Calligrapha tortilis Stal. This 1859
Creators: name: Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Calligrapha
Calligrapha tortilis

description: Calligrapha tortilis Stål, 1859
(Figs 6b, 8)
Calligrapha tortilis Stål, 1859. Öfvers. af K. Vet.-Akad. Förh. 16, p. 323.
Chrysomela tortilis: Stål, 1865. Mon. Chrysom. Am., pt. 3, p. 282.
Calligrapha tortilis: Gemminger & Harold, 1874. Cat. Col., p. 3434.
Calligrapha tortilis: Jacoby, 1882. Biol. Centr.-Amer., vol. vi, pt. 1, p. 202.
Calligrapha tortilis: Jacoby, 1891. Biol. Centr.-Amer., vol. vi, pt. 1, suppl., p. 246.
Polyspila tortilis: Weise, 1916. Coleopt. Cat., p. 44.
Calligrapha tortilis: Blackwelder, 1946. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 185, p. 674.
Calligrapha tortilis: Wilcox, 1975. Checklist Chryomelidae, p. 67.
Calligrapha tortilis: Flowers, 2004. Rev. Biol. Trop. 52, p. 80.
Calligrapha tortilis: Benítez-García et al., 2017. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. 88, p. 339.
Carl Stål (1865) cited material for this species deposited at the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin) and also in Joseph S. Baly’s collection, held at the Natural History Museum in London. These collections contain one specimen each labeled as type, but only the specimen currently in Berlin is identified as coming from Costa Rica, the only locality mentioned in the original description for this species (Stål 1859). The specimen currently in London has label information reporting Guatemala, a locality that was only mentioned years later by the author, in his monograph of American Chrysomelinae (Stål 1865). The former specimen shows dark parts of elytra very dark, almost black, as opposed to very dark brown in the specimen at NHM, which is a character that was explicitly mentioned in the original description (vittae were described as nigris), and its size (8 mm long, 5.1 mm wide) is comparable to the measures given in Stål (1859), while the specimen in London is larger (8.3 mm long, 5.3 mm wide). Thus, the supposed syntype from Costa Rica is recognized here as the actual holotype for this taxon, and the one from Guatemala should be only regarded as a specimen that the author assimilated to his species with posteriority.
Holotype, by original designation: 29797 / tortilis Stål / Costa Rica Wagner [green] (MfN). The specimen is complete, but ventral surfaces and articulations have abundant organic matter in lumps that cover tarsi and mouth.
Habitus (Fig. 6b). Length: 8.01 mm, width: 5.13 mm. Body elongate oval, convex. Head, clypeus, mandibles, mouth appendages, pronotum, scutellum, sutural area in posterior 2/3 of elytra, inner part of some elytral markings, ventral surfaces and legs bright dark reddish brown; labrum, basal antennomeres, and tarsi reddish orange; elytral markings, epipleura, apex of mandibles, narrow margin of pronotum and elytra, external margins of metanepisterna, large areas in metaventrite, apical border of abdominal ventrites, large spot in meso- and metafemora and apical external borders of tibiae very dark reddish brown, almost black, often with hint of bluish metallic reflection; background of elytra stramineous.
Head large, deeply inserted in pronotum; surface nearly smooth, with very fine microsculpture and weakly impressed, sparse punctation, denser near eyes; upper eye margin slightly depressed with supraocular furrow deep, short, straight, only slightly surpassing upper eye margin; frontal suture fine, obliterated posteriorly and joining apically broad U-shaped clypeal suture. Clypeus long, with sparse punctation, mostly at sides, near suture; surface almost glabrous, with few short lateral setae; apex feebly concave. Labrum long, smooth, unpunctured except for median transverse line of setigerous punctures; weakly emmarginate apically. Mandibles large, unpunctured dorsally, with sparse setigerous punctures laterally; protruding slightly less than half their length beyond apical margin of labrum; sides straight, subparallel before preapical, strong but regular curvature. Maxillary palpi elongate; last palpomere long, subtrapezoidal with broad obliquely truncate apex and feebly divergent, nearly straight sides, slightly curved at base; previous palpomere smaller, half as narrow at base than at apex, elbowed; first palpomere elongate, club-shaped, obliquely cut at apex. Antennae slender, reaching behind humeri, slightly clavate and more densely pubescent beyond fifth antennomere; scape thickened, subcylindrical and slightly bent posteriorly; pedicel half as long as scape, shortly club-shaped; antennomeres 3–6 progressively shorter; third antennomere nearly as long as scape, slender, club-shaped, nearly glabrous; fourth antennomere 0.8x as long as third, slender and slightly clavate; fifth antennomere 0.7x as long as third, narrow at base, neatly widened toward apex, hairier than previous antennomeres; sixth antennomere as long as pedicel, widened from base to enlarged apex, pubescent; antennomeres 7–10 progressively longer, shortly narrow at base, enlarged and with sides weakly divergent towards apex; seventh antennomere slightly longer than fifth and tenth antennomere slightly longer than fourth; eighth antennomere elongate, 0.7x as wide at apex as long; eleventh antennomere as long as scape, widest at apical 3/4, with conical blunt apex. Pronotum transverse (W/L = 1.95), with sides feebly curved, widest at basal quarter, increasing curvature preapically toward moderately protruding anterior angles; anterior border slightly bisinuate between projected angles, weakly convex medially; basal border bisinuate, markedly convex medially; lateral and apical borders finely margined, with lateral margins only visible near hind angles due to lateral convexity of pronotum; surface very finely microreticulate, with irregularly sparse, rather strong punctures on disc, larger, deeper and confluent punctures at sides; row of dense elongate punctures confluent with basal margin of pronotum. Hypomera finely leathery, shiny, unpunctured, transversally depressed basally with few transversal wrinkles; hypomeral suture deep, continuous, relatively close and subparallel to pronotal border in basal half, slightly diverging apically towards base of anterior angles. Prosternum short, strongly transverse, regularly concave and margined anteriorly; surface with fine microreticulation and weakly impressed large, elongate, setose punctures on posterior half; prosternal process convex, long, surpassing posterior border of coxae, with strong punctures at sides, depressed and expanded apically as broad round apex. Mesepimera and mesanepisterna shagreened, unpunctured. Metanepisterna with feebly raised margins, longitudinally elongate punctures near external border, sparser at base. Metaventrite long, finely leathery, shiny, with weakly impressed punctures mostly at sides, more or less aligned near anterior border. Scutellum lancet-shaped, relatively long (W/L = 0.68), with gently curved sides and pointed blunt apex; surface very finely microreticulate, unpunctured. Elytra broader at base than base of pronotum, with prominent humeri and sides subparallel, widest at middle, regularly round at apical third; surface with fine microsculpture, almost smooth, and dot-like punctures with dark background on pale areas, regularly aligned at premarginal line, slightly confused in subhumeral area; punctures around and within dark markings larger, deeper and tighter; scutellar row of 8–10 punctures present, with some punctures geminate. Dark markings of elytra consisting of: (i) sutural stripe reaching from base of elytron, broadly surrounding scutellum, to sutural angle; (ii) subsutural stripe completely confluent with sutural stripe; basal end oblique, blunt, at level with apex of scutellum, weakly enlarged at apical declivity and expanded laterally before apex of elytron, directing small lobe to posterior border of elyton, nearly confluent with dark lateral margin, leaving narrow pale transverse apical spot between lateral expansion and sutural stripe; (iii) arcuate band short, feebly concave, placed behind middle of elytron, laterally confluent with subsutural stripe except shortly at both ends; apical arm of band strongly bent backwards forming a volute (almost closed on left elytron of type); (iv) humeral spot large, long, nearly reaching middle of elytron; disconnected from basal margin of elytron; apical end at level with basal end of arcuate band, projecting short lobe towards midlateral spot externally; (v) humeral lunule large, longer than humeral spot, confluent at base with margin of elytron, completely fused laterally with humeral spot except briefly at apical end, directed to suture and confluent with basal 1/4 end of arcuate band; apical lobe of humeral spot and divergent apex of lunule forming arched posteriorly concave end of large humeral marking; (vi) basal spot enclosed by humeral lunule smaller, ovoid, longitudinally elongate and free; apical spot slightly bigger, roundish, completely confluent laterally with humeral lunule; (vii) subhumeral spot medium-sized, elongate oval, confluent laterally with humeral spot, very close to dark margin of elytron externally; (viii) midlateral spot relatively large, subrectangular, as wide as nine punctures of premarginal line, completely confluent laterally with dark margin of elytron; (ix) spot of apical declivity large, longitudinally elongate, laterally confluent with enlargement of subsutural stripe, slightly divergent basally; apical end of spot fused to medium-sized, irregular apical spot, and basal end of spot fused to (xi) additional large marking occupying pale area delimited by apex of humeral marking, arcuate band and marking at apical declivity of elytron. Epipleura finely leathery, unpunctured, gradually narrowing from base to apex of elytra. Femora slender, slightly widened medially, shiny, with fine microreticulation and sparse fine punctures with short and very fine appressed pale yellowish hairs. Tibiae nearly straight, slightly shorter than corresponding femora, with very fine microreticulation and sparse elongate punctures, granulose at apex; apex of tibiae with relatively dense golden setae expanding longitudinally along internal margin; tibiae delicately carinated at interior angles and externally furrowed at apical half. Abdominal ventrites finely leathery, rather densely punctured.
Distribution. As with the previous species, there are not many known records of this beautiful species of Calligrapha to specify its geographic range. However, in the course of this study, I found specimens with locality data that is consistent with a range extending from southern Mexico, from the State of Chiapas, to Costa Rica, the type locality. C. tortilis Stål is thus a Neotropical species, endemic of the Caribbean Mesoamerican domain (Morrone 2006), and most typically found in Guatemala (Fig. 8).
Other material examined (fourteen specimens).
GUATEMALA.
MCZ: (1) three specimens: Gua. [one with: Cal. tortilis Stål]; (2) three specimens: Guatem. MfN: (1) one specimen: Guatem., Calligrapha tortilis Stål. NHM: (1) one specimen: 55 24, Type Stål Coll: Baly, Baly Coll., Calligrapha tortilis Stål Guatemala, Type Stål 306 [underneath]; (2) one specimen: Guatemala, Jacoby Coll. 1909- 28 a, tortilis Stål; (3) one specimen: Coban, Guatemala, Sallé Coll., Calligrapha tortilis Stål, Sp. figured, Godman- Salvin Coll., Biol. Centr.-Amer. NMB: (1) one specimen: Guatemala, Escuintla, 1879.viii, Calligrapha tortilis Stål, J. Bechyné det. 1952.
MEXICO. MCZ: (1) one specimen: Chiapas, Mex., Coll. Van Patten, Peab. Acad., Calligrapha tortilis St. J. Gómez- Zurita det. 2010.
UNKNOWN SOURCE. MCZ: (1) one specimen: Tex., F.A. Eddy Collection. NHM: (1) one specimen: 819, Jacoby Coll. 1909-28 a.
Variation. The few examples of this species available for the analysis of variation showed some differences, for example, in the relative length of scutellum, which can be even longer than in the type. But as in most cases, the main differences among individuals can be found in the shape and confluence of elytral markings. The sutural area of elytra can be entirely dark reddish brown, conspicuously paler than other dark parts of elytra. The apical expansion of the subsutural stripe can be incomplete, not reaching the margin of elytra, thus not delimiting the above-mentioned minute pale apical spot, or it can be narrow and short or reach slightly before the apical spot, thus leaving the latter free. The apical convoluted end of the arcuate band can be broken, and the resulting spot either free or fused with the large discal marking; similarly, the apical end of the arcuate band, even if not broken, can be connected to this marking too. Alternatively, the apical volute of the arcuate band can close the circle, enclosing a pale small round spot, as seen in one of the Guatemalan specimens at MCZ. In several Guatemalan specimens (MfN and MCZ), the subhumeral spot is small and free, or even a minute, dot-like dark free spot; but it can also be large, yet only narrowly connected to humeral spot or even dark elytral margin by areas of dark suffusion (NHM). The basal spot enclosed by the humeral lunule can be smaller and round, not ovoid as in the type, and the apical spot enclosed by the lunule can be proportionally larger. The midlateral spot can be ellipsoidal and show narrow confluence with the external apex of the humeral marking. The large discal marking, equivalent to the fussion of most additional elytral spots seen in other species, can enclose irregular pale areas. This large marking, which is connected to the spot of apical declivity in the type, can be free from this spot and/or narrowly connected to the midlateral spot (as seen in one of the Guatemalan specimens at NHM).
description: Published as part of Gómez-Zurita, Jesús, 2018, Systematic revision of Central American Calligrapha Chevrolat of the subgenus Erythrographa subgen. nov. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), pp. 1-58 in Zootaxa 4531 (1) on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4531.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/2614310