Calligrapha zapoteca Gómez-Zurita, 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Calligrapha
Calligrapha zapoteca

description: Calligrapha zapoteca sp. nov.
(Figs 1 c, 3c, 4c, 4d)
Calligrapha barda: Jacoby, 1882. Biol. Centr.-Amer., vol. vi, pt. 1, p. 205.
Jacoby (1882), in his remarks about C. barda (Say) (pp. 204–205), referred to and illustrated (fig. 13, vol. VI, Pt. 1, Tab. 11) one specimen (possibly a male) that he recognised differed from the typical C. barda. However, he was reluctant to describe it as a new species without seeing other material with similar characteristics. During my research on Calligrapha, apart from the very same specimen that Jacoby studied, I discovered two additional specimens (possibly females) in the NHM collection, as well as several others in other institutions, all of them showing the same multiple diagnostic characters as in Jacoby’s specimen and clearly separating them from C. barda. This augmented series, together with the confirmation of fixed diagnostic differences compared to any other known Calligrapha species provides solid grounds to describe a new species. As holotype for the species I propose using the same specimen mentioned by Jacoby (1882), in a better preservation state, the only male found until now and with more detailed collection data.
Holotype: Yolos / Mexico. Sallé Coll. / 699 [small blue] / Sp. figured / Godman-Salvin Coll., Biol. Centr.- Amer. (NHM). Specimen lacks nine and three antennomeres in left and right antennae, respectively.
Paratypes: (1) Mexico. Sallé Coll. / 665 [small blue] / C. barda Say morbida Stål / Godman-Salvin Coll., Biol. Centr.-Amer. (NHM); (2) Mex / 58/60 [2x, small circular blue] (NHM).
Habitus (Fig. 1 c). Length: 7.72 mm, width: 5.06 mm [paratypes—length: 9.38 mm (1), 10.12 mm (2); width: 5.81 mm (1), 6.56 mm (2)]. Body oval, moderately convex. Anterior part of head, most of mandibles, pronotum, scutellum, sutural, scutellar and humeral areas of elytra, and apical area of terminal abdominal ventrites reddish brown; labrum, basal antennomeres, mouth pieces and legs pale brown; base of head, apex of mandibles, marginal areas of pronotum and elytra, most dark areas of elytra, ventral surfaces, and large antero- and posteroventral spots on femora dark brown, almost black; dark ventral and femoral surfaces with bronzy sheen, slightly violaceous on prothorax; pale markings of elytra and most of epipleura creamy yellow.
Head wide, deeply inserted in prothorax; surface microreticulate, moderately strongly punctured except on antennal calli; frontal suture fine, joining broadly U-shaped frontoclypeal suture. Eyes dorsoventrally elongated, without conspicuous supraocular furrows. Antennae relatively short, reaching humeri; first antennomere thick, feebly curved; second antennomere half as long as first; third nearly as long as first; fourth, seventh and eighth subequal, about 2/3 as long as first; fifth and sixth subequal, slightly longer than second; eighth antennomere 0.88x as wide as long. Labrum long, approximately half as long as wide, smooth, shiny, with fine punctures and fine long apical setae; anterior border almost straight, very weakly convex. Mandibles sturdy but relatively short, moderately surpassing length of labrum; sides rounded. Maxillary palpi large and long, mainly due to basal elongated, clubshaped palpomere; last palpomere very broad apically, truncated straight, rapidly narrowing at external margin, sides regularly curved; previous segment also broader apically than basally, but much smaller. Pronotum quite transverse (W/L=2.02), maximum width at base, with sides curved towards protruding anterior angles; basal border bisinuous, with wide weakly convex median lobe; margined at apical border and sides, with lateral margin only visible near hind angles as seen from above; anterior angles produced forwards, with trichobothria bent laterally backwards; surface microreticulate, almost unpunctured on disc, with some relatively shallow punctures at sides of disc, becoming large and deep towards sides of pronotum. Hypomeral suture deep and continuous from near base to base of produced anterior angles of pronotum, slightly and gradually diverging from margin; basal end of suture continued as transverse furrow parallel to basal margin of hypomera; hypomera finely microreticulate, shiny, unpunctured. Prosternum shiny, with oblique wrinkles laterally and some punctures medially on anterior part; process convex, smooth between coxae, depressed, slightly expanded and weakly rounded apically. Mesepimera and mesanepisterna microreticulate, unpunctured. Metanepisterna strongly punctured, with longitudinally elongated punctures. Scutellum elongated (W/L=0.73), with blunt pointed apex; surface microreticulate. Elytra ovoid, with marked humeri, sides feebly convergent at middle towards regularly round apex; surface leathery; punctation double on elytra, shallow dark punctures on pale markings, and stronger punctures around pale markings and within dark areas of elytra, partially aligned along suture and in humeral area; long scutellar row of 10–13 punctures present and premarginal row short, only at basal half of elytra, behind humeri; bead of deep punctures confluent with margin of elytra. Dominant pale markings on elytra: (i) three-lobed basal marking confluent with base of elytron, narrowly separated internally from scutellum by scutellar row of punctures and continuous dark sutural stripe, external lobe longer, oblique, delimited externally by narrow dark interval at internal declivity of humerus; (ii) bilobed marking at humeral angle with lobes projecting to each side of dark humeral callus, inner lobe small, slightly shorter than scutellum and occupying one interval, outer lobe large, enlarged to apex, confluent with humeral angle, as long as sutural row of punctures; (iii) large roundish marginal spot behind long external lobe of humeral marking; (iv) medium sized blunt triangular spot between second and third lobes of basal marginal marking; (v) large elongate spot anteriorly on disc between second and third row of punctures; (vi) small pale spot apically in sutural angle; (vii) large apical irregular spot reaching from apical margin of elytron to subsutural row of punctures, enclosing previous spot; (viii) some 8–12 irregular markings occupying most of surface on disc, lateral and apical declivities of elytra, variously connected and leaving five predominantly dark areas: subhumeral, postscutellar, midlateral, median and preapical sutural. Epipleura smooth, unpunctured, with transverse wrinkles on apical half; margins and apical half dark. Legs stout; surface of femora smooth, shiny, with sparse weak punctures bearing very fine and small yellowish hairs; tibiae with denser, slightly stronger punctures, furrowed externally for 2/3 of their length, with furrow gradually widening towards apical insertion of tarsi; with dense but short golden setae apically and internally. Abdominal ventrites transversally wrinkled and punctured at sides, smooth, with fine punctures basally at middle. Penis (Fig. 4 c, 4d) stout, broad, nearly cylindrical medially, parallel-sided in ventral view, narrowly emarginate preapically before lateral teeth, regularly curved and weakly tapering towards apex in lateral view; apical border weakly convex, projecting blunt teeth laterally.
Distribution. This new species is endemic to central Mexico, mainly in the States of Oaxaca and Guerrero (Fig. 3 c). A single record from the central State of Hidalgo is the northernmost known location for the species.
Material examined (6 specimens).
MEXICO. EGRC: (1) one specimen: Mexico, Oaxaca, hwy175, 30mi NE Oaxaca, 5900’, 26.viii.1982, C. & L. O’Brien & G. Wibmer coll., Calligrapha zapoteca i.l. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011. FSCA: (1) one specimen: Mexico, Oaxaca, N HWY190, 7km N Diaz Ordaz, 17.vii.1992, G.H. Nelson & D.S. Verity coll., Calligrapha zapoteca i.l. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011. MCZ: (1) one specimen: Amula, Guerrero 6000 ft, Aug., H.H. Smith, Jacoby 2nd Coll., Calligrapha zapoteca i.l. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2010; (2) one specimen: Mexico, Co[?]in, Jacoby 2nd Coll., Calligrapha zapoteca i.l. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2010. NMNH: (1) one specimen: Mexico, Progreso, Valle Hidalgo, July 27, 1963, Alfred B. Lau, Calligrapha zapoteca J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011. OUMNH: (1) one specimen: Mex., Named 1898 by M. Jacoby Calligrapha barda Say, Calligrapha zapoteca i.l. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011.
Variation. Most specimens are larger than the holotype (e.g., paratypes are 9.38–10.12 mm long, 5.81–6.56 mm wide), and generally darker, with head, labrum, pronotum, scutellum, elytral dark parts, ventral surfaces and femora dark brown with bronzy metallic sheen. Pale markings are generally larger and showing some confluence; for example, the posthumeral marginal spot can be fused to the humeral marking, or the subsutural spots at basal half of elytra can be confluent with each other or with some of the surrounding markings, but they show the same basic arrangement as the holotype. The basal triangular spot of holotype is round in most specimens.
Diagnosis. This species differs from C. barda in having five basal pale lobes on elytra, not four as in the latter. The transversal prebasal area devoid of pale markings in C. barda presents a round or triangular relatively large spot in C. zapoteca sp. nov. Finally, the basal half of the epipleura is pale (except marginally) in C. zapoteca sp. nov., and entirely dark in C. barda.
Derivatio nominis. Noun (fem.) in apposition. This Mexican species is named after the Zapotec people, the first pre-Columbian settlers in the Valley of Oaxaca, where the species is currently found.
description: Published as part of Gómez-Zurita, Jesús, 2016, Systematic revision of Calligrapha Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with pale spots on dark elytra and description of two new species, pp. 61-89 in Zootaxa 4072 (1) on pages 74-76, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4072.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/270656