons densely, minutely punctate; with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence notobscuring integument, except glabrousmedian groove;withone long, erect seta close to eyes, seta blackish on basal half, gradually yellowish-brown toward apex.Area between antennal tubercles with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous median groove and dark-brownpubescence notobscuring integument close tobase of antennal tubercles. Area close to upper eye lobes on vertex and behind them withdense yellowish-brown pubescence; remaining surface on vertex and area behind upper eye lobes with oblique brownish pubescent band, from middle of area behind upper eye lobe to middle of dorsal area between eyes, abundant dark-brown pubescence and moderately abundant brownish pubescence not obscuring integument on central area of vertex close to prothorax, abundant yellowish pubescence centrally between eyes, except glabrous median groove, and dense yellowish-brown pubescence toward prothorax between brownish pubescent areas. Area behind lower eye lobes with dense yellowish-brown pubescence close to eye, pubescence gradually sparser and lighter toward glabrous area close to prothorax; with a few long, erect yellowish-brown setae close to eye. Genae with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous apex; with a few long, erect setae interspersed toward ventral surface, setae dark brown basally, gradually yellowish toward apex. Antennal tubercles with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument frontally, and moderately abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument on remaining surface, except abundant pale-yellow pubescence on apex. Wide central area of postclypeus with sparse yellowish-white pubescence, except glabrous middle area, with long, suberect yellowish setae interspersed, and distinctly long, erect dark-brown setae interspersedlaterally.Sidesof postclypeus mostly glabrous.Labrum with sparse yellowish-white pubescence on posterior half, pubescence sparser centrally, glabrous on anterior half, except sparseshortyellowishsetae on anterior margin; with long, erect setae interspersed, especially on sides of posterior 2/3, setae dark brown basally, gradually yellowish-brown toward their apices. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous, except moderately abundant yellowish-white pubescencenot obscuring integument on intermaxillary process. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.16 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.51 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 2.3 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere VI. Antennae with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, more yellowish white dorsally andlaterally on basal segments; with short, erect yellowish setae interspersed throughout; with moderately sparse, long, erect dark-brown setae on ventral apex of scape, ventral apical half of pedicel, and entire ventral surface of antennomeres III-IV, setae on III more abundant than on IV.

Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III:

– Scape = 0.96. – Pedicel = 0.08. – IV = 0.80. – V = 0.69. – VI = 0.62. – VII = 0.57. – VIII = 0.53. – IX = 0.51. – X = 0.48. – XI = 0.46.

Thorax. – Prothorax wider than long; anterior and posterior constrictions narrow, well marked; sides divergent from anterior constriction to lateral tubercles, convergent from lateral tubercles to posterior fifth, then parallel sided toward posterolateral angles; lateral tubercles located on middle, moderately large, conical, slightly directed backward and upward. Pronotum with distinct, oblique gibbosity on each side of anterior half, corresponding to area of black anterior maculae, and slightly elevated gibbosity on center of posterior half; moderately sparsely punctate close to anterior and outer margin of anterior gibbosities, between anterior and posterior gibbosities, laterally, and near posterior constriction, punctures coarse, except finer punctures centrally between gibbosities; with narrow, short, longitudinal pale-yellow pubescent band anterocentrally, pale-yellow pubescence posterocentrally, narrow, longitudinal yellowish-white pubescent band centrally between the pale-yellow central areas, slightly whiter about middle of pronotum, abundant black pubescence on black integumental areas, surrounded with band of dense yellowish-brown pubescence, this band more pale-yellow close to inner margin of anterolateral gibbosities, irregular, large yellowish-brown pubescent macula on sides of anterior half, fused to pubescence close to anterolateral gibbosities, irregular, oblique light yellowish-brown pubescent band on each side of posterior half, and remaining surface mostly with abundant brownish pubescence not obscuring integument. Sides of prothorax with abundant, mostly pale yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, except dense pale-yellow pubescence on postcoxal process. Prosternum with moderately abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous anterior sulcus. Prosternal process with sparse yellowish-white pubescence on anterior half, pubescence gradually sparser toward apex on posterior half; narrowest area 0.11 times procoxal width. Mesoventrite with moderately abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument centrally; sides with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence, except whitish pubescence close to mesocoxal cavity. Mesanepisterna and mesepimera with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence, pubescence denser on some areas, appearing to be yellower depending on light intensity and source. Mesoventral process with sides convergent on anterior half, subparallel-sided on apical half; apical width 0.17 times mesocoxal width. Metanepisterna and metaventrite with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence partially obscuring integument, except glabrous metathoracic discrimen. Scutellum with abundant yellow pubescence partially obscuring integument, except sparser dark-brown pubescence on sides of anterior half.

Elytra. – Subparallel-sided on anterior 2/3, gradually rounded toward apex on posterior third; apex wide, descending obliquely from outer angle to sutural angle, with outer angle forming long spiniform projection and sutural angle forming short, moderately wide projection with blunt apex; centrobasal crest elevated, slightly projected backward posteriorly ( Fig. 5), with a few moderately long, decumbent setae on apex of dorsal surface, setae black on about basal half, yellowish on remaining surface; abundantly, coarsely punctate on anterior half, punctures sparser, shallower toward apex on posterior half; humeral carina absent; blackish maculae with abundant blackish pubescence not obscuring integument; circum-scutellar area with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument; area close to anterior margin of largest black integumental macula with dense yellow pubescence, not obscuring punctures, distinctly paler toward epipleural margin; remaining anterior half mostly with abundant greenish-yellow pubescence not obscuring integument; remaining posterior half mostly with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument; with sparse, long, erect setae interspersed, setae mostly blackish with paler apical region; with moderately short, erect pale-yellow setae interspersed on outer spiniform projection.

Legs. – Femora with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument. Basal half of tibiae with moderately abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence appearing to be whiter on light area due to the integument color, with sparse, short, erect pale-yellow setae interspersed; dorsal and lateral surfaces of apical half with moderately sparse, mostly brown pubescence not obscuring integument, except mesotibiae with part of dorsal sulcus with dense, bristly pale-yellow pubescence and remaining dorsal surface with short, bristly, both dark-brown and yellowish-brown pubescence; ventral surface of apical half with bristly yellowish-brown pubescence, denser on protibiae; apical half of ventral surface of mesotibiae with sparse, short, erect dark-brown setae interspersed; apical half of metatibiae with moderately abundant, short, erect dark-brown setae interspersed throughout. Dorsal surface of tarsi with moderately abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence appearing to be dark on dark integumental areas due to the integument color; apex of lobes of tarsomere III and apex of V with long setae bent backward apically, setae dark brown on their basal half, gradually paler toward apex on remaining surface; metatarsomere V 1.6 times longer than II-III together.

Abdomen. – Ventrites with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, except longer, yellower pubescence on central area of ventrite 1 and glabrous apical area of ventrites 2-4. Ventrite 5 slightly longer than ventrite 4; with a few long dark setae interspersed near margins; apex with U-shaped notch.

Female ( Fig. 6-10)

– Antennae shorter, 2.0 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at base of antennomere VII;

– Ventrite 5 distinctly longer than ventrite 4, distinctly narrowed apically, with V-shaped notch on apex.

Variation. – Black anterior and posterior maculae on pronotum fused; antennomeres VI-X dark brown about apical half; antennomere XI dark brown on apical 2/3.

Dimensions (mm) ( holotype male/ paratype males / paratype females). – Total length, 12.85/7.95-11.40/9.10-11.50;

– Prothoracic length, 2.10/1.45-2.10/1.45-2.00;

– Anterior prothoracic width, 2.25/1.40-2.10/1.70-2.05;

– Posterior prothoracic width, 2.60/1.75-2.45/2.05-2.50;

– Maximum prothoracic width, 3.45/2.05-3.15/2.25-2.95;

– Humeral width, 4.35/2.70-3.95/3.25-4.20;

– Elytral length, 9.15/5.75-8.10/6.70-8.45.

Etymology. – The specific epithet “rectangulus ” (Latin, shaped like a rectangle) refers to the almost rectangular shape of the elytra.

Remarks. – Leptocometes rectangulus sp. nov. is similar to L. nubilus ( Melzer, 1934) ( Fig. 11-13), but differs as follows: prothoracic tubercles distinctly acute apically; elytra subparallel-sided on anterior 2/3; pronotum and elytra with black maculae; and sides of apical margin of abdominal ventrite 5 not spiniform.In L. nubilus , the lateral tubercles of the prothorax are not distinctly acute apically, sides of elytra are convergent from humerus, pronotum and elytra without black maculae, and the sides of the apical margin of the abdominal ventrite 5 are spiniform.