Colliuris pensylvanica Linne 1767

Colliuris pensylvanica (Linné, 1767)

Attelabus pensylvanicus Linné, 1767: 620. Type locality: «Philadelphia [Pennsylvania]» (original citation). - Fabricius (1787: 124); Gmelin (1790: 1810).

Agra pensylvanica: Latreille (1805: 196).

Odacantha pensylvanica: Herbst (1806: 221).

Ophionea pensylvanica: Klug (1821: 300).

Odacantha pennsylvanica: Say (1823: 16).

Casnonia pensylvanica: Dejean (1825: 171); Laporte (1840: 27).

Colliuris pensylvanicus: Brullé (1834: 137).

Casnonia picta Chaudoir, 1843: 697. Type locality: «Californie» (original citation), which is incorrect. New Synonymy. - Chaudoir (1863: 276).

Casnonia picta var. suturalis Chaudoir 1872: 405. Type locality: «midi des Etats-Unis » (original citation). Synonymy established by LeConte (1880: 85).

Casnonia limbata Waterhouse, 1878: 304. Type locality: Jamaica (lectotype label). New Synonymy.

Casnonia pennsylvanica: LeConte (1880: 85); Blatchley (1910: 139).

Casnonia pennsylvanica var. picta: Schaeffer (1924: 148).

Colliuris pennsylvanica: Liebke (1930: 659).

Colliuris limbata: Liebke (1930: 659).

Colliuris picta picta: Liebke (1930: 659).

Colliuris picta var. extrema Liebke, 1930: 689. Type locality: « Mexico » (original citation). New Synonymy.

Colliuris picta var. suturalis: Liebke (1930: 659).

Colliuris picta var. concluda Liebke, 1930: 689. Type locality: Durango city [Mexico] (lectotype label). New Synonymy.

Colliuris yucatana Liebke, 1930: 700. Type locality: «Temax. N. Yucatan [Mexico]» (original citation). New Synonymy.

Colliuris pensylvanica: Lindroth (1969: 1007); Downie and Arnett (1994: 187); Downie and Arnett (1996: 207); Ciegler (2000: 117).

Type material. Linné's description of this species was based on an unspecified number of specimens. The syntype (s) has been lost (Lindroth 1957: 327). However, the original description and provenance leave no doubt about the interpretation of the name.

Chaudoir (1843: 697) description of C. picta was based on an unspecified number of specimens. The syntype (s) should be housed in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. The type locality reported by Chaudoir, "California", is certainly wrong; the specimen(s) likely came from Arizona or Texas (see Horn 1893: 281).

Waterhouse (1878: 304) originally described C. limbata from an unspecified number of specimens. One specimen, a female, in BMNH is herein designated as lectotype. It is labelled: " Type [white round label with red trims]/ Jamaica 78 22 [handwritten on a label with a green thick horizontal line at middle]/ Casnonia limbata (Type.) C. Waterh. [handwritten]/ Lectotype Casnonia limbata Waterhouse Des. Y. Bousquet'03".

Liebke (1930: 689) description of C. picta var. concluda was based on four specimens from Mexico in the "Zoolog. Museum Berlin". I have studied all four specimens, housed in MNHU, each labelled " Type ". One of them, a male, is here designated as lectotype. The specimen is labelled: "Durango city [handwritten]/ C. picta Chd. var. concluda Liebke [handwritten]/ Type [handwritten on a red label]/ [elongate, narrow red label with no inscription]/ Lectotype Ψ Colliuris concluda Lbk By Erwin '76".

Liebke (1930: 689) description of C. picta var. extrema was based on four specimens from Mexico, two in the "Zoolog. Museum Berlin" and the other two in "Deutschen Entom. Institut Berl.-Dahlem." I have study the two syntypes from MNHU and one of them, a male, is here designated as lectotype. It is labelled: "42578/ Cas. picta Chaud Mexic [handwritten on a pale green label]/ Type [handwritten on a red label]/ Hist.-Coll. (Coleoptera) Nr. 42578 Casnonia picta Chd Mexico, Coll. Schaum Zool. Mus. Berlin/ C. picta Chd. var. extrema Liebke [handwritten]."

Liebke (1930: 700) description of C. yucatana was based upon a single specimen. The holotype, housed in BMNH, is labelled: " Type [white round label with red trims]/ Temax, N. Yucatan, Gaumer./ 1891-64/ Odacantha yucatana Liebke [handwritten]/ Type [handwritten on a red label]/ Casnonia picta var. [handwritten]/ Casnonia picta, Chaud. "

Notes about synonymy. The lectotype of C. limbata is a typical specimen of this species with the exception that the elytra are dark with a small prehumeral and a large, more or less triangular, preapical spots on each side. I have seen two other specimens with a similar elytral pattern from Jamaica (MCZ). These are the only ones I have seen from Jamaica.

The four syntypes of variety concluda differ from the typical specimens only in having the diamondshaped spot extended along the medial intervals to around the scutellum. This form is common in Mexico. I believe the name is superfluous.

Members of variety extrema have the elytra entirely deep reddish-brown to reddish-black, without any distinct markings. Otherwise, I have found no structural differences between this form and the typical one. At this time, I am inclined to consider specimens of this form as conspecific with those with conspicuous markings from the United States. Besides the two syntypes in MNHU, I have seen 20 other specimens of this form, seven from the states of México (UASM) and Yucatán (UASM, AMNH, BMNH) in Mexico, six from Cuba (MCZ) and six from the British Virgin Islands (MTEC). Another specimen is in the LeConte's collection (MCZ) and is labelled " Mex./ pensylvanica 10" only.

The holotype of C. yucatana Liebke is a specimen of the form extrema with the elytra slightly paler, more reddish instead of reddish-brown to reddish-black.

The reason for listing C. picta Chaudoir in synonymy with C. pensylvanica Linné is given under the "Note" section below.

Description. COLOR. Head and pronotum dark reddish-brown to black, elytra reddish-yellow with lateral margins paler, yellowish, and three black markings on each side in most specimens: one apical; one lateral, usually connected to apical one and triangularly expanded medially, and a diamond-shaped one around the suture near the middle, prolonged anteriorly in some specimens to around scutellum; metasternum, metepisternum and abdominal sterna reddish-black to black; antennomere 1 reddish-brown above, paler underneath, antennomeres 2, 3 and base of 4 yellow, antennomeres 4 (apical half)-11 reddish-brown to reddish-black; femur yellow with apex to apical half infuscate, tibia yellow. MICROSCULPTURE. Frons, pronotum and proepisternum without meshes or microlines. Elytra without meshes except between ombilical setae of anterior group in most specimens. PROTHORAX. Side of pronotum with four setae in most specimens, with two (some specimens from Cuba) or three setae in a few specimens; anterior edge with small lateral dentiform projection. Proepisternum coarsely punctate except toward apex. ELYTRA. Strial punctures evident to about middle of elytra. Interval 1 with one or two setae in basal third, interval 3 with seven or eight, interval 5 with five to eight, and interval 7 with three to six setae. MALE GENITALIA. Median lobe as illustrated (Fig. 3).

Body length: 6.0– 8.2 mm.

Geographical distribution. This species is widely distributed (Fig. 18); it ranges from Maine to western Wisconsin, including southern Quebec and Ontario, south to southern Baja California Sur, the Yucatán Peninsula, Jamaica, Cuba, and southern Florida; also known from the British Virgin Islands. Two specimens seen from northwestern California and southwestern Montana (see Fig. 18) are either mislabelled or stragglers.

Habitat. Larochelle and Larivière (2003: 211–212) reported that this species is found usually on dry soil covered with some vegetation in pastures, meadows, cultivated and abandoned fields, sand pits, as well as in moist areas near marshes, ponds, peat bogs, and forest edges. Adults are often found under stones, logs, pieces of woods or at the roots of plants and in sunny days on plants, particularly those of Solidago, Ve r b a s c u m, and Medicago.

Note. This species varies considerably in regard to the length of the vertex and elytral markings. Specimens from New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico have the vertex proportionally shorter than those from eastern United States and Canada. These specimens were referred to C. picta Chaudoir. However, specimens from Texas are intermediate between the southwestern-Mexican form and the eastern form (Table 1). Because of the clinal nature of the character and the fact that no other character, including genitalic ones, could be found to separate the two forms, I prefer to refer all the specimens to a single species. Consequently, C. picta Chaudoir is considered a synonym of C. pensylvanica (Linné).

All specimens seen from eastern United States and Canada and several from Mexico had regular elytral markings with the diamond-shaped one restricted to the middle of the elytra and the triangular lateral ones not reaching the diamond-shaped marking. Many specimens from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, several states in Mexico, and Cuba have the diamond-shaped spot extended anteriorly along the medial intervals to the base of the elytra (variety suturalis Chaudoir). In some of these specimens, the lateral spot extends medially and joins the diamond-shaped medial spot, delimiting an encircled yellow area behind middle along intervals 4–7 or 4– 8. In a few specimens, both the lateral and diamond-shaped markings expand anteriorly to cover most of the basal half of the elytra except for a more or less distinct area along the anterior edge. Finally, I have seen some specimens (variety extrema Liebke) from southern Mexico, Cuba and the British Virgin Islands in which the elytra are completely dark without distinct markings. Five out of six specimens of the variety extrema seen from Cuba have two setae only on each side of the pronotum, the other one has 4 setae on one side and 3 on the other one. The specimens seen from southern Mexico and the British Virgin Islands have 4 setae (exceptionally 3) on each side as in specimens from Canada, United States and other parts of Mexico. Because I have not detected any structural differences, including the male genitalia, other than the coloration of the elytra, I am inclined to consider all these specimens conspecific.