Agra rileyi Erwin 2017, new species
Creators: name: Erwin, Terry L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Agra
Agra rileyi

description: Agra rileyi Erwin, new species
Riley’ s elegant canopy beetle
(Figs. 1, 3, 4)
Holotype. USA, TEXAS: Cameron County, Paloma Blanca Road, near Sabal Palm Groove, 9m, 25.8663°N, 97.4343°W, 26 October 1991 (EG Riley) (NMNH: ADP109066, male).
Derivation of Specific Epithet. The epithet “ rileyi ” is an eponym based on the family name of the Texas Coleopterist, Edward G. Riley, at Texas A&M University, who collected adults of this species near and at the type locality.
Proposed English Vernacular Name. Riley’ s elegant canopy beetle.
Diagnosis. This species has all the attributes of the genus and species-group as described above and is small for the oblongopunctata species-group. Adults with brown integument, elytra slightly aeneous with a subtly greenish tint at bottom of punctures in interneurs; head behind eyes and prothorax dark brown. Frons and occiput slightly domed, without punctures, with scattered fine setae. Pronotal disc with 4 rows of longitudinal punctures, 2 rows of larger punctures adjacent to midline each side, and a row of smaller punctures along each lateral margin; a few randomly spaced, very small punctures on smooth areas. Elytral apex obliquely truncate, lateral corner slightly obtuse, not dentate, sutural corner rounded. Interneurs with rounded or slightly elongate punctures, without even spaces between puncture.
Description. Size: Small for species-group, ABL = 10.4–14.3 mm, SBL = 8.98–13.04 mm, TW = 2.65–3.89 mm (Table 1). Color: As described above and antennomeres 1–5 brownish, 6–11 dark testaceous with apical brown rings; mouthparts brownish, palpomere 4 with pale apex, and legs and tarsi brown. Luster: Head, pronotum, and legs shiny metallic, elytra brown aeneous. Head: As described above. Prothorax: Elongate, moderately constricted near base, devoid of hind angles, narrowed anteriorly to about width of neck; surface of disc as described above (Fig. 1). Pterothorax: Elytron moderately convex, narrow in anterior third, moderately flared from middle to apical third and rounded to lateral hind angle; intervals slightly convex, somewhat irregular. Legs: Normal in both sexes (see Erwin 2002). Abdomen: As described above. Male genitalia: Phallus (Fig. 3) with phalloshaft elongate and narrow apically, widened to phallobase which is at about 45° angle from phalloshaft, with ostium modestly elongate, about 1/4 length of phallus, apex of phalloshaft small and arrow-shaped with rounded lateral corners; endophallus without sclerotized features. Parameres small, left twice the size of the right, both broadly rounded. Female ovipositor: Female internal parts not investigated (but see Erwin 1982). Stylomere 2 as in Fig. 3C.
Dispersal Potential. These beetles are macropterous and capable of flight; they are attracted to UV light. They are swift and agile runners. They ‘sleep’ in the daytime under curled or dry leaves, aligned with the mid-rib of the leaf.
Way of Life. Adults of other Agra species are found in the canopy of rainforest trees; larvae of species in this genus are found under the bark of these trees (Arndt et al. 2001), however, they must also roam on the surface during the night, as they have been collected by insecticidal fogging techniques in the very early morning before first light. Members of A. rileyi occur at lowland elevations along the Rio Grande in southeastern Texas where sabal palms and sugar hackberry grow. Adults are active in the spring, summer, and fall, mostly in the rainy season of September and October.
Other Specimens Examined. USA: TEXAS, Cameron County, Brownsville, Esperanza Ranch, 8 m, 25.8906° N, 97.4502° W, 25 July 1899 (EC Van Dyke) (CAS: ADP091220, male paratype), 19 August 1899 (BMC: ADP091221, female paratype), 26 June 1899 (BMC: ADP091222, male paratype), 10 June 1899 (BMC: ADP091223, male paratype), 8 August 1899 BMC: ADP091231, female paratype), 28-29 September 2004 (B Raber) (BTRC: ADP109102, ADP109104, male paratypes); Cameron County, Brownsville, southernmost sector, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, 8 m, 25.8419° N, 97.4247° W, 28-29 September 2004 (B Raber) (BTRC: ADP109100, male), 29 September 2004 (B Raber/B Smith) (CMNH: ADP116793, female paratype, ADP116281, male paratype), 28 September 2004 (B Raber/B Smith) (CMNH: ADP116279, female paratype), 18-19 October 2002 (BT Raber) (BTRC: ADP109106, male paratype), Brownsville, southmost sector, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, 13-17 May 1977 (FT Hovore) (FTHC: ADP124942, female paratype), 7- 11 October 1975 (FT Hovore) (FTHC: ADP054437, female paratype), 18 October 1985 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP109110, female paratype), 21 October 1993 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP109112, male paratype) (JE Wappes) (TAMU: ADP109068, male paratype), Brownsville, 8 m, 25.8906° N, 97.4502° W, (JW Green) (CAS: ADP091224, female paratype), 8 May 1904 (HS Barber) (NMNH: ADP091225, male paratype), 5-8 October 1967 (N Rolien) (FSCA: ADP113638, female paratype), 27 June 1899 (CHT Townsend) (NMNH: ADP091226, male paratype, ADP091227, female paratype), – July —— (HF Wickham) (MCZ: ADP091228, male paratype), – July —— (HF Wickham) (FSCA: ADP085333, male paratype), 20 July 1899 (HF Wickham) (FSCA: ADP085312, male paratype), Cameron County, Sabal Palm Grove nr. Southmost, 29 September 1976 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP109116, male paratype), Cameron County, Sabal Palm Grove, 9-10 June 1978 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP004768, male paratype), 14 April 1979 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP062418, male paratype, ADP058560, female paratype), 10 October 1981 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP058561, male paratype), 27 km W Brownsville, Hwy 281, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, 8 m, 25.8419° N, 97.4247° W, 9 July 1986 (GH Nelson) (JEWC: ADP116098, male paratype), Hidalgo County, Anzalduas County Park, 27 October 1980 (N Downie, JE Wappes) (NMNH: ADP058533, female paratype), 10 October 1981 (R Turnbow) (JEWC: ADP116086, male paratype), Cameron County vicinity of Sabal Palm Grove, 21 October 1989 (EG Riley) (EGRC: ADP109062, male), Cameron County, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, 16-17 October 1993 (EG Riley) (EGRC: ADP109072, female paratype), Cameron County, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, 21-22 April 1990 UV (DJ Heffern) (TAMU:109064, female paratype), Cameron County, SE Brownsville, Las Palomas Road, 26 October 1991 (DJ Heffern) (TAMU:109070, female paratype), Cameron County, 16.1 km W Boca Chica State Park, 29 May 1979 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP109108, male paratype); Starr County, Salineno Park, 29 May 1979 (JE Wappes) (JEWC: ADP062420, male paratype); Hidalgo County, 17 km SE McAllen, 27 m, 26.1674° N, 98.0160° W, 28-30 July 1976 (no collector label) (UTIC: ADP148392, female paratype).
Geographic Distribution. This species is currently known from the type locality area in Cameron County, and the nearby Texas counties of Hidalgo and Starr (Fig. 4).
Notes. This species, one of many in the oblongopunctata pecies-s group, represents the northern limit of the entire Agra distribution pattern. At the southern end, a few species occur in northernmost Argentina. The greater species richness of the genus straddles the equator, decreasing with distance from the equator.
description: Published as part of Erwin, Terry L., 2017, Agra Fabricius (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae: Lebiini: Agrina), Arboreal Beetles of Neotropical Forests: The Rare, Non-Neotropical Texas Species at the Generic Northern Limit, with Notes on Their Way of Life, pp. 639-651 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 71 (4) on pages 641-647, DOI: 10.1649/0010-065X-71.4.639, http://zenodo.org/record/4788749