Mesomphalia sublaevis Boheman 1850
Creators: name: Simões, Marianna V. P.
name: Monné, Marcela L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Mesomphalia
Mesomphalia sublaevis

description: Mesomphalia sublaevis Boheman, 1850
(Figs. 55–63, 105–106, 157, 159)
Mesomphalia sublaevis Boheman, 1850: 233; 1856: 40; 1862: 105; Gemminger & Harold, 1876: 3635; Wagener, 1881: 63; Spaeth, 1917b: 26; Borowiec, 1996: 192; 1999: 118; Flinte et al., 2009: 589. Pseudomesomphalia sublaevis: Spaeth, 1914: 42.
Stolas sublaevis: Blackwelder, 1946: 740.
Measurements (20 males / 8 females). Total length: 12.0–14.0/13.0–14.0; greatest elytral width: 9.6–11.0/ 10.3–11.5; pronotum length: 2.6–3.5/3.0–3.2; greatest width of pronotum: 6.2–7.4/6.7–7.2; elytral length/ width ratio: 1.25–1.27/1.21–1.2; pronotal length/ width ratio: 0.41–0.47/0.44–0.48.
Redescription. Body (Figs. 105–106) elongate, around 1.3x longer than wide, integument shining, except for anterior margin of gibbosity; setae yellowish-brown. Vertex with long, sparse and erect setae; deep and dense punctation. Coronal suture with yellowish-brown ellipsoid spot. Frontoclypeus strongly sclerotized, with a subtle median groove
Antennae black, except scape, with reddish-brown apex; long and sparse setae at scape, pedicel, and antennomeres III–IV; setae becoming short and dense in the remaining antennomeres; setae erect and long at apex; antennomere XI with setae erect and dense at apex and along anteapical region; antennomeres III and V subequal in length, slightly shorter than IV; VI, VIII–X subequal in length, 1.2x shorter than V; VII slightly shorter than VI; XI about twice longer than X, with rounded apex.
Pronotum with dense, fine punctures, with a pair of subtriangular spots of long, dense and decumbent setal spots; medially concave anterior margin; posterior angle truncate. Prosternum with long, dense and semidecumbent setae, short and erect on area adjacent to procoxae. Prosternal collar strongly projected anteriorly, flattened dorsoventrally in lateral view; prosternal collar followed by deep and short transverse groove; prosternal process wide, lateral margins subparellel, with deep longitudinal sulcus extending to rounded apical region.
Mesoventrite, mesepisterna, mesepimera and mesoventrite process glabrous; mesoventrite process with narrow lateral margins, apex U- or V-shaped. Elytra with dense fine punctures, reduced in size towards margins; conspicuous band of fine punctures parallel to elytral suture after gibbosity. Two subtriangular spots after humerus and two ellipsoidal spots at apical third of disc. Basal margin slightly sinuous; lateral margin uniformly expanded, reduced at apical third; apical angle rounded and convergent. Gibbosity in profile approximately half elytral length and slightly tilted anteriorly.
Metaventrite with posterior margin bearing a band of short, dense and erect setae; metepimera with short, dense and erect setae.
Abdominal ventrites III–V with reddish-brown ellipsoidal spots; I–IV with short row of long, decumbent setae, denser along lateral extremities; V with long, erect setae, denser at median region, covering apical third.
Male terminalia (Figs. 55–58). Tergite VIII sclerotized, with rounded apical margin and basal margin with lateral apodemes; long and dense setae. Tegmen (Figs. 57–58) Y-shaped, distinctly delimited from manubrium, attached to basal region of aedeagus, basal region flattened dorso-ventrally; narrow and curved apex in lateral view; manubrium less than half the length of forked region, sclerotized, with membranous area at apex. Median lobe (Figs. 55–56) sclerotized, short and elongate, curved in profile, with apical extremity (Fig. 56) narrowed and truncate; membranous internal sac; ostium with two semi-sclerotized plates.
Female terminalia (Figs. 59–63). Tergite VIII similar to male. Sternite VIII (Fig. 59) somewhat sclerotized, with long setae at apical margin and shorter on sides; lateral arms membranous, fused to sternite IX, forming transverse membranous sacs; apodeme about 1.5x the length of apical region. Sternite IX (Figs. 60, 62) separated into two plates with long and erect setae along apical margin; a short, sclerotized longitudinal band at median region next to base. Tergite X (Figs. 61– 62) with two sclerotized regions next to apical margin. Spermatheca (Fig. 63) strongly sclerotized, median region wider than base, apex acuminate; vasculum hook-shaped; ampulla present, about 1.5x the length of vasculum. Spermatheca gland laterally attached to ampulla.
Remarks. Boheman (1850) compared M. sublaevis (Figs. 105–106) to M. turrita (Figs. 110–113) and considered that the size and surface of the body were similar; however M. sublaevis is brighter, with a narrower prothorax, the elytra bear fine and sparse punctures, which are more evident towards the scutellum, the humeral angles are rounded, and there is a short gibbosity on the elytra.
Mesomphalia sublaevis is also similar to M. sexmaculosa (Figs. 117–119) in having a similar pattern of spots on the elytra. However, M. sublaevis has a subelongate body, with fine, dense punctures and four well-delimited spots of yellowish-brown setae on the elytra, while M. sexmaculosa has a subrounded body, reticulate elytra with coarse and dense punctures, and four poorly-delimited spots of setae. Among the five species that had the terminalia studied, M. sublaevis is the only one with a manubrium that had less than half its length membranous (Figs. 57–58); inthe female the median region of sternite IX (Fig. 60) has a short, sclerotized longitudinal band.
Geographic distribution. Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul) (Borowiec & Świętojańska2014). We add three new state records to Brazil: Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Santa Catarina (Figs. 157, 159).
Material examined (31). BRAZIL: Minas Gerais: Belo Horizonte, (Belmonte), 12.III.66, J. Halik (1 ex., MZSP); 13.IV.1967, J. Halik (2 males, MZSP); Itajub, I.1914, Jaciw. (1 male, MNRJ); X.1981, M. Monné & C.A.C. Seabra (2 males, MNRJ); Passa Quatro, II.1915, Jaciw. (1 male, 1 female, MNRJ); (Fazenda dos Campos), 22.XI.1915, J.F. Zikán (1 female, MNRJ); 9.III.1920, J.F. Zikán (1 male, 2 females, MNRJ); Monte Verde, 12.III.1966, J. Halik (3 males, MZSP); Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro, VIII.1920, Hollman (1 male, MNRJ); Itatiaia, I.1933, W. Zikán (1 male, MNRJ); 13.I. 1958, 750 m, D. Zajciw (1 female, MNRJ); 29.XII.1958, C. Leite, Seabra & Zikán (1 male, MNRJ); São Paulo: Campos do Jordão, III.1945, 1600 m, Wygodzinsky (2 males, 2 females, MNRJ); I.1956, Ebenezer (1 male, 1 female, MNRJ); IV.1956, Ebenezer (3 males, 1 female, MNRJ); Cantareira, XII.1965, J. Halik (1 ex., MZSP); Santa Catarina: Corupá (1 male, MNRJ).
description: Published as part of Simões, Marianna V. P. & Monné, Marcela L., 2014, Taxonomic Revision of the genus Mesomphalia Hope, 1839 (Insecta, Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), pp. 151-197 in Zootaxa 3835 (2) on pages 165-167, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3835.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/249789