Agra Fabricius (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae: Lebiini: Agrina), Arboreal Beetles of Neotropical Forests: The Rare, Non-Neotropical Texas Species at the Generic Northern Limit, with Notes on Their Way of Life
Author
Erwin, Terry L.
text
The Coleopterists Bulletin
2017
2017-12-22
71
4
639
651
http://dx.doi.org/10.1649/0010-065x-71.4.639
journal article
5188
10.1649/0010-065X-71.4.639
5e2cbcdd-1887-48ab-9c07-8763aa32c869
1938-4394
4788749
314EF19B-A6F5-495E-936F-A280D12DF73C
truquii
species-group
Members of this rather uniform group are of small to medium size and blackish; the nominate species has a subtle bluish tint to the elytra. A diagnostic combination of the adults of the
truquii
speciesgroup includes the following: labrum slightly depressed medially with rounded anterior lateral margin and slightly emarginate apex; antennae of males with antennomeres more or less subequal in length (except short pedicel); that of females with antennomere 8 short, slightly less than half the length of 7, antennomeres 9–11 half the length of 3-7. Antenna of normal length, reaching level of middle coxa, not markedly short and robust nor long and markedly thin. Head behind eyes moderately elongate, broadly rounded posteriorly in female, slightly tapered to neck in male; elytral interneurs each a series of large, coarse, variously separated punctures; elytral apex nearly perfectly truncated, laterally with a small, broadly acute tooth, sutural corner rounded; legs and tarsi normal, not markedly modified; male metasternum moderately setigerous, abdominal sterna III–V bilaterally setigerous, setae long and numerous, simply sparsely setiferous on female; male phallus (
Fig. 3B
) broadly arrowshaped, tip rounded.
Three species are currently recognized in the species-group:
Agra smaragdina
Chaudoir (1866)
Agra truquii
Chaudoir (1866)
Agra wickhami
Erwin
,
new species
Agra wickhami
Erwin
,
new species
Wickham’ s elegant canopy beetle (
Figs. 2
,
3
,
5
)
Holotype
:
USA
:
TEXAS
:
Cameron County
,
Brownsville
,
9 m
,
25.86°N
,
97.43°W
, no date (
HF Wickham
) (
CAS
: ADP091173, female).
Derivation of Specific Epithet.
The epithet “
wickhami
” is an eponym based on the family name of H. F. Wickham, Coleopterist and Paleoentomologist of the late 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries, who collected the adult
holotype
of this species somewhere in or near Brownsville,
Texas
.
Proposed English Vernacular Name.
Wickham’ s elegant canopy beetle.
Diagnosis.
Agra wickhami
has all the attributes of the genus and species-group as described above and is large for the
truquii
species-group. Adults with black integument; appendages darkly infuscated; antennomeres 6–11 bicolored. Frons and occiput moderately domed, smooth, mostly glabrous, with less than 10 scattered setae in addition to fixed supraorbital setae. Pronotum with linear rows of large, coarse punctures from apex to base. Elytral interneurs each with large coarse puncture; apex truncate with small, obtuse dent apicolaterally.
Table 2.
Adult measurements and ratios for female
Agra wickhami
. All values are in millimeters.Apparent body length (ABL) and standardize body length (SBL) are also provided in the descriptions. Means provided for ratios are “harmonic means.”
Description. Size:
Large for species group, ABL =
15.5–16.3 mm
, SBL =
14.92–17.47 mm
, TW =
4.34–4.45 mm
(
Table 2
).
Color:
As described above and antennomers 1–5 infuscated, 6–11 bicolored with lateral black stripes; mouthparts infuscated, especially maxillary palpomeres, legs and tarsi dark brownish.
Luster:
Head, pronotum, and legs shiny, elytra matte black.
Head:
As described above.
Prothorax:
Short, about the length of head, moderately constricted near base, devoid of hind angles, narrowed anteriorly to about width of neck; surface of disc as described above (
Fig. 2
).
Pterothorax:
Elytron moderately convex, narrow in anterior third, slightly flared from middle to apical third and rounded to lateral hind angle; intervals moderately convex, quite regular in width.
Legs:
Simple in females.
Abdomen:
As described above.
Male genitalia:
Unknown.
Female ovipositor:
Female internal parts not investigated. Female stylomere 2 as in
Fig. 3
.
Dispersal Potential.
These beetles are macropterous and probably capable of flight; they are swift and agile runners.
Way of Life.
See
A. rileyi
above for general information. Specimens of
A. wickhami
were taken at lowland elevations along the Rio Grande Valley in southeastern
Texas
, where sabal palms and sugar hackberry grow. Adults are active in the late rainy season in the
Yucatán
of
Mexico
. See
Wickham (1897)
for descriptions of the vegetation at Brownsville at the time of his collecting the
holotype
.
Other Specimens Examined.
Mexico
:
YUCATÁN
,
Arco
,
16 m
,
21.0918°
N
,
88.6654°
W
,
23 September 1965
(
AMNH
:
ADP056075
, female
paratype
)
.
Geographic Distribution.
This species is currently known from the
type
locality and the
Yucatán
peninsula of
Mexico
(
Fig. 5
)
.