New species of Rhaphiptera ( Coleoptera , Cerambycidae ) from the Caatinga biome

A new species of Cerambycidae (Lamiinae) is described and illustrated from the Brazilian semi-arid of northeastern Brazil. Rhaphiptera delmari sp. nov. is recorded from Morro do Chapéu municipality in the Bahia State.


ABSTRACT.
A new species of Cerambycidae (Lamiinae) is described and illustrated from the Brazilian semi-arid of northeastern Brazil.Rhaphiptera delmari sp.nov. is recorded from Morro do Chapéu municipality in the Bahia State.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The specimens studied were deposited in the Coleção Entomológica Professor Johann Becker, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil (MZFS).The male genitalia of the holotype was cleared with hot 10% sodium hydroxide for 10 minutes and neutralized with acetic acid 20%, and, then, transferred to glycerin for further dissection and examination.The genitalia was subsequently transferred to a microvial containing glycerin and pinned beneath the specimen.The terminology of the male and female genitalia follows galileo (1987); the term phallobase in male genitalia of snodgrass (1957) is preferred to "peça anelar" of galileo (1987).Photomicrographs were obtained using a Leica DFC 295 video camera coupled to a Leica M205C stereomicroscope.The photos were combined using Leica Application Suite V3.Ink software.One paratype of the new species is deposited at Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (MZSP) and the other specimens are kept in MZFS.

Rhaphiptera delmari sp. nov.
(Figs 1-9) Etymology.Named in honor of Irmão Marista Delmar a humanist and environmentalist from Morro do Chapéu, the type locality of this new species.
Diagnosis.Body pubescence whitish to yellowish; superior lobe of compound eyes with four rows of ommatidia; lobes separated one from another by approximately three times their individual widths; elytra anterior gibbosities, with tufts of black, Y-shaped bristles and bordered by yellowish pubescence; elytra lack transversal maculae; fore tibia with medial and internally granulose protuberances.
Female.Similar to male except by the following characters: total length 12.50/13.50mm, prothorax length 2.60/3.00mm, elytron length 9.00/9.80mm, humeral width 3.30/3.50mm.Body more robust than male; antenna shorter than male, reaching the apex of elytron at the 10th antenomere; base of 5th urosternite with longitudinal, wide, and blackish furrow.A row of longitudinal blackish pubescence longer observed on the apical 1/3 of the elytra of one paratype female.
Type locality.Morro do Chapéu, a municipality situated in the Chapada Diamantina Mountain Range, state of Bahia, Brazil, at altitudes ranging from 480 to 1290 m, with a mean annual rainfall of 726 mm, with the rainy season from October to April (Velloso et al., 2002).The vegetation is diverse, ranging from dry forest or savanna vegetation formations on the slopes to savanna vegetation on the mountain tops (Prado, 2003).
Remarks.Rhaphiptera delmari sp.nov. is morphologically similar to R. avicenniae Dalens & Tavakilian, 2007, R. avicenniae Dalens & Tavakilian, 2007(French Guiana), R. scrutatrix Thomson, 1868 (Panama, French Guiana and Peru), and R. oculata, mainly by the gibbosities on the elytral base and subparallel external margins of elytra, with truncated (see Breuning, 1961;taVakilian et al., 2007) Rhaphiptera delmari sp.nov.can be distinguished from these three species by the following combination of characters: superior eye lobe with four rows of ommatidia; superior eye lobes separated by approximately three times their own widths; gibbosities with tufts of black bristles disposed in Y-shaped arrangements and surrounded by yellowish pubescence; elytra lack transversal maculae.
In R. avicenniae, the superior eye lobe has six to seven ommatidia; the superior eye lobes are separated by approximately their own widths; gibbosities lacking tufts of bristles; and elytra have transverse maculae (taVakilian et al., 2007).In R. scrutatrix, the superior eye lobe has six rows of ommatidia; the superior eye lobes are separated by approximately one and half times their own widths; gibbosities lack tufts of bristles; elytra without transverse maculae (Breuning, 1961).In R. oculata, the superior eye lobe has six rows of ommatidia; the superior eye lobes are separated by approximately three times their own widths; gibbosities with tufts of brownish bristles; apical third of elytra with transverse maculae surrounded by dark strips (Breuning, 1961; material examined: 1 exp.MZFS #54677).