American Cerambycidae (Coleoptera): Four new species, new records and taxonomic notes
Author
Heffern, Daniel
10531 Goldfield Lane, Houston, TX 77064, USA.
Author
Santos-Silva, Antonio
0000-0001-7128-1418
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil & toncriss @ uol. com. br; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7128 - 1418
toncriss@uol.com.br
Author
Nascimento, Francisco E. L.
0000-0002-5047-8921
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil & eribnascimentofl @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 5047 - 8921
eribnascimentofl@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-02-22
4933
3
361
378
journal article
7979
10.11646/zootaxa.4933.3.4
a3bf6440-2b88-402b-9bbe-107a257286e1
1175-5326
4554966
92A9D8F4-88CF-4971-9759-276BB230E208
On
Hypexilis
Horn, 1885
and
Caribbomerus
Vitali, 2003
Hypexilis
and
Caribbomerus
differ only in the shape of their protrochanters, a characteristic which has never been mentioned before. In
Hypexilis
(
Figs. 15–18
), they are almost vertical in relation to the anteroposterior axis of the body, oblique in relation to the axis of the profemur, and their apex is rounded. In
Caribbomerus
, they are more typical, coplanar or nearly so with profemur, and with acute apex (
Fig. 24
).
Horn (1885)
described
Hypexilis
as follows: “Antennae “male symbol” twice as long as the body, joints 3–11 gradually increasing in length. Eyes moderately prominent, coarsely granulated, deeply emarginate. Maxillary palpi much longer than the labial, the terminal joint broad, securiform; last joint of labial narrowly oval, truncate at tip. Femora clavate; first joint of hind tarsi longer than the next two.”
Horn (1885)
did not comment on the protrochanter shape either in the description of
H. pallida
.
Linsley (1935)
described
H. longipennis
, but did not describe the shape of the trochanters.
Linsley (1962)
redescribed
Hypexilis
: “Form elongate, slender. Head broader across eyes than width of pronotum; antennae twice as long as body, 11-segmented, not ciliate, segments 3 to 11 gradually increasing in length, last segment shorter than ninth and tenth together; maxillary palpi less than twice as long as labial palpi. Pronotum distinctly less than twice as long as broad. Posterior tarsi with first segment shorter than following segments together.”
Linsley (1962)
was the first who reported the similarity of
Merostenus
White, 1855
(currently,
Caribbomerus
) with
Hypexilis
: “This genus is related to the West Indian
Merostenus
.” However, he also did not comment on the shape of the protrochanters.
White (1855)
described
Merostenus
as follows: “Head somewhat depressed, short before the eyes. Eyes projecting, wider than the thorax. Antennae as long as the body, third joint not as long as the fourth, fifth and the following joints longer than the fourth. Thorax somewhat narrow, longer than wide. Elytra elongated, flattened, at the apex produced. Legs with the femora slightly clavated, of two hind legs compressed.”
Lacordaire (1868)
,
Zayas (1975)
, and
Villiers (1980)
provided a short redescription, but they did not comment on the shape of the trochanters. Martins (2005) commented (translated): “As
Merosternus
[
sic
] is very similar, or even synonym, of
Hypexilis
Horn, 1885
, we deem it appropriate to transfer it to
Graciliini
.”
Martins & Galileo (2005)
also provided a redescription of
Merostenus
, without comment on the shape of the trochanters.
Vitali (2003)
pointed out the homonymy between
Merostenus
White, 1855
and
Merostenus
Walker, 1837 (Hymenoptera)
, and used
Caribbomerus
as a replacement name for the former. Although
Vitali (2003)
provided a key to species of the genus, he did not provide a generic redescription.
Lingafelter (2011)
provided another description of
Caribbomerus
, but no information on the trochanters was given. Finally,
Devesa
et al.
(2015)
provided a redescription of the species of
Caribbomerus
from
Cuba
and, although he did not point out the shape of the protrochanters, it is possible to see that they are normal through the photographs of the specimens illustrated in that work.
For now, it is not possible to provide keys to species of
Hypexilis
and/or
Caribbomerus
because it will be necessary to examine all species currently placed in these genera.