Paraeclipta vandenberghei Wappes and Santos-Silva 2019, new species
Creators: name: Wappes, James E.
name: Santos-Silva, Antonio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cerambycidae
Paraeclipta
Paraeclipta vandenberghei

description: Paraeclipta vandenberghei Wappes and Santos-Silva, new species
(Fig. 18–21)
Description of female holotype. Integument mostly orange; palpomeres partially brownish; scape and pedicel dark brown; antennomeres with very short, orange basal ring, darker from VII; elytra with large shining black band laterally, not reaching apex; coxae, trochanteres and femoral peduncle yellowish; femoral club black; protibia orange in basal half, black in distal half; meso- and metatibiae black; tarsi light reddish-brown (tarsomere V more brownish); ventral surface of abdomen with irregular brown areas.
Head. Frons moderately coarsely and abundantly, shallowly punctate; with sparse, moderately long, erect yellowish setae close to eyes, shorter, sparser, nearly inconspicuous centrally. Vertex and area behind upper eye lobes coarsely, abundantly, confluently punctate; with sparse, moderately long, erect yellowish setae between antennal tubercles and upper eye lobes. Area behind lower eye lobes moderately finely punctate close to eye, finer, sparser toward prothorax; with sparse, long, erect yellowish setae close to eye (more abundant toward ventral surface), glabrous on remaining surface. Antennal tubercles slightly elevated, with sparse, shallow, coarse punctures except smooth apex; with a few erect yellowish setae, lacking from glabrous apex. Genae slightly longer than half length of lower eye lobe; finely, slightly rugose-punctate except smooth apex; with sparse, short and long yellowish setae except glabrous apex. Median groove distinct from area between lower eye lobes to area between antennal tubercles. Postclypeus with sculpturing as on frons in wide central area, smooth laterally; with sparse, moderately long, erect yellowish setae in wide central area, glabrous laterally. Gulamentum smooth, glabrous close to prothorax, coarsely, semicircularly striate-punctate in wide anterior area, except area close to mentum transversely striate-punctate, with sparse, long, erect yellowish setae laterally and anteriorly. Distance between upper eye lobes 0.78 times length of scape; in ventral view, distance between lower eye lobes 0.65 times length of scape. Antennae 1.15 times elytral length, almost reaching posterior quarter of elytra. Scape moderately coarsely, sparsely punctate except smooth distal 2/3 of dorsal surface; with sparse, moderately long, erect brownish and yellowish setae in punctate area, glabrous in smooth area. Pedicel and antennomeres III–VI with long, erect brownish setae ventrally, sparser toward VI, and moderately long, decumbent brownish setae dorsally and apically; remaining antennomeres with brownish decumbent pubescence with short yellowish setae interspersed; antennomere III cylindrical; antennomeres IV–VII gradually widened toward apex; antennomeres VIII–XI together moderately club-shaped. Antennal formula (ratio) based on length of antennomere III: scape = 0.70; pedicel = 0.30; IV = 0.64; V = 0.89; VI = 0.82; VII = 0.70; VIII = 0.61; IX = 0.51; X = 0.48; XI = 0.57.
Thorax. Prothorax distinctly longer than wide; posterior margin slightly sinuous; posterior constriction slightly marked; sides uniformly rounded from anterolateral angles to posterior constriction. Pronotum slightly longitudinally depressed centrally in anterior 2/3, more so in center of this area; abundantly, coarsely, shallowly punctate, with moderately abundant, long yellowish setae. Sides of prothorax with sculpturing (punctures slightly sparser) and setae as on pronotum. Posterior 2/3 of prosternum finely, transversely striate punctate, with moderately abundant, long, erect yellowish setae; anterior third finely, transversely striate, with sparse, long, erect yellowish setae. Narrowest area of prosternal process about 3.5 times narrower than procoxal cavity. Ventral surface of meso- and metathorax with yellowish pubescence, with denser long, erect setae of same color interspersed laterally. Scutellum with yellowish pubescence not obscuring integument.
Elytra. Nearly parallel-sided in basal ninth, gradually narrowed from this point to about midlength, parallel-sided to base of distal ninth, then slightly divergent toward apex; sutural margin divergent at distal ninth; apex slightly obliquely truncate; coarsely, abundantly punctate throughout, with long, erect yellowish setae emerging from nearly all punctures. Legs. Femora pedunculate-clavate; with short and long, erect and suberect yellowish setae. Tibiae with yellowish setae dorsally and denser, yellowish-brown setae ventrally (less so in metatibiae).
Abdomen. Elongate, slightly widened toward apex of third segment, gradually, distinctly narrowed from this point to apex of last segment; ventrites finely, sparsely punctate; with sparse, short and long, erect yellowish setae; apex of ventrite V slightly rounded.
Dimensions (mm). Total length 8.95; prothoracic length 1.55; anterior prothoracic width 1.05; posterior prothoracic width 1.10; maximum prothoracic width 1.25; humeral width 1.35; elytral length 4.75.
Type material. Holotype female from NICARAGUA, Nueva Segovia: Hwy 29, Las Cruces (Croton blossoms; 700 m; 13º39’N / 86º23’W), 20-21.V.2017, Wappes, Kuckartz, and E. van den Berghe col. (FSCA, formerly ACMT).
Remarks. Paraeclipta vandenberghei sp. nov. differs from the other species of the genus by the black band on the sides of the elytra. It also resembles species of other genera of Rhinotragini, especially by the body shape and the black elytral bands, including some placed in Eclipta Bates, 1873 and Ecliptoides Tavakilian and Peñaherrera, 2005. Currently, there are several species incorrectly allocated to Eclipta. This species does differ in form from the type species (Ommata (Eclipta) flauicollis Bates, 1873, currently Eclipta flauicollis) (see Clarke 2011). It also differs from species of Ecliptoides (Fig. 22) by its longer elytra.
Etymology. Named for our good friend and avid insect collector Eric van den Berghe, Director, Zamorano Biodiversity Center, Zamorano Agricultural University, near Tegucigalpa, Honduras, who collected the holotype.
description: Published as part of Wappes, James E. & Santos-Silva, Antonio, 2019, Descriptions of one new genus and seven new species of Rhinotragini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), pp. 1-19 in Insecta Mundi 695 on pages 8-9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3670526