Paragrilus moldenkei Hespenheide, new species
Creators: name: Hespenheide, Henry A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2002
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Paragrilus
Paragrilus moldenkei

description: Paragrilus moldenkei Hespenheide, new species
(Figs. 18, 34)
Holotype male: Broadly agriliform, moderately flattened above, black throughout, with faint golden reflections on head and pronotum; front somewhat densely silvery setose on lower 2/3 except in V­shaped area along midline; 3.2 mm long. Head with eyes prominent, front very shallowly convex, slightly impressed along midline on middle 1/3; ventral margin indistinctly emarginate; surface finely punctate, except for impunctate polished areas lateral to midline at middle 1/3. Pronotum flattened, widest near apex; prehumeral callosity small but prominent, strongly indicated by broad lateral depressions that extend obliquely to lateral margins; prehumeral callosity weakly produced outward and anteriorly to form ridge above and roughly parallel to marginal carina, ridge carinate on anterior 1/2; anterior angles rounded; disc deeply depressed along basal margin both exterior and interior to bases of lateral depressions, slightly interrupted by raised area before scutellum; surface weakly concentrically rugose, shagreened. Scutellum broadly triangular. Elytra with posthumeral carina extending somewhat beyond hind coxae, surface rugose; apices slightly flared, broadly rounded. Hind coxae very narrow, posterior angles subquadrate. Male genitalia dark reddish­brown, basal half paler (Fig. 34).
Allotype female: As male, except reflections on pronotum reddish purple, front glabrous, epistoma sparsely short setose, 3.5 mm long.
Holotype male: Costa Rica: Guanacaste Prov., Cañas, 15.VII.1966, A.R. Moldenke (USNM).
Allotype female: Same data as Holotype (USNM).
Paratypes: Costa Rica: Guanacaste Prov., same data as Holotype (8, CHAH, INBC); OTS Palo Verde Sta., 29 km WSW Cañas, 10° 21’ N 85° 21’ W, 8, 10, 13.VII.1974, H.A. Hespenheide, on Malvaceae (4, CHAH); 3 km NO de Nacaome P. N. Barra Honda, 100m, VIII.1993, M. Reyes (2, INBC); Vic. Estac. Murcielago, 8 km SW Cuajiniquil, 100 m, VI.1989, GNP Biodiversity Survey (3, INBC, barcodes INBIOCRI001006752, ­810); Finca Jenny, 30 km N Liberia, Guan. NP, X.1989, E. Araya & R. Espinoza, 316200, 364400 (14, INBC, barcodes INBIOCRI000081635, ­691, ­109364, ­432, ­486, ­ 130572, ­ 591, ­674, ­678, ­680, ­682, ­980, ­131375, ­137533); 6 mi S, 6 mi W Cañas, Taboga, 10o 19’ N 85° 09’ W, 5.VI, 4, 12.VII.1968, H.A. Hespenheide (3, CHAH); Playa del Coco, 10°33’ N 85° 42’ W, 30.VII.1966, A.R. Moldenke (6, CHAH), 15.VII.1976, H.A. Hespenheide (1, CHAH); 3 km E Playas del Coco, 14.VII.1968, H.A. Hespenheide (11, CHAH); Puntarenas Pr., 10 mi E Puntarenas, 100’. 27.VII.1966, J.B. Karren (1, EMUS); El Salvador: S. Vic., 3 mi NW San Vicente, 1900’, 9.VI.1974, O’Briens & Marshall (5, RLWE); Nicaragua: I. Ometepe, VII.1989, Reinboldt (2, SEAN); Panamá: Canal Zone, Jct. K­9 and K­6 rds., 9.VI.1976, E.G. Riley (1, GHNC); Fort Kobbe, 8.VI.1976, E.G. Riley (1, GHNC); Madden Dam, 09° 13’ N 79° 38’ W, 21, 27.VII, 9.VIII.1971, H.A. Hespenheide (23, CHAH); 27.VII, 9.VIII.1971, W. Bivin (3, CHAH), 28.VI.1974, O’Brien’s [sic.] & Marshall (2, SGWC); Madden Lake, 09° 15’ N 79° 35’ W, 20.X.1973, D. Engleman (2, CHAH); Madden Lake, Boy Scouts C., 29.IX.1973, A.R. Ramirez (2, CHAH); Madden Reservoir, 22.X.1973, 31.VIII.1975, D. Engleman (2, CHAH); 3.5 km WNW Paraiso, 09° 02’ N 79° 40’ W, 13, 20.VII.1974, H.A. Hespenheide, on Heliocarpus (7, CHAH); Chiva Chiva Road, 09° 03’ N 79° 34’ W, 25.VII.1978, N.E. Woodley (NEWC); 3 mi SE Gamboa, 31.VIII.1974, 1975, A.R. Ramirez (3, CHAH); “Plantation Road, “ C29, 6.5 km ENE Gamboa, 09° 08’ N 79° 39’ W, 5.VIII.1978, H.A. Hespenheide (2, CHAH); “Plantation Road, “ C29, 6 km ESE Gamboa, 09° 06’ N 79° 39’ W, 2.VIII.1978, H.A. Hespenheide (1, CHAH); “N[ew] G[ranada],” F.C. Bowditch Coll. (1, MCZC). In addition to borrowed material, Paratypes from CHAH deposited in AMNH, BMNH, CASC, CNCI, LACM, NMPC, MNHN.
Host: Adults have been collected commonly on Heliocarpus.
Etymology: Named in honor of coleopterist Andrew Moldenke who collected the Holotype as, apparently, part of the first series of this species. See comments under the preceding species.
Discussion: Male specimens vary from 2.8­3.5 mm in length (mean = 3.27 mm, N = 70); females vary from 2.85­3.7 mm in length (mean = 3.44 mm, N = 58).
description: Published as part of Hespenheide, Henry A., 2002, A review of North and Central American Paragrilus Saunders, 1871 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Agrilinae), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 43 on pages 25-26, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.155677