Ora depressa Fabricius 1801
Creators: name: Libonatti, María Laura
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scirtidae
Ora
Ora depressa

description: Ora depressa (Fabricius, 1801)
(Figs. 7–12, 58–78)
Cyphon depressus Fabricius, 1801: 504
Scirtes depressus: Pic 1914: 41
Ora depressa: Ruta 2013: 54 (redescription of male)
Material studied. ARGENTINA: 2 ♂ (BR), “R EP. ARGENTINA / Gob. Misiones / 190 / C. Bruch” [white label, printed], “ Ora / complanata / Guér [white label, handwritten by Bruch], “ Ora / complanata ” [white label, handwritten by Pic]; 1 ♀ (BR), “R EP. ARGENTINA / Prov. Corrientes / 190 / C. Bruch” [white label, printed]; 3 ♀ (MACN), “PIQUETE S. FE / P – I – 27 / BRIDAROLLI S.J.” [white label, printed]; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀ (MACN), “ ALTO VERDE S. FE / 12 – II – 29 / BRIDAROLLI S.J.” [white label, printed]; 2 ♂ (MACN), “ ARGENTINA / Formosa / Isla de Oro / II – III – 1941 ” [handwritten]; 1 ♂ (MACN), “ SANTA FE / IV – 61 / WILLINER – S.J.” [white label, printed]; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (MACN), “ROSARIO de / Santa Fe / A.Stévenin” [white label, printed]; 3 ♂ and 6 ♀ (MLLC), Salta, Nuestra Señora de Talavera, Finca Tolloche, 3–4.xi.1994, light trap; 5 ♀ (AC), Formosa, Estancia La Marcela, 35 km E. El Colorado, 21 jul 2003, 21º 17.35’ S 59º 8.6’ W leg. J. Williams/J. E. Barriga-Tuñón; 3 ♀ (MLLC), Entre Ríos, PN El Palmar, 26.ii.2004, light trap, M. C. Michat & P. L. M. Torres; 9 ♀ (AC), Formosa, Estancia La Marcela, 35 km E. El Colorado, 21 dic 2004, 26º 17.35’ S 59º 8.6’ W leg J. Williams/J. E. Barriga; 1 ♀ (MLLC), Corrientes, PN Mburucuyá, 14.i.2008, light trap, M. C. Michat & P. L. M. Torres; 2 ♂ (MLLC), same data except 15.i. 2008; 22 ♂ and 5 ♀ (MLLC), same data except 17.i.2008; 4 ♀ (MLLC), Chaco, PN Chaco, 18.i.2011, light trap, M. C. Michat; 8 ♂ and 2 ♀ (MLLC), Entre Ríos, PN Pre-Delta, Laguna Las Piedras, iii.2012, M. L. Libonatti; 2 ♂ (MLLC), same data except Laguna Irupé; 9 ♂ and 2 ♀ (MLLC), Entre Ríos, PN Pre-Delta, 19& 21.iii.2012, light trap, M. L. Libonatti; 45 ♂ and 14 ♀ (MLLC), Corrientes, 28º 3’ 39” S 58º 9’ 32” W, 10.xii.2012, light trap, M. C. Michat & P. L. M. Torres; 37 ♂ and 1 ♀ (MLLC), Corrientes, PN Mburucuyá, Aº Portillo, 28º 2’ 11” S 58º 6’ 33” W, 11.xii.2012, light trap, M. C. Michat & P. L. M. Torres; 1 ♂ (MLLC), Misiones, Oberá, CIAR, Laguna El Tajamar, as larva 18.xi.2013, em. 25.xi.2013, M. L. Libonatti. BRAZIL: 3 ♂ (MNHN), “Corumba / Matt Grosso” [white label, printed], “ Ora / complanata /Guer” [white label, handwritten by Pic].
Description of female. Measurements. Females (n = 10): TL 3.80–4.63 (mean 4.24) mm, PL 0.68–0.83 (mean 0.73) mm, PW 1.75–2.14 (mean 1.92) mm, EL 3.26–4.04 (mean 3.71) mm, EW 2.58–3.17 (mean 2.90) mm. Female genitalia. Anterior part of bursal sclerite trapezoidal, folded posteriorly, with three teeth (a pair of short lateral teeth and a median tooth, 2x longer than the pair of teeth) and (in most specimens examined) a nonsclerotized oval region (resembling a hole) near the margin, anterior margin with an oval notch; middle part with a pair of anterior very long teeth and one small tooth posterior to these two (Figs. 75–78). Prehensor membranous with numerous folds (Figs. 73, 74).
Sexual dimorphism. Antennae a little broader and rather darker in color in males than in females (only the last antennomere is brown in females) (Figs. 7, 8). Most females with head, pronotum and scutellar shield light brown (yellow in males and in a minor part of females), and elytra yellow with brown spots (uniformly yellow in males and in a minor part of females) (Figs. 9–12). Tergite 7 with longer apodemes in females than in males, posterior margin parabolic in females and broadly rounded in males (Figs. 59, 72). Ventrite 5 with posterior concavity much deeper in males than in females (Figs. 58, 59, 70, 71).
Intraspecific variation. Females vary in the presence/absence and in the degree of fusion of brown spots on elytra. A few females have the same coloration on pronotum and elytra as do males (Fig. 8). Many females exhibit one brown big spot at basal third of elytron and many scattered smaller spots (Fig. 9). Two females (one from Santa Fe Province and another from Chaco Province) bear only one rounded brown spot in that position (Fig. 11). In other two females (one from Santa Fe Province and another from Entre Ríos Province) the brown area is extended in the shape of a fascia (Fig. 12).
Distribution. South America. Brazil. Argentina: Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Misiones, Salta and Santa Fe Provinces.
Remarks. Ora depressa resembles O. bruchi and O. megadepressa Libonatti, 2014 in body shape and size, elytral punctation and genitalia. The differences in male genitalia between O. depressa and O. megadepressa were explained in detail in Libonatti (2014). Additionally, O. bruchi and O. depressa are clearly distinguished from O. megadepressa in the following characters: higher ratio TL/EW (approximately 1.4–1.5 vs. approximately 1.1–1.2), anterior part of bursal sclerite folded, with three teeth (flattened, with only one central tooth in O. megadepressa), and the pair of teeth of the middle part of the bursal sclerite longer and broader than in O. megadepressa (Figs. 55– 57, 74–77; Libonatti 2014: figs. 61, 62). Ora depressa differs subtly from O. bruchi in having the maximum body width at the middle of the elytra rather than at the anterior third, and in having unspotted yellow elytra (as in males) or differently brown-spotted yellow elytra, usually with coalescent spots on the basal third of the elytra. There are slight differences between the terminalia and genitalia of the Argentine specimens (Figs. 64–69) and those of the holotype of O. depressa (Ruta 2013: figs. 3, 4). The penis in all the specimens studied here is less curved than in the holotype. Besides, in only two males examined (one from Misiones Province and one from Corrientes Province) the penis has the orientation as in the holotype of O. depressa (Fig. 61). In most of the males studied (including those identified as O. complanata by Pic) the penis has an inverted orientation (rotated 180 degrees to the longitudinal axis) compared to the holotype (Figs. 62, 63, 68, 69), and in one specimen (from Salta Province) the penis has an intermediate orientation. Variation in coloration, bursal sclerite of female and male genitalia may suggest that O. depressa is a complex of species. Future studies including more specimens from Argentina, Brazil and other South American countries are needed to evaluate this hypothesis. Ora complanata (Guérin-Méneville, 1861) is probably a junior synonym of O. depressa (Fabricius); however, until the type of the former species is studied (its depository is unknown at present) it can not be confirmed (Ruta 2013).
description: Published as part of Libonatti, María Laura, 2015, A revision of the genus Ora Clark, 1865 (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) in Argentina (part II) — redescriptions, updated distributions and a key to species, pp. 69-97 in Zootaxa 3985 (1) on pages 79-82, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3985.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/289063