A new species of Xenorhipis LeConte and of Mastogenius Solier from Mexico, with a discussion of Chrysobothris ichthyomorpha Thomson and its allies and notes on other Mexican and Central American Buprestidae (Coleoptera)
Author
Westcott, Richard L.
text
Zootaxa
2008
1929
47
68
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.274593
2ff7011a-37c6-4b0e-aa5e-0724c210f8e0
1175-5326
274593
Chrysobothris chiriquita
Obenberger
,
new status
(
Figs. 3, 6
,
11
)
Chrysobothris ichthyomorpha chiriquita
Obenberger, 1940
: 84
Chrysobothris chiriquita
belongs to a complex of New World tropical species, the best known of which,
C. ichthyomorpha
Thomson
and
C. thomsoni
Waterhouse
, are discussed below.
Obenberger (1940)
described his subspecies from three specimens among a series of eight (NMPC) identically labeled “Chiriqui,
Panama
”, all of which I have examined. At the same time he described from the remaining specimens two “aberrations” of
C. ichthyomorpha
(ab.
duplifascis
and ab.
posticalis
). These represent
C. chiriquita
. Considering the foregoing, the difficulty of this group, and the unreliability of the literature on these species, designating a
lectotype
clearly is warranted. I have selected as
lectotype
(NMPC) a specimen measuring
16.2 mm
X
6.3 mm
and labeled as follows: “Chiriqui,
Panama
/
TYPUS
(red card)/Mus. Nat. Pragae, Inv. 22 905 (orange card)/
Chr.
ichthyomorpha
ssp.
chiriquita
M.,
Type
, Det. Dr. Obenberger/
LECTOTYPE
Chrysobothris ichthyomorpha chiriquita
Obenberger
, det. R. L.
Westcott 4/2006
(red card). Two other specimens become
paralectotypes
, so labeled on yellow card stock by me.
I have compared the aforementioned specimens to the
types
of
C. ichthyomorpha
and
C. collaris
Thomson
(now
C. thomsoni
) and clearly
C. chiriquita
must be considered a distinct species. Based on the male genitalia (
Fig. 11
) and female last abdominal sternite (
Fig. 6
), it appears most closely related to
C. thomsoni
; however, in general appearance it more closely resembles similarly colored specimens of
C. ichthyomorpha
that occur in
Mexico
and northern Central
America
. Unlike the southern populations of the latter species, and
C. thomsoni
, the basolateral portion of the pronotum is not bright red. Otherwise, it is best to rely on the structure of the aedeagus and the female last ventrite.
I studied specimens of this poorly known species, heretofore recorded only by the
type
series from
Panama
, from:
MEXICO
, Michoacán, Zamora,
22-X-93
, maleza, CEAM; Nayarit,
28 km
NE Las Varas,
14-X- 87
, EMEC; Veracruz, Orizaba, BMNH.
GUATEMALA
, Capetillo [near
Antigua
,
1580 m
], BMNH.
COSTA RICA
, Puntarenas, San Luís, R.B. Monteverde,
1040 m
,
24-VII-15-IX-92
, UNAM; San Luis, Finca Buen Amigo, Monteverde,
4 km
S la Reserva, Camino a Trapiche,
1000 m
,
XI-94
&
VII-98
;
7 km
N
Santa Elena
de Monte Verde,
7-VII-83
; Guanacaste, SW side Volcán Cacao, Estación Mengo,
1100 m
, malaise trap, 1987; same except Est. Cacao,
1000-1400 m
,
III-88
; Est. Las Pallas, P.N. Rincón de la Vieja, A. C. Guanacaste,
800 m
,
8-18-I-92
, CLBC, INBC, RLWE. An additional specimen from
Panama
: Bocas del Toro,
10 km
NE
Fortuna
Dam, on dead wood,
VI-86
, CLBC. The specimens range in length from
12.6-17.9 mm
. The one from
Guatemala
was recorded by
Waterhouse (1882)
under
C. ichthyomorpha
. I suggest that the occurrence of
C. chiriquita
in or near Zamora,
Mexico
needs to be confirmed, as that locality is higher (
1595 m
), much farther inland, and the habitat is disparate from that of any other specimen in the group that I have examined. However, in general this species does appear to occur at higher elevations than either of its closest relatives,
C. ichthyomorpha
and
C. thomsoni
.