Cupecuara suturalis, Vlasak & Santos-Silva, 2025

Cupecuara suturalis sp. nov.

( Figs 1–4 View FIGURES 1–4 )

Description. Female holotype. Head capsule blackish; ventral mouthparts orangish brown, with irregular yellowish-brown and brown areas, except dark-brown mentum, dark-brown labial palpomere III, mostly brown maxillary palpomere II, and dark-brown maxillary palpomeres III–IV; clypeus blackish except dark yellowish-brown anterior region; labrum blackish close to clypeus, dark yellowish brown on remaining surface; antennae dark brown. Prothorax blackish, except orangish-brown prosternal process. Ventral surface of meso- and metathorax blackish, except orangish-brown central area of mesoventrite and entire mesoventral process, and brownish anterocentral region and area close to metacoxal cavities of metaventrite. Scutellum orangish brown, slightly darker basally. Elytra dark brown, except orange sutural region, epipleural margin, base, and sides of basal quarter, including epipleura and lateral region of dorsal surface. Pro- and mesocoxae mostly orange; metacoxae brownish, except orange area close to trochanter; trochanters orange; basal half of pro- and mesofemora and about basal 2/3 of metafemora orange; remaining surface of femora blackish; tibiae blackish; tarsi blackish, except lobes of tarsomeres III and apex of V dark reddish brown, and mostly dark orangish-brown claws. Abdominal ventrites blackish with light-brown apex of ventrites 3–4.

Head. Frons and antennal tubercles smooth, glabrous, except sparse, fine punctures close to clypeus and a few bristly yellowish-brown setae on frons. Area between antennal tubercles and posterior margin of upper eye lobes coarsely punctate, punctures gradually denser and coarser posteriorly, except smooth central region; with moderately abundant, bristly yellowish-white setae, except glabrous smooth area; with a few long, erect yellowish setae interspersed anteriorly. Remaining surface of vertex coarsely punctate, punctures sparser anterolaterally; with a few moderately short, bristly yellowish-white setae. Area behind eyes tumid close to lower eye lobe; abundantly, coarsely punctate; with sparse yellowish-white setae close to eye, glabrous close to prothorax. Genae sparsely, coarsely punctate, almost glabrous anteriorly, with bristly yellowish-white setae laterally. Clypeus abundantly, coarsely rugose-punctate, except smooth area close to labrum; with sparse, long, erect yellowish-white setae, absent close to labrum, longer and slightly more abundant laterally. Labrum moderately abundantly and finely punctate; with moderately abundant, long, erect yellowish setae, except abundant, short, erect yellowish-brown setae anterocentrally. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous on posterior half, except a few long, erect yellowish-white setae laterally; anterior half, sparsely, finely punctate, with long, erect yellowish-white setae. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.21 times distance between outer margins of eyes; in ventral view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.54 times distance between outer margins of eyes. Antennae 2.15 times elytral length, reaching elytral apex at middle of antennomere VII. Scape abundantly, finely punctate; with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument, and a few long, erect setae of same color interspersed. Pedicel and antennomeres III–IV with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, except dense, very long dark-brown setae on ventral apex of III and entire surface of IV. Antennomeres V–XI with abundant yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument, pubescence partially bristly, except dense, very long dark-brown setae ventrally. Antennal formula based on length of antennomere III: scape = 1.20; pedicel = 0.11; IV = 1.03; V = 1.03; VI = 1.00; VII = 0.91; VIII = 0.83; IX = 0.71; X = 0.60; XI = 0.65.

Thorax. Prothorax wider than long; sides distinctly concave between anterolateral angles and central tubercle. Pronotum with five slightly elevated gibbosities, one on each side of anterior third, one on each side of posterior third, another elliptical, located about center; abundantly, coarsely punctate, except smooth central gibbosity; with moderately sparse, bristly yellowish-white setae, slightly more abundant laterally, except glabrous central gibbosity. Sides of prothorax abundantly, coarsely punctate; with somewhat sparse, bristly yellowish-white setae. Prosternum slightly rugose-punctate anterolaterally, very finely, transversely striate-punctate on remaining anterior half, sparsely, finely punctate on posterior half; with a few long, erect yellowish-white setae. Prosternal process gradually narrowed toward posterior quarter, then drop-shaped; with a few long, erect yellowish setae. Mesoventrite with a few long yellowish-white setae anterocentrally and laterally, glabrous on remaining surface. Mesoventral process with sides convergent, almost glabrous; apex truncate, about as wide as mesocoxal width. Mesanepisterna, mesepimera, and metanepisterna with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument. Metaventrite abundantly, coarsely punctate laterally, punctures sparser, finer toward center; with sparse, long, bristly yellowish-white setae, sparser centrally, except somewhat abundant setae posterolaterally. Scutellum sparsely, finely punctate; with sparse yellowish-white pubescence, slightly denser and yellower close to margins of posterior half. Elytra. Subparallel-sided on anterior 3/4, gradually narrowed toward rounded apex on posterior quarter; densely, coarsely punctate; with abundant, bristly, both yellowish-white and yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Legs. Coxae, trochanters, and femora with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument. Tibiae with abundant whitish pubescence not obscuring integument on basal 2/3, except ventral surface of protibiae entirely with dense, bristly yellowish-brown pubescence; remaining surface of meso- and metatibiae with abundant, bristly light yellowish-brown pubescence not obscuring integument. Dorsal surface of tarsi with short and long yellowish-white to pale-yellow setae not obscuring integument; some long setae distinctly erect.

Abdomen. Ventrites 1–4 with sparse yellowish-white setae, slightly denser laterally, absent on some areas. Ventrite 5 with abundant yellowish-white pubescence not obscuring integument, and long, erect pale-yellow setae interspersed; apex rounded.

Dimensions (mm). Total length, 9.00; prothoracic length, 1.25; anterior prothoracic width, 1.15; posterior prothoracic width, 1.25; maximum prothoracic width, 1.65; humeral width, 2.00; elytral length, 6.40.

Type specimen. Female holotype from ECUADOR, Loja: Vicinity of Macará , 700 m, at UV light, 20–24 Feb 2024, J. Vlasak leg. ( MZSP, formerly JVCO) .

Etymology. The specific epithet “ suturalis ” refers to the orange coloration of elytral suture, contrasting with the surrounding dark-brown areas.

Remarks. Cupecuara suturalis sp. nov. is similar to C. pojuca ( Martins & Galileo, 2001) but differs, especially by the elytral and femoral pubescence distinctly more abundant, and by the elytral pubescent pattern.

Key to species of Cupecuara View in CoL , adapted from Botero & Santos-Silva (2020)

(For comparison, see photographs on Bezark (2025) and Botero & Santos-Silva (2020))

1. Elytra predominantly dark, with dorsal dark area extending continuously from base (or near base) to apex............... 2

- Elytra predominantly yellow or orange with two or three isolated dark areas....................................... 3

2(1). Scutellum and elytral sutural region dark; elytral and femoral pubescence sparse. Brazil ( Pará, Rondônia)...................................................................................... C. pojuca ( Martins & Galileo, 2001) View in CoL

- Scutellum and elytral sutural region orange; elytral and femoral pubescence abundant. Ecuador ( Loja)...................................................................................................... C. suturalis sp. nov.

3(1). Dorsal surface of elytra with dark area restricted to a single continuous band along the suture, reaching apex or at least the apical eighth.............................................................................................. 4

- Dorsal surface of elytra with two isolated dark patches........................................................ 5

4(3). Head, prothorax, and ventral side of body pale brown; pronotum densely and uniformly punctate; lateral tubercles of prothorax distinctly acute at apex; dark stripes on dorsal surface of elytra and along epipleural margin reaching apex. Panama ( Panamá)................................................................. C. turnbowi (Hovore & Santos-Silva, 2007) View in CoL

- Head, prothorax and ventral side of body violaceous with greenish reflections in some areas; pronotum sparsely punctate, punctures concentrated laterally, on anterior and posterior margins, and around the central gibbosity; lateral tubercles of prothorax rounded at apex; dark stripes on dorsal surface of elytra and close to epipleural margin not reaching apex. Ecuador ( Napo)................................................................ C. erwini Botero & Santos-Silva, 2020 View in CoL

5(3). Anterior black patch on dorsal surface of elytra triangularly elongate, with its widest area at base. Peru ( Pasco, Junín)................................................................................ C. santossilvai Audureau, 2014 View in CoL

- Anterior black patch on dorsal surface of elytra rounded or ovoid, with its anterior area narrow and gradually widened (widening often rounded)....................................................................................... 6

6(5). Sides of elytra lacking dark band close to epipleural margin. Bolivia ( La Paz)........ C. soledari ( Martins & Galileo, 2001) View in CoL

- Sides of elytra with dark band close to epipleural margin. Peru ( Junín), Bolivia ( Cochabamba)...... C. argodi (Belon, 1896) View in CoL