Sternacutus ursulae, Lanuza-Garay & Rivera, 2023

Sternacutus ursulae View in CoL sp. nov.

( Fig. 1-7)

ZooBank: https://zoobank.org/ F03540F2-4E4F-44F5-9F97-F3A321187B27

Holotype, ♂, Province, Darién National Park, Pirre , Est. Rancho Frio, 7-16.xi.2000, Malaise Trap, R. Cambra & A. Santos Murgas leg. ( MIUP).

Paratypes

- 1 ♂ Province, Darién National Park, Pirre , Est. Rancho Frio, 16.xi. 2000 - 17.i.2001, Malaise Trap, R. Cambra & A. Santos Murgas leg.( MIUP) .

- 1 ♀, Same data as paratype ♂ ( MIUP) .

Diagnosis. – Integument mostly dark brown, dorsally covered with pale-yellow pubescence; ventral surface of thorax dark brown. Labrum pale yellowish brown, clypeus yellowish brown, ventral mouthparts yellowish brown, mandibles reddish brown except black apex. Antennal tubercles orangish brown, scape reddish brown dorsally, dark brown ventrally, pedicel yellowish brown, antennomeres III-V yellowish-brown on basal half, dark-brown on apical half, antennomere III about as long as scape, antennomeres VI-XI dark brown; pronotum with two longitudinal dark-brown, regular-shaped macula along central disc, resembling a deer track, anterior third with one small, inverted triangle-shaped maculae on each side, one small dark-brown macula near base, and another small dark-brown macula about base of lateral tubercles of prothorax. Scutellum reddish brown. Elytral surface with yellowish pubescence; with regular and moderate sparse dark spots covered with dark-brown pubescence not obscuring the integument; centrobasal crest, humeral angle, ante-medial and medial maculae dark brown. Coxae mostly reddish brown; femoral peduncle and medial third of tibiae orangish brown, femoral club, basal and apical thirds of tibiae, and tarsi dark brown. Ventrites reddish brown slightly covered with pale-yellow pubescence.

Description of male

Head. – Frons abundantly, minutely punctate; with abundant pale-yellow pubescence, denser close to eyes, except glabrous median groove; with one long, erect brownish seta close to eyes. Area between antennal tubercles with yellowish pubescence covering integument; area between antennal tubercles and upper eye lobes glabrous centrally; area between eyes with yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, except glabrous median groove; remaining surface of vertex with a few short, decumbent yellowish setae. Area behind upper eye lobes with sparse yellowish pubescence. Area behind lower eye lobes with dense yellow pubescence close to eye, glabrous close to prothorax. Genae with dense yellowish pubescence close to eye, except glabrous area close to clypeus, with sparse yellowish pubescence on remaining surface except glabrous apex; with a few long, erect brownish setae interspersed. Antennal tubercles with abundant pale-yellow pubescence frontally, sparse yellowish-brown pubescence dorsally, except apex with dense yellow pubescence, and abundant yellow pubescence posteriorly. Clypeus with one long, erect brownish seta on each side. Labrum covered with long, erect dark-brown setae. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.15 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in frontal view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.52 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 2.2 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere VI. Scape with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument; with minute, decumbent, thick white setae interspersed; with a few long, erect yellowish-brown setae interspersed near apex of ventral surface. Pedicel with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument and one long, erect yellowish-brown seta ventrally. Antennomeres III-V with abundant yellowish-white pubescence on light area, sparse on dark area, pubescence partially dark brown on dark area of III-XI; antennomeres III and IV with short, erect, thick black setae ventrally; antennomere V with two short, thick black setae ventrally; antennomeres VI and VIII with short, thick black seta ventrally.

Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III:

– Scape = 0.90. – Pedicel = 0.15. – IV = 0.75. – V = 0.65. – VI = 0.55. – VII = 0.50. – VIII = 0.60. – IX = 0.65. – X = 0.60. – XI = 0.60.

Thorax. – Prothorax 1.25x wider than long; sides slightly rounded from anterolateral angles to lateral tubercles; lateral tubercles short and acute, with two erect brownish setae, one on base and one near apex. Pronotum covered with dense yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, coarsely punctuate, punctures abundant posteriorly. Sides of prothorax with abundant pale-yellow pubescence. Prosternum with dense pale-yellow pubescence laterally, pubescence distinctly sparser on wide central region. Prosternal process with pubescence as on central area of prosternum, with dense yellowish pubescence apically; narrowest area 0.19 times procoxal width. Mesanepisternum and mesepimeron with dense yellow pubescence; mesoventrite and mesoventral process with moderately sparse yellowish pubescence; narrowest area of mesoventral process 0.33 times mesocoxal width. Metanepisternum and metaventrite with dense yellow pubescence, pubescence distinctly sparser and paler on wide central region of metaventrite. Scutellum with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument.

Elytra. –Centrobasal crest elevated, with moderately abundant dark-brown pubescence laterally, not obscuring integument ( Fig. 5); apex of each elytron emarginate, with outer angle slightly pointed; abundantly, coarsely punctate on anterior half, punctures gradually finer, sparser toward apex on posterior half; humeral carina moderately well marked from humerus to posterior quarter; dorsal surface with two moderately well-marked carinae, outermost oblique, from near humerus to posterior third, innermost straight, from apex of centrobasal crest to posterior third, with abundant yellowish pubescence partially obscuring integument on light areas; dark areas with dark-brown pubescence not obscuring integument.

Legs. – Femora with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence slightly denser and white on some areas of femoral club, especially on meso- and metafemora, and dense and longer on apex. Tibiae with abundant yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument, except sparser pubescence on dorsal and lateral surface of posterior third, dense, bristly yellowish-brown pubescence on ventral surface of posterior third; dorsal surface of posterior third of mesotibiae with abundant, short, thick, erect blackish setae; dorsal surface of posterior third of metatibiae with a few short, thick, erect dark-brown setae. Tarsomeres with abundant whitish pubescence dorsally not obscuring integument; metatarsomere I distinctly longer than II-III together.

Abdomen. – Ventrites with abundant yellowish and whitish pubescence not obscuring integument; apex of ventrite 5 concave.

Female ( Fig. 7). – Similar to male, differing by shorter antennae, 1.8 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at base of antennomere VII; narrowest area of prosternal process 0.4 times procoxal width;

1. Dorsal. 2. Ventral. 3. Lateral. 4. Head. 5. Centrobasal crest of the elytra, paratype ♂. 6. Dorsal showing elytral maculae pattern, paratype ♂. 7. Ventral, paratype ♀. narrowest area of mesoventral process 0.42 times mesocoxal width. Ventrite 5 not longitudinally sulcate on center of anterior third, apex slightly concave.

Dimensions (mm) (Holotype ♂ / Paratype ♂ / Paratype ♀) – Total length, 6.50 / 5.80 / 6.00;

– Prothoracic length, 1.20 / 1.00 / 0.90;

– Anterior prothoracic width, 1.00 / 0.90 / 0.85;

– Posterior prothoracic width, 1.50 / 1.40 / 1.45;

– Elytral length, 5.00 / 4.50 / 4.30;

– Humeral width, 1.80 / 1.60 / 1.70.

Etymology. – Named to recognize the wife of the first author, Ursula VargasCusatti.

Remarks. – Sternacutus ursulae sp. nov. is similar to Sternacutus odettae Roguet, 2022 in appearance. However, longitudinal maculae on the pronotum of S. ursulae show a regular shape, meanwhile in S. odettae the maculae are irregularly shaped. Furthermore, the distribution of integument pubescence and elytral maculae are different.