Calligrapha synthesys Gómez-Zurita 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Calligrapha
Calligrapha synthesys

description: Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov.
(Figs 4b, 5)
In several of the collections visited during the course of this revision, and typically mixed among specimens of C. ramulifera Stål or C. suboculata Stål, I found representatives of a new species of Calligrapha, which will be described here. This new species may be allied to C. femorata Jacoby, and is considered part of Erythrographa subgen. nov. on the basis of some peculiarities, mainly the configuration of the spot enclosed by humeral lunule, which in spite of typically showing as a large spot laterally confluent with humeral lunule and subhumeral stripe, in some specimens appears with a tendency to split in two longitudinally arranged spots, as it is characteristic of the subgenus.
Holotype: Tapachula, Chiapas. Höge. / Jacoby 2nd Coll. / Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov. Gómez-Zurita det. [red] (MCZ). The holotype is a female and it is not damaged.
Paratypes: (1) Bugaba, Panama. Champion. / Jacoby 2nd Coll. / Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov. Gómez-Zurita det. [red] (MCZ); (2) C. Rica / var? / Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov. Gómez-Zurita det. [red] (MCZ).
Habitus (Fig. 4b). Length: 9.44 mm, width: 5.79 mm [paratypes—length: 9.56 mm (1), 9.89 mm (2); width: 5.78 mm (1), 6.11 mm (2)]. Body elongate oval, moderately convex. Head, disc of labrum, base of mandibles and hypomera very dark, slightly metallic bluish green. Pronotum dark metallic green. Apical border of labrum, apex of mandibles, maxillary palpi, dorsum of scape, antennomeres 4–11, scutellum, dark markings on elytra, epipleura, legs and ventral surfaces dark brown with purplish green metallic shine. Antennomeres 1–3, scape ventrally, fourth tarsomere and apex of onychia and claws dark orange. Pale areas of elytra creamy yellow.
Head large, transverse, deeply inserted into pronotum; surface with very fine microreticulation and more or less uniformly scattered fine punctation, except on antennal calli and median area on frons; punctures on frons with short, fine translucent appressed setae, longer near eyes; supraocular furrow sharp, short on inner dorsal border of eye; frontal suture entire, fine, joining at apex broadly bisinuous clypeal suture. Clypeus short and broad, with finely microreticulate surface and scattered shallow minute punctures at sides and along border of apical declivity. Labrum wide, slightly narrower than clypeus, 2.6x as broad as long, with regularly curved sides and weak median emargination on anterior border; surface smooth except for three setigerous punctures at each side projecting long, medially oriented pale yellowish setae. Mandibles relatively short, reaching twice length of labrum anteriorly; sides weakly curved, strongly punctured, with long appressed setae, and strongly curved before molar area. Maxillary palpi long and slender; first palpomere clavate, obliquely cut at apex; second palpomere cup-shaped, slightly longer than wide at apex; apical palpomere dilated, narrower at base than apex of second palpomere, widened at external border, obliquely truncate at apex. Antennae slender, reaching slightly behind humeri, feebly clavate beyond sixth antennomere; scape long, strongly widened near base, more convex at anterior border, widest before apical third; pedicel longer than wide, shortly clavate, shortest of antennomeres; antennomeres 3–6 gradually shorter, mostly glabrous but increasingly pubescent; third antennomere long and slender, slightely widening towards apex, 1.7x longer than pedicel; fourth antennomere 0.8x shorter than third but similarly shaped; fifth antennomere 0.7x shorter than third; sixth antennomere slightly longer than pedicel, widening towards apex; antennomeres 7–11 finely granulate, densely pubescent, markedly expanded near base and slightly widening from basal enlargement to apex, but longer than wide at apex (eighth antennomere 0.65x as wide near apex as long); seventh antennomere as long as fourth and antennomeres 8–10 progressively longer, with tenth antennomere 1.1x longer than seventh; last antennomere longer than scape, feebly widening at basal 3/4 and blunt conical at apical quarter. Pronotum transverse (W/L = 1.92), feebly cordiform, widest in front of middle; posterior border more or less regularly convex, unmargined; anterior border weakly concave and finely margined between strong, blunt anterior angles with margin broader and flattened and large trichobothria at vertex; posterior angles weakly obtuse, with trichobothria near angle at sides; sides finely margined, with margin visible from above and only covered by lateral convexity of pronotum at apical third; surface alutaceous, with very fine, uniform microreticulation, relatively densely punctured with punctures smaller and free on disc, larger and occassionally confluent at sides, deeper and elongate along sides of basal border. Hypomera very finely shagreened, unpunctured, convex on disc, slightly depressed at base and strongly depressed below anterior angles; hypomeral suture impressed as furrow with very short discontinuities, subparallel to pronotal border. Prosternum short, narrower than procoxae, slightly concave and finely margined anteriorly, finely rugose, with deep elongate punctures posteriorly near procoxae and fine, recumbent whitish long hairs; posternal process convex, narrow, rather glossy and punctured at sides. Mesepimera and mesanepisterna finely alutaceous; mesanepisterna with row of finely impressed puntures parallel to posterior border. Metanepisterna long and narrow posteriorly, shagreened, with scattered slit-like punctures. Metaventrite convex, alutaceous, finely impressed longitudinally in posterior half at middle; surface unpunctured on disc, very finely punctured at sides, with larger, imprecise punctures at anterior angles and near anterior border. Scutellum as long as wide at base, lancet-shaped, finely alutaceous, unpunctured. Elytra long, convex, slightly wider at base than base of pronotum; humeri round and marked; sides feebly curved, widest at middle, regularly curved at apical third towards sutural angle; surface very finely alutaceous, with microreticulation only visible at larger magnifications; dot-like dark punctures on pale areas rather dense and uniform; punctures around and within dark markings slightly larger, regularly delimiting sutural and presutural markings and slightly confused around and within humeral markings; premarginal line of fine punctures slightly confused at subhumeral and midlateral areas; scutellar row of 10–11 fine punctures relatively regular. Dark markings consisting of: (i) sutural stripe entire, confluent at base with margin of elytron, surrounding scutellum and gradually narrowing at apex nearly reaching sutural angle; (ii) subsutural stripe entirely confluent laterally with sutural stripe, with basal end at level with apex of scutellum, feebly enlarged at apical declivity and disappearing before sutural angle; (iii) arcuate band complete, weakly concave and mostly confluent laterally with subsutural stripe, except shortly at divergent knob-like apex; (iv) spot of apical declivity slightly imprecise, elongate, mostly confluent laterally with feeble preapical enlargement of subsutural stripe; (v) humeral spot elongate, short, detached basally from basal margin of elytron, ending apically before level of basal end of arcuate band; (vi) humeral lunule concave, completely fused externally and longer at posterior end than humeral spot; basal end of lunule detached from basal margin of elytron, darkened at humeral internal declivity; (vii) spot enclosed by humeral lunule large, slightly ovoid, fused laterally to humeral lunule and subsutural stripe, with basal and apical ends nearly at level with basis of subsutural stripe and apex of humeral spot, respectively; (viii) midlateral spot narrow, imprecise, covering about five punctures of premarginal line; (ix) six small, roundish additional spots at lateral declivity of elytron. Epipleura finely alutaceous, unpunctured, gradually narrowing towards apex. Femora straight, enlarged at middle, finely alutaceous, with fine sparse punctation and short appressed fine whitish setae. Tibiae straight, slender, slightly shorter than corresponding femur, gradually widened towards apex; externally canaliculate at apical half; surface sparsely punctate, densely pubescent at apex ventrally, with long golden setae. Tarsi slightly shorter than corresponding tibia, narrow, slender, with first tarsomere shorter than following two joined; fifth tarsomere curved, slender, clubshaped, with sharp simple claws divergent at base at acute angle. First abdominal ventrite convex, transverse, slightly shorter at middle than metaventrite, finely alutaceous, with sparse fine punctation on disc and disheveled, very fine, short translucent hairs; subsequent ventrites gradually shorter, glossy posteriorly at middle, with irregular transverse row of fine punctures and sparse, very fine, recumbent translucent hairs; apical border of fifth ventrite imperceptibly emarginate at middle, finely margined. Spermatheca small and compact, with receptacle bulbous and pump narrower, recurved to base and as long as receptacle; base of receptacle constricted before small, ampule-like enlargement joining very thin spermathecal duct.
Distribution. Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov. is a Neotropical species, endemic of the Caribbean Mesoamerican domain in Central America, with reliable records available from southern Mexico to western Panama (Fig. 5). The label of one specimen from the Hungarian Museum of Natural History (Budapest) is indicating an origin from Sonora, in northwestern Mexico (not shown in map of Fig. 5). While this locality is quite eccentric and would require confirmation, the southernmost parts of this Mexican State are in the transition between Nearctic and Neotropical realms, and included in the Caribbean Mesoamerican domain. Considering the large range of the species along a relatively continuous ecological domain, it is not entirely unreasonable eventually proving this record as valid.
Material examined (14 specimens).
COSTA RICA. EGRC: (1) one specimen: Costa Rica, Puntarenas, 4–6 km S Santa Elena, 4–7.vi.1980, J.E. Wappes coll.,
Calligrapha ramulifera St. det. Daccordi ’81. NMCZ: (1) one specimen: Turrialba, Costa Rica, Coll. Achard, Mus. Pragense.
GUATEMALA.
NHM: (1) one specimen: Cerro Zunil, 4000 ft., Champion, Godman-Salvin Coll., Biol. Centr. - Amer. NMNH: (1) one specimen: Cerro Zunil, 4–5000 ft., Champion, Calligrapha synthesys in litt. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2011. ZSM: (1) eight specimens: Guatemala, Suchitepequez, Patulul 1.7.83 [1x] 10.7.83 [7x], A. Poll.
MEXICO.
HNHM: (1) one specimen: Sonora, Calligrapha suboculata St., Calligrapha synthesys Gómez-Zurita, J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2017. MCZ: (1) one specimen: Cordoba, Mex., Mann., Calligrapha synthesys Gómez-Zurita J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2017.
Variation. Despite the availability of a reduced number of specimens of the new taxon, there is a significant amount of variation in several traits, mainly maculation, relative to the type. For example, the arcuate band is split in two spots, whereby the basal one is basally divergent from the subsutural stripe in the specimen from Turrialba in the NMCZ collection. This specimen also has the spot enclosed by humeral lunule narrowly separated from some of the surrounding features and with a clear trend to divide in two longitudinally arranged spots, which is the configuration that the specimen shows on the right elytron; something similar can be observed in the specimens from Cerro Zunil at NHM and the paratype from Bugaba (MCZ). Moreover, the lack of definition of the spots of apical declivity renders the one on the left elytron of the specimen free from the subsutural stripe. In turn, the milateral spot emits dark suffusion towards the lateral margin of elytra. Otherwise, this specimen matches other important features of the type, including the lack of apical spot, the humeral marking detached from basal margin of elytron, the configuration of sutural stripes or the large spot enclosed by humeral lunule. The humeral spot is narrowly connected to the dark basal margin of elytra in the paratype from Costa Rica (MCZ) and the specimen from Cordoba (MCZ) lacks most of additional spots and has a well-developed midlateral spot, confluent with margin of elytron. The number of additional spots on lateral declivity of elytra tends to be smaller, and the spots themselves to be smaller as well, compared with the type.
Diagnosis. Calligrapha synthesys sp. nov. resembles several species found in the same area where it lives, and the specimens available for this study were found among representatives of these species because of the obvious similarities. Another species with short, compact humeral marking, reduced additional spots on elytra and almost identical coloration, and recorded almost exactly in the same area of the new species (Gómez-Zurita 2015) is C. ramulifera Stål. However, both species can be easily distinguished based on the small round free spot enclosed by humeral lunule in C. ramulifera, large, irregular, sometimes double and narrowly separated or confluent with lunule and subsutural stripe in C. synthesys sp. nov. Moreover, both species can be distinguished by the free divergent ends of the subsutural stripe, the presence of apical spot and a well-developed midlateral spot in the former, and also by the shape of pronotum, which is widest behind the middle in this species. Another species with similar coloration, large double spot enclosed by humeral lunule, ends of subsutural stripe completely fused with sutural stripe, generally lack of apical spot and again with a similar distribution than the new species is C. suboculata Stål (see below). In this case, the species should be recognized by an elongated humeral lunule, largely overlapping with the basal end of the arcuate band, by the spot enclosed by humeral lunule, generally well differentiated as two round spots in C. suboculata, the basal one much smaller than the apical one, and by a large midlateral spot, widely confluent laterally with lateral margin of elytron. A third species that may be worth including in this diagnosis, not so much because of phenotypic appearance, but because I predict their close phylogenetic proximity, is C. femorata Jacoby, which may be also the northern vicariant of C. synthesys sp. nov. Both species share a slightly cordiform shape of pronotum, arrangement and general features of markings on elytra, and large spot enclosed by humeral lunule, confluent with surrounding features, but they differ in colouration, particularly in the case of legs, reddish in the former, dark bronzy in the latter, and the heavy, confluent maculation, covering most of the elytra in the former.
Derivatio nominis. The specific epithet "synthesys" is a name in apposition not to be declined and taken from the name of the SYNTHESYS programme, funded by the European Commision since 2 0 0 4, and originally aimed at boosting taxonomic and biodiversity research, facilitating access to the wealth of natural history collections in Europe. My revisionary work of Calligrapha started more than ten years ago thanks to this programme and regularly funded visits to museums to complete the wealth of data available to me for this long-term study.
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 17-20, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4531.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/2614310