Sparna Thomson 1864
Creators: name: Santos-Silva, Antonio
name: Galileo, Maria Helena M.
name: Mcclarin, Jim
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cerambycidae
Sparna

description: Sparna Thomson, 1864
Sparna Thomson, 1864: 30; 1865: 30; Lacordaire, 1872: 828; Gemminger, 1873: 3175 (cat.); Lameere, 1883: 68; Aurivillius, 1923: 457 (cat.); Blackwelder, 1946: 621 (checklist); Gilmour, 1950: 550; 1954: 76; Fuchs, 1956: 575; Monné & Giesbert, 1994: 274 (checklist); Monné, 1995: 24 (cat.); 2005: 356 (cat.); Monné & Hovore, 2006: 237 (checklist); Monné, 2012: 91 (cat.); 2017: 312 (cat.).
Type species: Sparna lycoides Thomson, 1864 (monotypy).
Thomson (1864) described Sparna to include a single species: S. lycoides Thomson, 1864 (unfortunately, without a collection locality for the type). According to ICZN (1999: recommendation 76A.1.4), the type locality could be designated using a place where the species is formally recorded. However, information on the place where the species would occur is based on Lacordaire (1872) and Gilmour (1954): Bolivia. These authors indicated that Bolivia is the country where the holotype was collected, again, a fact not included in the original description. As the description of the female provided by Lacordaire (1872), also without a collection locality, does not agree with the true S. lycoides, it is more appropriate to keep the type locality of S. lycoides as unknown.
Gilmour (1954) revised Sparna, but although he did not examine specimens of S. lycoides he provided a translation of the original description (genus and species): “Body depressed, broadened, looks like the Genus Lycus; frons strongly concave; eyes strongly granulated; male antennae a little longer than the body, 11-segmented, 1 st segment equal in length to the third, pilose beneath, 3rd also pilose beneath, swollen, the rest of the segments slender gradually decreasing; prothorax trapezoidal, gradually widening from apex to base, posterior angles acute; elytra extremely broadened (opening!), gradually widening from base to apex, depressed, rounded posteriorly; prosternal and mesosternal appendages laminiform; legs slender, the posterior a little elongated; tarsi simple, elongate, especially the posterior, the 1 st segment of these alone (i. e. the latter!—GILMOUR) the longest.” This translation is accurate except for part on the eyes, which Gilmour (1954) translated “oculi tenuè granulate” as “eyes strongly granulated”. Actually, this means eyes finely granulated. Still according to Gilmour (1954), on the original description of the species: “Length; 6 mm. Breadth: 5,5 mm (Posterior half of elytra). BOLIVIA. (Specific description, p. 30).”Again, “ Bolivia ” is not in the original description.
Lacordaire (1872) redescribed Sparna and S. lycoides, based on a female from Bolivia (according to Thomson, the holotype is a male). Gilmour (1954) translated parts of these redescriptions and pointed out: “On the elytra LACORDAIRE only says: “Elytra flat, no broader basally than the prothora [sic], gradually widening and obtusely rounded behind, sharp laterally and bearing the epipleura sub-horizontally.” The translation reflects what Lacordaire originally wrote, and apparently was the basis upon which Gilmour (1954) provided an elytral drawing of S. lycoides as having the outer distal angles acutely projected. Nevertheless, S. lycoides sensu Lacordaire (1872) isclearly not the true S. lycoides as the drawing from Gilmour (1954) does not agree with Thomson’s species. The elytral apices of the holotype of S. lycoides are exactly as written by Thomson: distinctly and uniformly rounded. Furthermore, the legs in the holotype of S. lycoides are not as described by Lacordaire (1872) (“Pattes assez longues” [legs very long]). Actually they are more correctly described as short.
Unfortunately, specimens of S. lycoides were not available to assist in checking character details and provide a solid basis for a redescription of the genus. However, by using the original description, photograph of the holotype of S. lycoides, and the new species, we believe that the genus can be appropriately defined as follows: body flattened; head opisthognathous; frons sub-square or elongate; antennal tubercles somewhat elevated, in frontal view, their inner margins together distinctly V-shaped; antennae slightly longer than body; scape with distinct bristly pubescence, shorter than on antennomere III; antennomere III slightly thicker than II; with long, abundant setae throughout, slightly shorter than scape; remaining antennomeres more slender and shorter than III; antennomere IV shorter than III; prothorax trapezoidal, forming distinct spine near base, with short constriction between base and spine; prosternal and mesoventral processes laminiform; elytra gradually and strongly widened toward its distal third (straight outer margins), then along outer margin gradually, slightly narrowed and rounded toward apex, with or without tooth near apex laterally; elytral apex distinctly rounded; elytra with distinct humeral carina from base to apex; elytra with sparse erect setae; epipleuron slightly oblique, wide close to humerus, gradually more oblique and narrower, becoming sub-horizontal near apex (not visible in dorsal view); elytra with two distinct dorsal carina from base to apex, fused or not near apex; femora clavate, with short peduncle and club slightly fusiform; metatarsomere I about as long as II–V together; abdominal ventrite V gradually and slightly narrowed toward apex, with short spine on each side of apex.
Sparna differs from Carterica as follows: body flattened; head opisthognathous; antennae slightly longer than body; antennomere III with dense, long setae throughout, distinctly wider than remaining segments; prothorax trapezoidal, with lateral spine near base; elytra distinctly widened toward distal third; humeral carina reaching apex; elytral, between humeral carina and epipleura, not visible dorsally, distinctly narrowed toward apex, from oblique at base to sub-horizontal distally; elytral apex rounded; abdominal ventrite V slightly narrowed toward apex. In Carterica, the body is not flattened, head hypognathous, antennae noticeably longer than body, especially in male, antennomere III not densely pubescent or distinctly thicker than remaining segments, prothorax not trapezoidal, with rounded tubercle near base laterally, elytra parallel-sided, humeral carina reaching about distal third, epipleuron not narrowed toward apex, distinctly visible dorsally, especially toward apex, elytral apex sinuous, with distinct spine at lateral apex; abdominal ventrite V distinctly narrowed toward apex, in female, last segment of abdomen tubuliform for more than half its distal length.
Species included: Sparna lycoides (see photograph of the holotype at Bezark 2017), S. tavakiliani sp. nov. (Figs 1–4).
description: Published as part of Santos-Silva, Antonio, Galileo, Maria Helena M. & Mcclarin, Jim, 2018, Division of the genera Sparna Thomson, 1864 and Carterica Pascoe, 1858 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Colobotheini) with description of six new genera and eight new species, pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 4407 (1) on pages 2-3, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4407.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1216420