Resurrection of Pristonema endomycha and first record of Pristonema meridionalis in Brazil (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)ABSTRACT
Pristonema Erichson, 1847 is a genus of ladybirds restricted to South America. It is defined by angled projections from the fourth antennomere and simple tarsal claws with basal angulation. Currently, there are 13 recognized species of Pristonema, six of which are found in Brazil. Based on recently collected material, together with specimens and notes deposited in Brazilian entomological collections, this study provides sufficient evidence for the revalidation of Pristonema endomycha (Mulsant, 1853), removed from synonymy with Pristonema schaumii (Mulsant, 1850). Additionally, this work reports Pristonema meridionalis Weise, 1902 as a new record for Brazil. With these findings, Pristonema now comprises 14 valid species, eight of which occur in Brazil. These results underscore the value of historical specimens and associated genitalia for resolving taxonomic uncertainties within this genus.
KEY WORDS:
Coccinellini; Felisberto Camargo; Korschefsky; revalidated name; taxonomy
Pristonema Erichson, 1847 (Coccinellini) is a genus of ladybirds endemic to South America. This genus has never been revised and currently has 13 recognized species, six of which occur in Brazil: Pristonema diluta (Mulsant, 1850); Pristonema humeralisWeise, 1906; Pristonema josephinae (Crotch, 1874); Pristonema lasaussayei (Mulsant, 1866); Pristonema schaumii (Mulsant, 1850); and Pristonema serraticornis (Mulsant, 1850).
Pristonema was proposed to include a single species, Pristonema coccinea Erichson, 1847, from Peru. Mulsant (1850) proposed Macaria to include Coccinella erotyloides Guérin-Méneville, 1844 and five new species. Three years later, Mulsant (1853) described Macaria endomycha. Later, however, Mulsant (1866) proposed the replacement name Micaria because Macaria was preoccupied, and described a new species. Crotch (1874) and Weise (1893) proposed two more species under Micaria: Micaria josephinae Crotch, 1874 and Micaria personata Weise, 1893. Weise (1902, 1906) described Pristonema meridionalis Weise, 1902 and P. humeralis Weise, 1906. Korschefsky (1932, 1938) synonymized Micaria, also preoccupied, with Pristonema and described Pristonema tricolor Korschefsky, 1938.
Pristonema is characterized by antennae with angled projections from the fourth antennomere and simple tarsal claws with basal angulation. Some species in this genus are easily recognizable by their dorsal features. However, species such as P. schaumii appear to vary in pronotal and elytral appearance, with some spots reduced, faded, or even absent. This paper addresses this issue by comparing the genitalia of similar specimens supposedly belonging to such species, thus shedding light on the status of some taxa by providing novel morphological and geographic information on Pristonema.
This study was conducted using: (1) material recently collected in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina; (2) material deposited in the Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure (DZUP), Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil, and the Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ); and (3) notes and slides of Felisberto C. Camargo, which are part of the MNRJ collection. The comparative study considered original descriptions and added genitalia characteristics to the species morphology.
The specimens were dissected to remove the abdomen and the genitalia. Soft tissues of dissected parts were removed in potassium hydroxide solution (10%). A Leica DMC 2900 digital camera coupled to a Leica M205 C compound stereomicroscope was used to photograph adults and genitalia. Images were edited using Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (version 20.0). Labels of the examined material have been transcribed in quotation marks (“…”), with slashes (/) to separate the lines and double slashes (//) to separate different labels, and square brackets ([]) when necessary to clarify some information. The specimens studied were point mounted for deposition, with the genitalia placed in microvials containing pure glycerin for preservation. The morphological terminology, especially on the genitalia, follows Ślipiński (2007).
Based on the material studied, this work concludes that the name Pristonema endomycha (Mulsant, 1853) is valid and refers to a species similar to P. schaumii, but distinct. The difference in the arrangement of the elytral spots pointed out by Mulsant when he proposed P. endomycha is confirmed by the differences between the male genitalia of these two species. Furthermore, among the Pristonema material is a male specimen of P. meridionalis, also from Santa Catarina, a new record for Brazil.
Pristonema endomycha ( Mulsant, 1853 ), stat. rev. Figs 1-6
Species of Pristonema from Brazil. (1-6) Pristonema endomycha stat. rev.: (1) male; (2) female; (3) tegmen, inner view (a.k.a. ventral view); (4) tegmen, ventral view (a.k.a. lateral view); (5) penis; (6) spermatheca. (7-10) Pristonema meridionalis: (7) male; (8) tegmen, inner view; (9) tegmen, ventral view; (10) penis. (11-13) Pristonema schaumii: (11) penis; (12) tegmen, ventral view; (13) tegmen, inner view. Scale bars = 1 mm.
Macaria endomychaMulsant, 1853: 157 (original description).
Micaria endomycha: Mulsant, 1866: 161.
Pristonema schaumii: Crotch, 1874: 306 (misidentification; as synonym).
Pristonema endomycha: Korschefsky, 1932: 579; Blackwelder, 1945: 456.
Differential diagnosis. This species is similar to P. schaumii because of the reddish dorsal coloration with a black basomedial pronotal spot and five spots on each elytron (Figs 1-2). However, P. schaumii has a 2-1-1-1 elytron spot formula, i.e., the marginal spot is not on the same transverse line as the sutural spot (Mulsant 1850), as is the case in P. endomycha with a 2-2-1 elytron spot formula. In addition, the male genitalia of P. schaumii have the penis guide with margins gradually converging to the apex in inner view (ventral view), with a small angled projection in one of its margins at about 3/4 of its length (Fig. 13), while P. endomycha has the penis guide with margins abruptly converging at apical 3/4, with no projection on its margins (Fig. 3).
Remarks. Pristonema endomycha was originally described by Mulsant (1853) and later placed in synonymy with P. schaumii (Mulsant, 1850) by Crotch (1874). The material examined herein confirms that the two are in fact distinct species, differing in both elytral spot pattern and male genitalia (see Differential diagnosis above), and P. endomycha is accordingly removed from synonymy and treated as a valid species. The female specimen presented here (Figs 2, 6) was collected practically in the same locality (≈ 30 km) as the male specimen. The collection was made on a bromeliad field in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Santa Catarina; this Brazilian state is the type locality of P. endomycha. The difference in shape and size of the sutural spot on the female of P. endomycha is probably one of this species’ variations, with the male specimen representing its counterpart (Fig. 1).
Material examined. BRAZIL: “Hansa Humboldt [Corupá] / Sta. Catherina [Santa Catarina] / Brasilien Reitter” [white label] // “Micaria / Shaumi Muls. / det. R. Korschefsky 1938” [partially handwritten white label] // “FCC-507” [white label] // [♂] // [MNRJ]; “BRASIL, Santa Catarina, Joinville / -26.319110, -48.963127, 125 m, / 26.ii.2025, varredura: Bromeliaceae, / J. Duarte-de-Mélo leg.” [white label] // [♀] // [DZUP / 327664].
Pristonema meridionalisWeise, 1902 Figs 7-10
Pristonema meridionalisWeise, 1902: 170; Korschefsky, 1932: 579; Blackwelder, 1945: 456.
Differential diagnosis. This species is the only spotless Pristonema (Fig. 7). The most similar species is P. humeralis, which has a black humeral spot.
Remarks. Pristonema meridionalis, previously known only from Paraguay, its type locality, is here recorded from Brazil for the first time. It is the only spotless species in the genus, making it easy to distinguish (Fig. 7).
Material examined. BRAZIL: “Hansa Humboldt [Corupá] / Sta. Catherina [Santa Catarina] / Brasilien Reitter” [white label] // [♂] // [MNRJ]
Crotch (1874) synonymized P. endomycha with P. schaumii because of the great similarity between these two species. However, the original descriptions by Mulsant (1850, 1853) make it clear that there is a difference in the pattern of elytral spots between these two species. Furthermore, the slides of male genitalia prepared by Felisberto Camargo made it possible to observe that P. endomycha and P. schaumii differ in their genitalia.
One of the MNRJ specimens belonged to Camargo’s collection (Fig. 1) and was identified by Richard Korschefsky. Camargo sent this specimen to Korschefsky probably because of its different elytral pattern. Camargo then wrote that it belonged to P. schaumii, like other specimens in his collection from which slides of the male genitalia had already been prepared. However, the specimen identified by Korschefsky had not been dissected. The dissection of this specimen showed that its genitalia (Figs 3-5) are different from those in the slides of P. schaumii (Figs 11-13), and that it is in fact a separate species, P. endomycha. Thus, this conflicting evidence between these specimens supports the two different species hypotheses proposed by Mulsant (1850, 1853).
As seen, P. endomycha is not a synonym of P. schaumii, as they differ in both the elytral pattern and the male genitalia. The type locality of P. endomycha is Santa Catarina (Mulsant 1853), and the studied specimens of P. meridionalis also come from the same state, indicating that these species are sympatric. Pristonema now has 14 valid species, eight of which occur in Brazil.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Olaf H.H. Mielke for the excursion to one of his favorite butterfly-collecting sites, the “Serrinha”, which resulted in the collection of part of the material used in this study. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which improved the initial version of this manuscript.
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