Muisca Spinola 1844
Creators: name: Opitz, Pitz Pinola Weston
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cleridae
Muisca

description: Muisca SPINOLA, 1844b: 147.
EKIS (now OPITZ) 1975: 54. OPITZ 2010: 100; 2017a: 69. See CORPORAAL (1950: 198) for historical citations.
Type species: Muisca bitaeniata SPINOLA, 1844b:148. By monotypy.
Junior synonym: Paragregya PERACCHI, 1964: 115.
D i a g n o s i s: Muisca has an oblong pronotum, which this genus shares with the Neotropical genera Ambitus, Apolopha, Crusbatus, Merickelus, Neotenerus, Ramosus, and Tanycorpus, but Muisca specimens differ by having a comparatively short capitulum when compared with the capitulum of the members of the other aforementioned genera. Also, peloniine specimens belong to this genus if they show an oblong pronotum (discounting the width measure provided by the lateral tubercles) in combination with exceedingly long pronotal projections (Figs 5, 89).
A p o t y p i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s: Pronotal projections long.
R e d e s c r i p t i o n: Size: Length 4.0-11.0 mm; width 1.5-5.0 mm. Form (Fig. 1): Oblong, hind body may be suboval, body not particularly deep, about 2 times longer than broad. Vestiture: Dorsum profusely vested with pale setae; antenna moderately setose;
elytra with 1º and 2º setae. Head (Figs 2-4, 80): Cranium subquadrate, frons usually wider than width of eye, indented with coarse setiferous punctations; gula (Figs 3, 82) large, triangular, sutures sinuous, gula with two well-developed setose gular processes (Fig. 83); labrum (Fig. 9) shallow, incised distally, tormal processes confluent, epipharyngeal plate small; mandible (Fig. 11), body stout and, anterior dens acuminate, medial dens well developed, posterior dens poorly developed, penicillus well developed; maxilla (Fig. 8), laterolacinia well developed, terminal palpomere subfiliform to subsecuriform; labium (Fig. 12), ligula deeply incised, ligular lobes narrowed, terminal palpomere subsecuriform; eyes large, coarsely facetted, ocular notch moderately sized; antenna (Figs 6, 84) comprised of 11 antennomeres, capitate, funicular antennomeres from filiform to subfiliform, capitulum usually longer than combined length of funicular antennomeres. Thorax: Pronotum (Figs 86, 88) usually oblong, rarely quadrate, anterior limit of dorsolateral carina extends to, but does not connect with, anterior pronotal margin, disc slightly convex, side margins with well-developed tubercle (Fig. 87), prointercoxal process narrow (Fig. 89), slightly expanded distally; pronotal projections long, acuminate, approximates prointercoxal process; elytron profusely sculptured with asetiferous punctations (Fig. 85) in basal half, epipleural fold wide, ends abruptly at about elytral distal 3/4 th, elytral anterior margin not carinate; metathoracic wing as in Fig. 13, wedge cell not closed; metendosternite (Fig. 10) with furcal lamina, furcal anterior plate wide; legs, profemora posterior margin without spines, tibial spur formula 1-2-2, tarsal pulvillar formula 3-3-3, unguis (Figs 90, 91) with basal denticle. Abdomen: Aedeagus, phallobase lobed, lobes minutely fimbriate, tegmen very reduced, submembranous, phallobasic struts not confluent with phallobasic apodeme, phallobasic rod very short, phallic plates narrow; spicular plates flared (Fig. 7), spicular apodemes fused near middle; ovipositor shorter than abdomen, laminae acuminate, laminal rod present. Alimentary Canal (Fig. 45): Proventriculus well developed; ventricular crypts poorly defined; 4 cryptonephridial Malpighian tubules. Mesodermal Male Internal Reproductive Organs (Fig. 46): Two pairs of accessory glands; ejaculatory duct greatly elongated.
D i s t r i b u t i o n: The geographical range of this Neotropical genus extends from Costa Rica to Brazil.
description: Published as part of Opitz, Pitz Pinola Weston, 2018, Classification, Natural History, and Evolution of the Subfamily Peloniinae O (Coleoptera: Cleroidea: Cleridae). Part IX. Taxonomic revision of the New World genus Muisca S, pp. 587-653 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1) on pages 594-596, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4004283