Agrilus (Nigritius) scottoi n. sp. from Cameroun (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)
Author
Curletti, Gianfranco
Author
Dutto, Angelo
text
Zootaxa
2017
2017-11-01
4341
3
423
424
journal article
31669
10.11646/zootaxa.4341.3.7
e10a4e78-120e-4d07-abbd-12a31339f01b
1175-5326
1040097
73DF7D13-A9E0-4CF8-91FB-3C6926A8902A
Agrilus (Nigritius) scottoi
n. sp.
(
Fig. 1a, 1b, 1c
)
Material examined.
Holotype
♂
:
Cameroun
,
Centre
prov.,
I.1992
(
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Carmagnola
).
Holotype
description.
Length
10.3 mm
. Colour black dorsally, with yellow spots on pronotum, elytra and lateroterga.
Head
with frons dark green, glabrous. Clypeus with thin transverse carina at the base. Antennae serrate from 4th antennomere. Eyes large, therefore with reduced cheeks.
Pronotum
depressed at the sides: the depressions covered by yellow pubescence. Posterior angles acute. Premarginal carina entire. Marginal carinae joined before the base. Prosternal lobe with anterior margin slightly sinuate. Prosternal process straight, parallel sided.
Scutellum
transversely carinate.
Elytra
with apex ending in a long and robust spine. Disc with
3
pairs of yellow pubescent spots, respectively on the base, at basal ⅓ and at apical ⅔. Lateroterga with spots of similar pubescence.
Underside
with gold reflections. Two small tubercles in the median part of the basal ventrite, as in the male of the Palearctic species
A. angustulus
(
Illiger, 1803
)
. Small and scarcely visible spots of pubescence at the base of the ventrites. Metepisternum covered with yellow pubescence. Apex of the last visible ventrite rounded. Apex of the last visible tergite whith an elongated and pointed process.
Legs
metallic gold. All claws bifid, but with the internal tooth shorter. Metatarsus longer than metatibia. Tarsal formulae: 1>2+3+4; 2>3+4.
Aedeagus
strongly sclerotized, parallel, slender, thin, with apex of median lobe acute (fig. 1c).
Etymology.
This species in named after the ambassador Luigi Scotto for the support provided during the author’s researches in Africa.
Remarks.
The label of
Agrilus scottoi
n. sp.
has little data and the species is very similar to some taxa occurring in the
Oriental
Region, and for this reason, for several years, we did not describe it, however, after further study, we have decided to describe it.
Agrilus scottoi
n. sp.
has a mixture of characters seen in the subgenera
Nigritius
Curletti, 1998
, and
Pantherina
Curletti, 1998
. The elytral apices, ending with a strong spine, and the conformation of the metatarsus are typical of the subgenus
Pantherina
, but the presence of an elongated pointed process at the apex of last visible tergite, places this species without a doubt in the subgenus
Nigritius
Curletti, 1998
.
Within the subgenus
Nigritius
, several species have ochraceous pubescent spots on the elytra, but the majority have 4 pairs of spots and the elytral apices lack strong spines: among these, the most similar in body form are
A. jedlickai
Obenberger, 1931
and
A. patricius
Obenberger 1931
. Only one species has both apical elytral spines and three pairs of elytral spots:
A. overlaeti
Burgeon, 1941
from the
Congo
, but this differs in having large spots on the ventrites and a large yellow pubescent spot on the frons. Among the species of subgenus
Pantherina
, the most similar one is A.
portonovencis
Kerremans, 1903
, widely distributed in Western Africa, differing only in the absence of the apical spines and ventrites with pubescent spots. Another species,
A. woodi
Obenberger, 1935
from
Malawi
and
Tanzania
, although having the apical spines, has 6 pairs of white pubescent elytral spots.