Ora troberti
Creators: name: Epler, J. H.
name: Gimmel, Matthew L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scirtidae
Ora
Ora troberti

description: Ora troberti (Guérin-Méneville, 1861)  (Figs. 12–15)   
 This brightly marked, variably colored species is known from Alabama, Florida, and Texas in the USA (Epler 2010), Guatemala, Mexico, and Grand Cayman in the West Indies (Thomas et al. 2013). Additional records are given below.   
 CUBA: Granma (USNMNH). MEXICO: Vera Cruz (USNMNH). USA: TEXAS: Cameron, Hidalgo, Live Oak, San Patricio Counties (FSCA; LSAM; USNMNH).   
  KEY TO THE SPECIES OF ORA OF THE USA  (O. depressa is not known from the USA but is included for comparison to O. discoidea and O. cf. marmorata)   
1. Head, pronotum, and elytra pubescent; body form wider and more convex.................. 2  
 1 ʹ. Head, pronotum, and elytra mostly glabrous; body form more slender and slightly depressed............................................... 5   
 2. Elytron with brownish longitudinal vittae, with 3 faint, irregular, transverse fasciae, and a light area on a dark background near the scutellar shield (Fig. 10); common over the entire Gulf region of the USA, south to Costa Rica.......................  O. texana Champion    
 2 ʹ. Elytron with large, dark brown discal vitta, bordered on all sides by broad, testaceous margin, no light area on a dark background near scutellar shield; OR elytra yellow/ testaceous, sometimes with some faint darker spots in basal half or scattered over entire elytron....................................... 3   
 3. Pronotum light brown to reddish brown; male elytron usually with broad, dark brown discal vitta, bordered on all sides by broad testaceous margin (Figs. 1, 5), elytron of female and some males predominantly testaceous, often with some faint darker spots in basal half (Figs. 3, 6, 7); penis apically bifurcated in Y-shape (Fig. 17); Florida to eastern Texas (Fig. 19), south to Costa Rica...........  O. discoidea Champion    
 3 ʹ. Pronotum yellow or testaceous, sometimes with faint discal darkening; elytron yellow/ testaceous, never with dark vitta, sometimes with scattered dark spots (Figs. 8, 10); penis not apically bifurcated in Y-shape............ 4   
 4. Elytra mostly yellow, sometimes with scattered dark spots (Fig. 8); penis with subapical process at right angle to main shaft (Fig. 16); southern Mexico, Argentina, Brazil.......................................  O. depressa (Fabricius)    
 4 ʹ. Elytra darker yellow/testaceous, with numerous spots, many coalesced, over entire elytron (Fig. 10); penis without subapical process (Fig. 18); southern Texas....................................................  O. cf. marmorata Champion    
 5. Elytra moderately to weakly costate, without definite pattern of vittae, but may be irregularly infuscated between costae (Fig. 9); all known specimens from Florida.............................................  O. hyacintha Blatchley    
 5 ʹ. Elytra not costate, variably patterned with partial or complete longitudinal vittae, with a light, transverse bar adjacent to scutellar shield; body flatter (Figs. 12–15); known from southern Florida, southern Texas, and Alabama, south to Mexico, Guatemala, and Cuba.........  O. troberti (Guérin-Méneville)
description: Published as part of Epler, J. H. & Gimmel, Matthew L., 2019, Notes on the Marsh Beetle Genus Ora Clark (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) in the Southeastern USA and Central America, pp. 521-527 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 73 (3) on page 526, DOI: 10.1649/0010-065X-73.3.521, http://zenodo.org/record/5379402