Revision of the American species of the genus Prionus Geoffroy, 1762 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae, Prionini)
Author
Santos-Silva, Antonio
Author
Nearns, Eugenio H.
Author
Swift, Ian P.
text
Zootaxa
2016
4134
1
1
103
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4134.1.1
a157eae0-8cb8-4b9a-8ce5-dd7ff7913ba3
1175-5326
399754
92AC0E20-F532-4D21-AE1F-4B056327212F
On
Prionus
(
Trichoprionus
)
Fragoso & Monné, 1982
Fragoso & Monné (1982)
described
Prionus
(
Trichoprionus
)
to allocate their new species
P.
(
T.
)
aureopilosus
(
Figs. 126–127
), from
Dominican Republic
. According to them [translation]: “It differs from the other subgenera of
Prionus
, of American occurrence, by the antennae with 11 segments, by the pronotum penta-tuberculate on disc, and by the dense elytral pubescence in males.”
Prionus
(
Trichoprionus
)
is not a true
Prionus
. It is much closer to
Derobrachus
Audinet-Serville, 1832
than
Prionus
. It is particularly closer to the “Apterous species group” of
Derobrachus
,
sensu
Santos-Silva (2007)
. The general appearance of
P.
(
Trichoprionus
)
aureopilosus
Fragoso & Monné, 1982
superficially resembles that of
Prionus corpulentus
Bates, 1878
, and
P. siskai
Drumont & Komiya, 2006
, both known from the Palearctic Region. However, it clearly differs by antennomeres III–X with large, spiniform projection at outer angle in males (flabellate or almost so in
Prionus
, and the flabellum is usually wide, rounded at apex or distinctly emarginated), by the antennae with 11 segments (with at least 12 segments in
Prionus
), by the pronotum distinctly tuberculate (not or very slightly tuberculate in
Prionus
), and by tarsomeres IV–V together about as long as I–III together (shorter in
Prionus
).
Trichoprionus
also resembles
Priotyrannus
(
Kinibalua
)
megalops
Bates, 1889
, from Borneo,
Malaysia
(Sumatra) and
Philippines
, but differs as follows: head slender; eyes notably smaller; distance between upper eye lobes equal to, at least, length of one lobe; scape distinctly surpassing posterior ocular edge in males; antennomeres III–XI without poriferous area dorsally. In
Priotyrannus
(
Kinibalua
)
megalops
the head is wider, the eyes are very large, the distance between upper eye lobes is distinctly smaller than length of one lobe (contiguous or nearly so), the scape does not surpass posterior ocular edge in males, and antennomeres III–XI have a poriferous area on the dorsal surface.
As the males of
Trichoprionus
have antennomeres III–X strongly spiniform at outer angle and not striolate, two characters not present in
Derobrachus
, we consider it as a distinct genus.
Fragoso & Monné (1982)
did not comment on the short metasternum in females, a feature that suggests that they are brachypterous. The examination of a female that belongs to the USNM collection confirms the shortness of the wings in females of
Trichoprionus aureopilosus
.