A new species group of the genus Epicauta Dejean of Southern South America, the bella group (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Epicauta (Coleoptera: Meloideae) includes two subgenera, and within the nominotypical subgenus several species groups. Analyzing species of southern South America, a set of species of Epicauta has the particularity to present two distinctive characters which separates this group from the other speci...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Campos Soldini, Maria Paula
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/79979
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/79979
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:BELLA SPECIES GROUP
SOUTH AMERICA
EPICAUTA
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:Epicauta (Coleoptera: Meloideae) includes two subgenera, and within the nominotypical subgenus several species groups. Analyzing species of southern South America, a set of species of Epicauta has the particularity to present two distinctive characters which separates this group from the other species groups of American Epicauta: color pattern of pubescence in elytra is not coincident with color pattern of tegument and endophalic hook robust. Based on these characters I propose a new group of species herein named bella group. This group includes the Neotropical species Epicauta bella Mäklin, E. brunneipennis (Haag-Rutemberg), E. diagramma (Burmeister), E. griseonigra (Fairmaire), E. luctifera (Fairmaire), E. riojana (Fairmaire) (New status), and E. zebra (Dohrn). This group is endemic of southern South America, inhabiting the Chaco biogeographical subregion, mainly in the arid northern areas of Argentina. Here we redefine the species of the bella group, consider new characters, illustrate the species in the group, provide maps of their distribution, and a key to identify them.