Paracupta (Chalcotaenia) rennelli Holynski 2014
Creators: name: Frank, David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Paracupta
Paracupta rennelli

description: Paracupta (Chalcotaenia) rennelli HołyńsKi, 2014, assign. noV.
(Figs 11–13, 20, 79)
Paracupta (Paracupta) rennelli Hołyński (2014): 406 (key, original description), 409 (colour Fig. 9).
Type locality. Solomon Islands, Rennell and Bellona Province, Rennell Island, Hutuna.
Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀ (33.00 × 11.00 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennell I. | Hutuna. | 20- 24.x.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p] || RENNELL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h] || Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁYŃSKI 1978 | HOLOTYPE [r, h]’ (BMNH).
PARATYPES (5 ♀♀): ♀ (33.50 × 11.75 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennel I. | Hutuna. | 6.XI.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p/h(date)] || RENNEL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || Paracupta | isabellina Kerr | J.Balfour-Browne det. | XI. 1958 [w(c), h/p] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h] || PARATYPE [r, h (Hołyński's handwritting)]’ (BMNH); ♀ (29.00 × 9.75 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennel I. | Hutuna. | 6.XI.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p/h(date)] || RENNEL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || PARATYPE [r, h (Hołyński's handwritting)]’ (BMNH); ♀ (31.00 × 10.00 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennell I. | Hutuna. | 8.XI.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p] || RENNELL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || Ex. B.M. [N.H.] | Duplicate [w, p] || coll. R B HOŁYŃSKI | Bpenz [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || PARATYPE [r, h (Hołyński's handwritting)]’ (RHMP); ♀ (35.50 × 12.50 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennell I. | Teuhungano. | 26-28.xi.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p] || RENNELL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || Ex. B.M. [N.H.] | Duplicate [w, p] || coll. R B HOŁYŃSKI | BPeoa [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || PARATYPE [r, h (Hołyński's handwritting)]’ (RHMP, Figs 11–13, 20); ♀ (29.00 × 9.50 mm), ‘SOLOMON IS: | Rennell I. | Teuhungano. | 26-28.xi.1953 | J.D.Bradley. [w(c), p] || RENNELL I. | Expedition. | B.M.1954-222. [w(c), p] || Ex. B.M. [N.H.] | Duplicate [w, p] || coll. R B HOŁYŃSKI | BPeoa [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || 1978 | Paracupta | rennelli | HOŁ.| det. R. Hołyński [w, h (Hołyński's handwritting)] || PARATYPE [r, h (Hołyński's handwritting)]’ (DFPC).
Redescription of paratype (RHMP). Well preserved ♀ specimen, only last two antennomeres of left antenna missing. Length 35.50 mm, width 12.50 mm, length/width ratio: 2.84.
Body navicular, elytra brown-violet with bronze macropunctures, pronotum brown-violet with bronze macropunctures and discal area. Head, ventral side and legs brown-violet.
Head brown-violet with yellow wax area on frons, macropunctate and sparsely micropunctate. Eyes large, oval. Frons 2.0× as wide as diameter of eye, impressed with deep medial sulcus, macropunctate and pubescent. Labrum brown, pubescent. Antennae serrate from antennomere IV. Antennomeres I and II brown-violet, macropunctate and pubescent, radicula and antennomeres from III yellow-brown, sparsely pubescent. Antennomere II ca. 4× shorter than I and III. Antennomeres IV–X triangular, XI oval. Maxillae, labium, maxillary palpi and labial palpi pale brown, densely pubescent.
Pronotum trapezoidal, narrowing anteriad with moderately rounded sides, widest at base, dark violet on sides, bronze on disc and in macropunctures, 1.7× as wide as long. Anterior margin arcuate, lobe not protruding, densely pubescent. Five longitudal sulci bronze, macropunctate and densely micropunctate, pubescent, yellow wax in lateral sulci. Medial sulcus and disc bronze-gold with golden reflections, shiny. Lateral areas furrowed. Lateral margin dark violet, shiny. Basal margin slightly bisinuate.
Scutellum small, almost quadrate, brown-violet with golden reflections.
Elytra slightly wider than pronotum at base, parallel at basal half, narrowing from mid-length to apex, convex in lateral view. Lateral margins arcuate below humeral calli, serrate at apical two fifths. Four distinctly elevated costae on each elytron. 1 st costa parallel to suture, 2 nd joined to 1 st before apex, 3 rd costa joined to 2 nd at apical fifth. 4 th costa starting at basal fifth, separated but reaching to apex where it is almost joined to 1 st and 2 nd. Intercostae slightly indicated between 1 st –2 nd and 2 nd –3 rd costae on each elytron. Basic colour brown-violet, intercostal intervals and macropunctures bronze. Suture and costae sparsely macropunctate and micropunctate. Basal fifth irregularly furrowed. Furrows and intercostal intervals irregularly very densely macropunctate and with sparse short pubescence, yellow wax at basal half of 4 th and 5 th intercostal intervals. Epipleura horizontal, brown-violet, sparsely macropunctate and pubescent.
Legs on femora brown-violet, meso- and metatibiae and tarsi dark green-violet. Femora densely macropunctate and pubescent on inner side, sparsely on outer side, tibiae regularly macropunctate and pubescent. Tibiae with two apical ventral spurs. Tarsi metallic dark green-violet, tarsal claws divergent and simple.
Ventral side brown-violet with golden reflections, metallic. Hypomeron and prosternum irregularly macropunctate, partly covered by yellow wax. Anterior margin of prosternum densely pubescent. Prosternal process almost parallel-sided, arcuately narrowed at apex, approximately 3× as long as wide, sparsely macropunctate and pubescent at central part. Metasternum shiny, sparsely macropunctate and pubescent at central part, densely at lateral parts. Abdominal ventrites I–V centrally sparsely macropunctate, laterally densely macropunctate with short pubescence, laterally covered by yellow wax. Apical part dark violet, macropunctate and with broad ‘U’ shaped notch.
Variation. Body ♀♀ (n = 6): length: 29.00–35.50 (average 31.83) mm, width: 9.50–12.50 (average 10.75) mm, length/width ratio: 2.84–3.10 (average 2.97). Colouration of elytra almost identical, sulci and macropunctures on pronotum from green-bronze to violet-bronze, ventral side from green-violet to brown-violet. Male unknown.
Differential diagnosis. Paracupta (C.) rennelli can be distinguished from similar P. (C.) gottwaldi and P. (C.) isabellina by dark body, bronze intercostal areas and sulci on pronotum, and brown-violet ventral side [P. (C.) gottwaldi has shiny light green intercostal areas and sulci on pronotum, and golden-green ventral side, P. (C.) isabellina has green-bronze intercostal areas and sulci on pronotum, and moderately shiny dark green ventral side]. From P. (C.) jakli it can be distinguished by undeveloped intercostae. Paracupta (C.) lamberti has only three sulci on pronotum [P. (C.) rennelli five] and species from Moluccas have yellow and not metallic tarsi. For additional characters see Key to species.
Distribution. Solomon Islands, Rennell and Bellona Province, Rennell Island (Fig. 79).
description: Published as part of Frank, David, 2024, Revision of the subgenus Chalcotaenia of Paracupta (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Chrysochroinae) and specification of Buprestis xanthocera Boisduval, 1835 as the type-species of the genus Paracupta, pp. 535-568 in Zootaxa 5555 (4) on pages 559-561, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5555.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14594963