A key to American genus Merobruchus Bridwell (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) with descriptions of species and two new host plant records for the subfamily Author Manfio, Daiara Author Ribeiro-Costa, Cibele Stramare text Zootaxa 2016 4078 1 284 319 journal article 46790 10.11646/zootaxa.4078.1.25 e94a2297-93a5-4d20-b957-670b655f214e 1175-5326 263743 78037DEE-A4F0-4E28-8135-EFD57552C3D0 Merobruchus pIckelI ( Pic, 1927 ) ( Figures 22 , 40 , 45–46 , 69 , 93 , 119 , 143 ) Pseudopachymerus pickeli Pic, 1927 : 32 (original description, type locality: " Brazil ", type depository: MNHN), Bondar, 1936 : 26 (distribution), Kingsolver & Silva, 1991 : 414 (citation). Caryedes pickeli : Blackwelder, 1946 : 758 (distribution), Udayagiri & Wadhi, 1989 : 76 (catalogue). Gibbobruchus pickeli : Zacher, 1952: 467 (host plant; questionable if related to P. pickeli Pic, 1927 ). Merobruchus pickeli : Kingsolver, 1988 : 2 , 4, 63 (new combination, distribution, taxonomy), Kingsolver & Silva, 1991 : 414 (citation), Romero-Nápoles & Johnson, 2004: 386 (distribution questionable). Pseudopachymerus pickeli subnotatus Pic, 1927 : 32 (original description, type locality: " Brazil "). New synonym. Caryedes pickeli var. subnotata Blackwelder, 1946 : 758 (distribution). Pseudopachymerus steinbachi Pic, 1934a : 116 (synonymized by Kingsolver, 1988 : 2 ). Caryedes steinbachi : Blackwelder, 1946 : 758 (distribution), Udayagiri & Wadhi, 1989 : 77 (distribution). Material examined. Type material. Pseudopachymerus pickeli Pic, 1927 and Pseudopachymerus pickeli var. subnotatus Pic, 1927 . Holotypes deposited in MNHN , females ( Fig. 156 ): Labels: (1) “360” (2) “ Brésil /São Bento/ (Dª B. Pickel)” [Handwritten] (3) “sementes de/Pithecolobium/ saman Benth / v.aculifolia ” [Handwritten] (4) “ Pseudopachymerus /prob stenocephalus” [Handwritten] (5) “ Pickeli n sp/et v. subnotatus/mihi” [Handwritten] (6) “ HOLOTYPE ” [Red label printed in black] (7) “ Pseudopachymerus / pickeli Pic Type /Marked +/ P. pickeli v. subnotatus /Pic/unmarked/specimen Type /J. M. Kingsolver´72” [Handwritten] (8) “ Merobruchus / pickeli ( Pic, 1927 ) / Ribeiro-Costa, C.S. det. 2007”. Additional material. BRAZIL . 1, Chapada, Chapada Forest, May, Acc.No.2966, homotype label ( USNM ). Mato Grosso: 7, Cuiabá, 1987, Nonato P. & Dorval A. col., semente de sete-casca (popular name of Samanea tubulosa ) ( DZUP ); 3, Cuiabá, 987, Nonato P. & Dorval A. col., semente de chico-magro ( DZUP ). Redescription, holotype . Body length: 3.88 mm; width: 2.53 mm. Integument. Dorsum ( Fig. 22 ): pronotum reddish brown and dark brown; elytron bicoloured, anterior half brown and posterior half dark brown. Antenna : pale brown ( Fig. 36 ). Ventral region : reddish brown and dark brown except anterior and middle legs pale brown ( Fig. 36 ). Pygidium ( Fig. 69 ): reddish brown and dark brown. Pubescence. Dorsum ( Fig. 22 ): pronotum pale brown and yellowish gray, pubescence denser at lateral; scutellum white; elytron variegated, pale brown, white and coppery. Ventral region : mostly white; abdominal ventrites uniformly pubescent ( Fig. 36 ). Pygidium ( Fig. 69 ): white and yellowish gray, homogeneous and dense, except spots with slightly sparse pubescence. Body. Subquadrate body. Head : with occipital sulcus ( Figs 2 , 40 ); ocular index 3.06; ocular sinus 0.18 mm ( Fig. 2 ); postocular lobe moderate ( Fig. 36 ); frons slightly elevated, with conspicuous frontal carina, microsculptate, with regular borders, not enlarged at base ( Figs 2 , 40 ); frontoclypeal carina distinct. Antenna : serrate, antennomeres 4–10 with the same width ( Fig. 36 ); antennomere 11 longer than wide. Pronotum : lateral margins straight in dorsal view ( Fig. 22 ); basal lobe with straight margin; median gibbosity slightly elevated, anterior region divided by shallow longitudinal sulcus ( Fig. 22 ); lateral gibbosities slightly elevated ( Fig. 22 ); coarse punctation dense at disc, intermixed with fine punctation all over pronotum ( Fig. 22 ); lateral carina absent. Scutellum : wider than long ( Fig. 22 ), bidentate. Elytron : humeral gibbosity conspicuous ( Figs 4 , 22 ); basal gibbosity absent ( Figs 45–46 ); striae regular in course, free apically and visibly impressed, except 4–6 formed only by isolate punctation ( Fig. 45 ); striae 3–5 with basal denticle ( Fig. 46 ). Mesoventrite : mesoventral process rounded apically; postmesocoxal sulcus rounded, following the curvature of the coxa ( Fig. 47–48 ). Metaventrite : not protuberant in lateral view ( Fig. 36 ); metanepisternum with sparse, coarse punctation; dorsal carina incomplete, not limiting posterior corner and margin. Hind leg : femur in lateral view projects beyond pygidium ( Fig. 4 ); pecten with 4 teeth; internal margin without denticles at anterior region before pecten. Tibia, external face smooth, not microserrate; lateroventral carina complete; mucro longer than width of tibia apically; coronal tooth absent; curvature of tibia at external margin reaching half-length of tibia. Abdomen : last ventrite, median apical border with arcuate emargination, with short lateral projections ( Fig. 55 ). Pygidium : entirely convex; median lateral tubercles slightly elevated; apical margin truncate. Male genitalia. Median lobe ( Fig. 119 ): length about 4 x maximum width of base of ventral valve. Ventral valve arcuate, wider than long and narrower than median lobe apically. Apical region with dense spines, short plates bi- or tridentate, sparse denticles. Median region with sparse denticles; Y-shaped sclerite with upper stem straight and lateral stems curved; four dentate sclerites with large base, two with about 2 x the size of the other. Basal region with spicules. Basal hood bilobate, wider than largest width at base of ventral valve. Tegmen ( Fig. 143 ): lateral lobes moderately emarginate, emargination reaching slightly over half of its length; external margin straight and internal margin concave; apex truncate, oblique, convergent; with projections turned toward the ring. Variability. Body length (n = 10): 3.37–4.15 mm; width: 2.3–2.72 mm. Integument. Pygidium : reddish brown. Pubescence. Dorsum : pronotum with sparse white pubescence; elytron sometimes with sparse yellowish gray pubescence. Pygidium : white. Body. Head : ocular index 3.65–3.46; ocular sinus 0.11–0.16 mm. Hind leg : femur, pecten with 5 teeth. Female. Abdomen : last ventrite, median apical border with arcuate emargination, with long lateral projections forming digitate process ( Fig. 52 ). Pygidium : almost straight in female ( Fig. 93 ). Diagnosis. Merobruchus pickeli differs from M. bicoloripes by the antennae entirely pale brown ( Fig. 36 ), pronotum with slightly elevated median gibbosity and with straight lateral margins ( Fig. 22 ), elytron with a denticle at the base of the striae 3–5 ( Fig. 46 ), the lateral lobes of the tegmen of male genitalia ( Fig. 143 ) with an oblique and convergent apex and with projections toward the ring. Distribution. Brazil (Mato Grosso). Host plant. Fabaceae , Mimosoideae , Ingeae : Samanea tubulosa (Benth.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes (= Pithecellobium saman var. acutifolium Benth ) Remarks . We requested the type material of Pseudopachymerus pickeli from the MNHN and received two specimens glued on the same paper rectangle. In the original description of Pseudopachymerus pickeli , Pic also described Pseudopachymerus pickeli var. subnotatus . Next to one exemplar there is a marking red cross. This mark is also present in the upper half of a handwritten label by Kingsolver (“ Pseudopachymerus / pickeli Pic Type / marked +”; Fig. 156 ) showing that this is the exemplar named P. pickeli . The other exemplar, unmarked, is associated with the information in the lower half of the same label (“ P. pickeli v. subnotatus / Pic Type unmarked specimen/ J. Kingsolver 72”; Fig. 156 ). Both specimens differ slightly only by the pubescence colour, so the taxa are here synonymized. Romero-Nápoles & Johnson (2004) included Nicaragua as a distribution record for M. pickeli and cited Kingsolver (1988) . However, Kingsolver (1988) did not deal about geographical distribution of M. pickeli , only mentioned that this species is South American. So, Nicaragua is a questionable record.