Paroectropsis Cerda 1953
Creators: name: Monné, Miguel A.
name: Santos-Silva, Antonio
name: Monné, Marcela L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cerambycidae
Paroectropsis

description: Paroectropsis Cerda, 1953
(Figs. 150–158)
Paroectropsis Cerda, 1954: 137.
Type species— Paroectropsis decoratus Cerda, 1953 (original designation).
Remarks. Cerda (1953) described Paroectropsis as follows (translated): “Elongated, oval, convex. Head with frons transverse; lower eye lobes transverse, subtriangular with rounded inferior edge; antennal tubercles prominent. Antennae simple, about 1/3 longer than body in male, somewhat shorter in female; scape piriform, reaching lateral tubercles of the pronotum, antennomere III subequal to scape and V, IV almost double III, remainder shorter. Pronotum longer than wide, with its lateal margins slightly contracted toward the base; lateral tubercles [of the prothorax] conical; disc raised with two well-separated tubercles. Scutellum parallel-sided with rounded apex. Elytra navicular, slightly attenuated at apex, with their apices obliquely truncate and the outer angle ending in acute projection; in the disc, an arcuate and acute tubercle anteriorly, and a crest medially, parallel to the sutue, with its apex ending in a tooth; the entire surface with coarse and deep punctures. Prosternal, meso- and metaventral processes moderately broad. Legs slender, the hind legs successively longer, femora thickened in club; tibiae slender; tarsi with first tarsomere progressively elongated towad the later ones, being the last one as II–III together.”; and “This new genus of the tribe Acanthocinini, is very close to the genus Oectropsis, of which it has the general structure and especially the characteristic of antennomere IV; it is also similar to the genera Pogonocherus and Aconopterus by the shape of the eltyral apex; but due to its other morphological characters should be close to Oectropsis.”
The following features do not agree with the original description: the elytra are not entirely punctate, but punctate only on about anterior 2/3; the scutellum is not parallel-sided, but has the sides convergent; and the prosternal process is not moderately wide, since its narrowes area is about 0.25 times as wide as procoxal cavity.
It is true that the scape reaches the lateral tubercles of the prothorax. However, it is proportionally short and slightly piriform, which does not agree with the main feature of Acanthocinini: scape noticeably elongated. Paroectropsis can be included in Pogonocherini or Desmiphorini, since the limits between these two tribes are currently very problematic and controversial. However, as it really resembles more the species of Aconopterus Blanchard, 1851 (general appearance, length and shape of the scape), we prefer to include it in Desmiphorini, at least provisionally.
description: Published as part of Monné, Miguel A., Santos-Silva, Antonio & Monné, Marcela L., 2020, Key to South American genera of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) without erect setae on elytra; synonymies, transferences, revalidation, and notes on genera with erect setae on elytra, pp. 1-65 in Zootaxa 4863 (1) on pages 58-60, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4863.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4416817