Gressitt, J.L.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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Vol. XIV, No. 1, March, 1950 69A new Prionid longicorn Beetle from the Loyalty Islands(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)By J. LINSLEY GRESSITTLINGNAN NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY AND MUSEUMLINGNAN UNIVERSITY, CANTON, CHINA(Presented by Dr. D. W. Clancy)Among specimens of a large collection of Pacific Island longicornbeetles kindly submitted for study by Dr. M. A. Cazier of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History there are three species of the subfamilyPrioninae represented from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. Allwere collected by L. Macmillan. One, Cacodacnus hebridanus Thomson,taken on New Caledonia, March-April 1939 (Ac. 37523), is alreadyknown from the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island.The second, probably Megopis (s. str.) caledonica Fauvel, taken on MareIsland, Loyalty Islands on December 17, 1937, is new to the LoyaltyIslands. The third species, also from Mare Island, seems to have novery close known relatives. It is placed tentatively in Lameere's subgroup (subtribe) Tragosomae of the tribe Anacolini, though differingfrom the known members of the group in having the metepisternumnarrowed only ventrally and the prothorax strongly narrowed frommiddle to both apex and base. Four of the seven known genera assignedto this subtribe occur in nearby Regions: one in New Zealand, one onLord Howe Island, one in Tasmania and Australia (Victoria) and thefourth in Australia. The other three are neotropical. This new formalso has some affinity with the subtribe Monodesmi of the same tribe.Two of the three genera assigned to that group occur in Central America and the third in Africa and India. The description of the newform follows:Pteronephila Gressitt, new genusAntennae and legs slender, fairly long; maxillary palpi long; eyes moderately emar-ginate; prothorax short, strongly spined at middle of each side; elytra very long, costate;metapisternum broad, arcuately narrowed ventrally and acute apically.Labrum short, subrounded anteriorly; clypeus membranous, short; mandibles moderate, stout basally, recurved and acuminate apically; maxillae with one lobe visible;maxillary palpi twice as long as labial palpi, with second and third segments longerthan fourth; labium short; ligula small and narrow; genae short, with projecting angles;eyes large, coarsely facetted, not very distant above and below, moderately emarginate;antennal supports somewhat raised internally. Antennae slender, only slightly flattened,three-fourths as long as body (male); scape slender, only slightly shorter than thirdsegment and about as long as fourth. Prothorax nearly twice as broad as long, exclusiveof lateral spines; strongly narrowed from base of long, slender spine at middle of eachside to apex and base; lateral margins almost indistinguishable. Scutellum small. Elytralong and parallel-sided, three and one-third times as long as head and prothorax com-70 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological Societybined, subrounded apically, each with four distinct discal costae as well as a suturaland marginal one. Anterior coxal cavity reaching nearly to base of lateral prothoracicspine, open posteriorly; intercoxal process triangular, reaching to about middle of coxae;mesosternal intercoxal process narrow; metepisternum broad anteriorly, arcuately narrowed beneath. Legs very slender. Abdomen distinctly narrower than metathorax,strongly tapered posteriorly, hardly more than one-third as long as elytra.Generotype: Pteronephila spinifera Gressitt, new species.Differs from Prionoplus White, of New Zealand, in having the antennae slender, untoothed, unstriated, and non-carinate, the prothoraxwith basal angles obsolete and unspined, the femora and tibiae untoothed apically and the tarsi long and slender. Differs from HoweaOlliff in having the antennae simple and shorter, the prothorax spinedat middle and the femora slender. Enneaphyllus Waterhouse and Rhipi-docerus Westwood differ in having the antennae lamellate or serrate inboth sexes.Figure 1.—Pteronephila spinifera Gressitt, n. gen., n. sp.; slightly enlarged.The name of this new genus alludes to a winged spider, since, asidefrom its wings, this beetle, with its slender appendages and abdomen, issuggestive of the large tropical orb-weaving spiders of the genus Nephila.Pteronephila spinifera Gressitt, new speciesMale: Dark pitchy brown, more reddish on metasternum and abdomen; elytra palebuff with costae reddish brown, to pitchy basally, including branch veins, and withsome faint clouding of dusky on discs forming a vague X across center, as well as a shortlongitudinal stripe in first interstice at end of basal fifth, and some more reddish clouding on extreme bases; antennae and legs reddish pitchy, slightly more reddish onfemora. Body clothed with suberect whitish buff hairs, more tawny on head, to ochreouson labrum, mandibles and behind eyes; hairs shorter and recumbent on central part ofpronotal disc, longest on metasternum, lacking on elytra except for a partial pubescenceVol. XIV, No. 1, March, 1950 71of minute recumbent hairs; antennae nearly glabrous, with a few oblique hairs on scapeand undersides and apices of following segments; legs with long pale hairs only onbases of femora; distal portions of femora with shorter, subrecumbent pale hairs; tibiaewith stouter, short oblique tawny hairs.Head small, subvertical in front, moderately grooved medially, sparsely and finelygranulate along middle of each side, practically impunctate, transversely striate beneath;mandibles shorter than remainder of head; eyes about twice as deep as wide, moderatelyemarginate, but not embracing antennal insertions, wider beneath, separated above bya distance less than that between antennal insertions, and beneath by a hardly greaterdistance. Antennae slender, slightly compressed, nearly four-fifths as long as body; scapesomewhat thickened beyond middle, fully five times as long as greatest width, nearlythree-fourths as long as third segment; second slightly longer than broad; third one-third longer than fourth; fourth to tenth somewhat regularly decreasing in length;tenth one-third as long as sixth, slightly shorter than eleventh. Prothorax short, stronglynarrowed from middle to apex and base, with a long slender spine at middle of eachside, projecting slightly upward; width at apex as great as length; width to ends ofspines twice as great as width of head; disc obliquely inclined anteriorly, armed atmiddle of each side with a longitudinal ridge extending from anterior to posteriortransverse constrictions and strongly raised just behind middle into a laterally compressed crest, rounded subacute in lateral outline and more declivitous posteriorly; remainder of disc minutely punctured, with two subtransverse low ridges across middleand some swellings with a few asperities on each side above the low lateral spine. Scu-tellum small, subcordate, raised on each side. Elytra wider than prothorax at tips oflateral spines, nearly three times as long as combined breadth, rounded-truncate apically,microscopically punctured, each with five discal costae at base, the first gradually approaching extremely close to sutural margin and nearly fusing with it, second costa,and to some extend third, with some branch veins in basal half, and all with somebranches or transverse connectives in parts of distal half, particularly near apex wherea partial reticulation exists. Ventral surfaces minutely punctured. Legs slender; femoraswollen only ia basal halves; hind tibiae as long as basal width of elytra; first hind tarsalsegment as long as next two combined, last segment longer than first.Length 56.5 mm.; breadth 17 mm.Holotype, male (American Museum of Natural History), Mare Island,Loyalty Islands, Nov. 14, 1937, L. Macmillan.Differs from other members of the subfamily from the southwesternPacific in having a single long slender spine on each side of the prothorax, as well as in the combination of very slender antennae, longslender elytra and slender, untoothed legs with the femora much thickerbasally than at middle. In the figure, the femora are drawn too stoutdistally and the basal margins of the elytra are drawn too oblique.

A new Prionid longicorn Beetle from the Loyalty Islands (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

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A new Prionid longicorn Beetle from the Loyalty Islands (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

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