Calligrapha serpens Bowditch 1911
Creators: name: Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Calligrapha
Calligrapha serpens

description: Calligrapha serpens Bowditch, 1911
(Figs 6, 7f)
Calligrapha serpens Bowditch, 1911, Trans. Am. Entom. Soc., 37, p. 326.
Polyspila serpens: Weise, 1916, Col. Cat., 68, p. 43.
Calligrapha serpens: Blackwelder, 1946, Checklist Col. Amer., 4, p. 674.
Calligrapha serpens: Benítez-García et al., 2017, Rev. Mex. Biodiv., 88, p. 339.
This beautiful and enigmatic species was described by Frederick C. Bowditch, the Brookline (Massachusetts) entomologist whose collection was acquired by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, University of Harvard (Banks 1927). This collection presently includes two females from Guanajuato, surely the two specimens that were mentioned in the original description (Bowditch 1911). One of these syntypes is conveniently identified as type in the collection and is accepted here as the species lectotype, retaining the other specimen as paralectotype.
Lectotype (Fig. 7f), by present designation: female, Guanajuato, Mexico, Type 17435 [red label], C. serpens Bow., Jan-Jul 2004 MCZ Image Database (MCZ). The specimen lacks right pro-onychium.
Paralectotype, by present designation: female, Guanajuato (MCZ).
Description. Body elliptic, moderately convex and depresed dorsally. Head, apex of mandibles, pronotum and disc of scutellum dark green with slight bronze metallic reflection; ventral surfaces dark brown with greenish metallic reflections; narrow apical margin of clypeus, labrum, most of mandibles, antennae, palpi and legs orange brown; last abdominal ventrite and pygidium yellowish orange; margin of scutellum, elytral markings and epipleura dark brown; background of elytra creamy yellow. Length: 9.0 mm; width: 5.7 mm.
Head large, broad, deeply inserted into prothorax; surface finely microreticulate, and finely and sparsely punctured, with larger punctures with short pale yellowish setae near eyes, especially large, deep and confluent next to inner border of eye; antennal calli slightly raised, nearly unpunctured; margin above eye deeply but shortly furrowed, not prolonged posteriorly beyond upper border of eye; frons with fine longitudinal impression confluent anteriorly in slightly depressed area with broadly bisinuous fronto-clypeal suture. Clypeus transverse, some 1.9x broader anteriorly than long at middle, very finely microreticulate, with small punctures, denser at sides and anteriorly recumbent pale yellow setae. Labrum transverse, about 0.6x as broad as clypeus anteriorly, curved at sides toward round anterior angles and weakly emarginate at apex; anterior half with dense long, medially convergent golden setae. Mandibles large, robust, slightly longer than clypeus; sides straight basally before strong median curvature, with strong punctures and appressed long golden setae. Maxillary palpi slender; apical palpomere subtrapezoidal, with inner border shorter than outer border, sides subparallel, weakly curved; previous palpomere longer, narrow and subcylindrical at base, elbowed and strongly widened toward apex, broader than last palpomere; previous palpomere narrower and longer than last, clavate. Antennae conspicuously clavate, club made of widened antennomeres 7–11; antennomeres 1–6 smooth, sparsely setose, seventh antennomere hairer, finely rugose at apex, and antennomeres 8–11 with finely rugose surface and densely clothed with fine pale yellow setae; scape broad, about twice as wide as long, strongly convex at anterior border and flattened posteriorly; pedicel subcylindrical, weakly widening in basal half, and about half as long as scape; third antennomere slender, slightly clavate, 1.5x as long as and narrower than pedicel; fourth antennomere slender, weakly clavate, as long as pedicel; antennomeres 4–6 progressively shorter, with sixth antennomere half as long as third; antennomeres 7–8 about as long as wide, widest at middle, and antennomeres 9–10 slightly longer than wide; antennomere 11 about as long as scape, widest at middle and conical in apical half.
Pronotum transverse, 1.85x broader at base than long at middle, transversally convex, with lateral declivity rather pronounced, particularly at anterior angles, concealing margin from above; basal border weakly bisinuate at sides with convex median lobe, unmargined; posterior angles obtuse with large lateral trichobothria; sides slightly curved in basal 3/4, with stronger curvature in apical quarter toward marked anterior angles, finely margined; anterior angles with margin slightly thicker and large trichobothrium at angle; anterior border slightly convex, finely margined, with margin nearly disappearing at middle; surface microreticulate with fine scattered punctures on disc, medium sized elongate punctures near basal border laterally, and scattered very strong, deep, fossette-like confluent punctures at sides, denser near anterior angles; sides of disc with two large roundish impressions in front of middle. Hypomera triangular, convex on disc, transversally depressed near basal border, with hypomeral suture obsolete, indicated by slightly raised margin basally, absent at anterior angle; surface microreticulate, unpunctured. Prosternum short, with concave and margined anterior border and microreticulate surface, unpunctured in anterior half, and with large punctures near procoxae and on process, with fine pale yellow posteriorly recumbent setae; prosternal process about 1.5x as long as anterior transverse part of prosternum, narrower between procoxae and progressively enlarged posteriorly to truncate apex; process convex, carinated at middle with strong punctures and fine golden setae at sides of carina, and depressed posteriorly. Scutellum 1.1x longer than wide at base, with sides curved toward blunt pointed apex; surface finely microreticulate, unpunctured. Intermesocoxal part of mesoventrite subrectangular, convex, shiny, glabrous on disc, punctured and setose in posterior half. Mesepimera microreticulate, with shallow imprecise punctures mostly near borders and sparse fine short pale yellow setae. Mesanepisterna microreticulate and uniformly punctured. Metanepisterna expanded in anterior third, with broad anterior raised margin, posterior 2/3 narrow and subparallel; surface finely microreticulate with deep round punctures in anterior half and smaller, elonate denser punctation posteriorly. Metaventrite about as long as ensemble prosternum and mesoventrite; anterior process relatively narrow and short, subtrapezoidal, with round angles and broad margin; posterior border at wide obtuse angle between metacoxae, slightly notched at middle; surface smooth on disc, with fine transverse scratches and finely impressed discrimen, slightly depressed in posterior half; surface shagreened at sides, with scattered fine punctation and short fine pale yellow setae; anterior margin of metaventrite with dense elongate, subrugose punctures behind mesocoxae and on process.
Elytra elongate, about 0.75x as long as body, with broadly round shoulders, weakly curved sides, widest at middle and regularly curved toward apex; surface relatively smooth with network of fine scratches and scattered minute dark punctures on pale areas; dark areas with identical punctures and surrounded by larger, deeper punctures; regular scutellar row of twelve punctures and premarginal row of tight punctures regularly arranged in posterior half and slightly confused in anterior half, particularly in humeral area. Dark markings (Fig. 7f) forming regular pattern of convoluted stripes including 1: (i) sutural stripe narrow, nearly obliterated around scutellum basally, gradually narrowing toward sutural angle and barely reaching it; (ii) subsutural stripe wider than sutural stripe, with basal end at level slightly before apex of scutellum, divergent from sutural stripe basally and sinuously approaching suture and joining sutural stripe slightly before middle of elytron, gradually narrowing at apical declivity of elytron; (iii) fourth elytral interval with long convoluted, hook-like stripe basally aligned with basal end of subsutural stripe, slightly widened prebasally running parallel to subsutural stripe, smoothly curved toward suture in basal half and parallel to suture before broad U-turn at apical declivity of elytron, running more or less parallel to margin of elytron until subhumeral area along equivalent to eighth interval; preapical end of stripe slightly irregular, enlarged and externally concave at level of midlateral spot; (iv) sixth elytral interval with sigmoid stripe with basal end slightly closer to basal margin of elytron than subsutural stripe, wider at base around humerus, gently curved toward suture, running parallel to basal half of previous stripe, changing curvature on disc and expanded as roundish apical end postmedially on elytron, before apical declivity; (v) subhumeral spot small, elliptic, free; (vi) midlateral spot about twice as large as subhumeral spot, subrectangular, covering some five punctures of premarginal line of punctures, and completely fused laterally to margin of elytron; (vii) V-shaped marking at apical declivity of elytra, with vertex directed toward sutural angle, arms equidistant from margin of elytron and subsutural stripe; basal end of external arm narrowly connected with external curvature of hook-like stripe. Epipleura slightly slanted ventrally, entirely visible in lateral view and finely margined; broad at base of elytra, slightly narrower and parallel in subhumeral area, markedly narrowed at middle and gradually tapering toward sutural angle; surface smooth, unpunctured and glabrous, except at apex, with fringe of short erect setae.
Legs robust with femora long, thick, enlarged at middle; surface microreticulate with rather strong punctation and short fine, pale yellow setae. Tibiae as long as corresponding femur, thick, straight, gradually enlarged apically, with external face furrowed at apical half, groove widening toward tarsal insertion; surface sculptured like femora, with dense golden pubescence laterally and ventrally at apex. Tarsi shorter than corresponding tibiae; first tarsomere longer than wide at apex, and shorter than two following tarsomeres combined; third tarsomere wider than first, weakly bilobed; onychium long, slender, slightly clavate, with claws simple and sharp, weakly divergent at base. First abdominal ventrite as long as metaventrite, shiny, sparsely covered by fine punctures and fine short, posteriorly recumbent setae medially, with rough depressed round areas at sides; second abdominal ventrite about 2/5 as long as first ventrite, and abominal ventrites 3–4 progressively shorter, similar in sculpture and punctation as first ventrite; fifth abdominal ventrite as long as second, strongly transverse, emarginate at apex.
Material examined (1 specimen).
MEXICO
FSCA: (1) one specimen, Mexico, Michoacán, 8.6 mi W Quiroga, 20.ix.1986, B.K. Dozier leg., Calligrapha serpens Bowd. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011.
Variation. The paratype is almost identical to the type, with less well-defined borders of dark elytral stripes, and it shows the apex of the humeral sigmoid stripe less roundish. Also, the V-shaped spots of apical declivity are detached, but very close to the discal, hook-like stripe.
1 The pattern of stripes in Calligrapha serpens Bowditch is rather unique in Calligrapha s. str. or in most Calligrapha. However, the homologies with standard markings in a close relative like C. serpentina (Rogers) are still recognizable. For example, feature (iii) combines the spot enclosed by humeral lunule (enlarged basal portion of the stripe) with the arcuate band and with a more stylized, hook-like version of the dark markings attached to apical end of arcuate band in C. serpentina also running transversally across apical declivity of elytron and along lateral declivity as separate spots. Also, feature (iv) clearly joins humeral spot and humeral lunule, corresponding to the slighty enlarged basal end of this feature, as well as the roundish postmedian discal spot of C. serpentina and all its relatives, including the group of C. fulvipes (Gistel). Finally, and strengthening the notion of phylogenetic relatedness of these species, features (v) to (vii) are identical to these seen in C. serpentina, C. mexicana Stål and C. sallei (Achard).
Distribution. There is very limited information in order to define the range of this Mexican endemism, but the two known localities are relatively close in the states of Guanajuato and Michoacán, in two areas of the central distribution of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Pine-Oak Forest biome separated by the Bajío Dry Forest (Fig. 6, white circles). The species is rare in the collections that I studied and presumably has a reduced geographic and ecological range.
description: Published as part of Gómez-Zurita, Jesús, 2021, Systematic revision of Calligrapha s. str. Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), pp. 1-111 in Zootaxa 4953 (1) on pages 39-43, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4953.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4690733