Colpoptera alacutus Bahder & Bartlett, 2025

Colpoptera alacutus Bahder & Bartlett View in CoL sp. nov.

( Figures 7–11 View FIGURE 7 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 View FIGURE 11 )

Type locality. La Selva Biological Station , Heredia Province, Costa Rica ( 10.431269, -84.005961) ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ) GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Body pale, uniformly testaceous, face uniformly pale, forewing slightly fuscous in distal 1/3, pale along costal margin at midpoint. Apex of forewing pointed. Pygofer quadrate in lateral view. Gonostyli from lateral view very broad, bearing large capitulum with helical sclerotized ridges. Aedeagus lightly sclerotized, upcurved, nearly bilaterally symmetrical, bearing pair of strongly bifurcated dorsal processes of moderate length arising subapically on lateral margins and pair of short, narrow, slightly bulbous processes on ventral margin. Anal segment elongated, slightly sinuate on ventral margin, apex slightly hooked ventrally.

Description. Color. Pale colored ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ), body uniformly testaceous, antennae with pedicel dorsally black at base, forewing pale, paler along costal vein at midpoint, lightly fuscous in distal 1/3 ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 ).

Structure. Body elongated, length male (with wings) 7.5 mm ( Table 3).

Head. In dorsal view, vertex nearly rectangular, anterior margin slightly curved, approximately level with anterior margin of eyes, posterior margin concave, median carina absent, transverse carina at fastigium evident ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ). In lateral view, generally rounded, slightly angled at fastigium, vertex slightly projected above eyes, frons curved dorsad ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ). In frontal view, dorsal margin weakly concave at transverse carina, lateral margins expanding from dorsal margin, reaching widest point at antennae then constricting strongly to clypeus, median carina evident, extending from fastigium to frontoclypeal suture ( Fig. 8C View FIGURE 8 ). Eye roughly ovate (long axis diagonal), weakly emarginated above antenna. Lateral ocellus near anterioventral margin of eye. Antennae short, scape short, ring-like, pedicel ovoid, taller than wide, bearing irregularly distributed sensory plaques.

Thorax. Pronotum in dorsal view broad at midpoint, at midline about 1.5x length of vertex, widest at midpoint with anterior margin convex, posterior margin concave, tricarinate, carina at midline continuous from anterior to posterior margin, weakly developed, lateral carinae extending from anterior margin of pronotum, laterad, becoming obsolete ventrally ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ). Mesonotum slightly wider than long at midpoint, unicarinate anteriorly with pair of carinae (slightly sinuate) forked at diagonal laterally from median carina near anterior margin, extending just beyond obscure lateral carinae ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ); in lateral view, mesonotum raised above level of pronotum ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ). Hind tibiae with single lateral tooth approximately 3/4 length distad from femoral-tibial joint, spinulation 5-7-2.

Forewing reticulate, anterior and posterior margin subparallel, asymmetrically rounded at apex ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 ); claval apex near distal ¾ of forewing; RP arises separately from Sc+RA at basal cell. Apex pointed, posterior margin in distal 1/3 straight ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 )

Male terminalia. Pygofer, in lateral view ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ), quadrate, nearly uniform width along entire length, anterior margin sinuate, posterior margin slightly sinuate, dorsal and ventral margin equal length, slightly sinuate, medioventral process lacking. Gonostyli, in lateral view, very broad, generally rounded with large capitulum arising proximad, with helical sclerotized ridges, apex blunt with posterior corner rounded, anterior corner angulate ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ). Aedeagus nearly bilaterally symmetrical ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ), distally upcurved, bearing two pairs of processes; first pair (A1 & A2) arising on subapical lateral margin, slender, strongly and widely bifurcated with dorsal projections (A1a & A2a) curved ventrad and angled cephalad, ventral projections (A1b & A2b) curved ventrad, angled cephalad, extending just beyond apex of A1a and A2a ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ), from dorsal view ( Fig. 11C View FIGURE 11 ), processes A1b & A2b converging to meet medially; second pair (A3 &A4) arising on inner ventral margin just proximad of A1 and A2, curving dorsad and cephalad, short, narrow basally, expanding slightly at midpoint, constricting to apex. Anal segment elongated, slightly sinuate on ventral margin, dorsal margin angled ventrad approximately ¼ from base, apex pointed, hooked ventrad ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ).

Plant associations. Unknown, collected sweeping trailside vegetation.

Distribution. La Selva Biological Station, Heredia Province, Costa Rica.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words ‘ ala ’ for wing and ‘ acutus ’ for pointed, referencing the unique shape of the wing.

Material examined. Holotype male “ Costa Rica, Heredia Pr. / La Selva Biological Station / 12.VI.2018 / sweeping vegetation / Coll.: B.W.Bahder // Holotype / Colpoptera alacutus ♂ ” ( FLREC) . Paratypes ( 2 males); same data as holotype .