A review of the genus Beltia Jacoby (Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae: Eumolpini), with descriptions of fourteen new species from Costa Rica, Panama, and northwestern South America

Authors

R. Wills Flowers, Florida A&M UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

R. Wills Flowers A review of the genus Beltia Jacoby (Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae: Eumolpini), with descriptions of fourteen new species from Costa Rica, Panama, and northwestern South America Insecta Mundi 0672: 1–43

Comments

Copyright held by the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License.

Abstract

Adults of the Neotropical genera Beltia Jacoby (type species: Beltia nicaraguensis Jacoby) and Colaspoides Laporte (type species: Colaspoides limbata [Olivier]) (Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae: Eumolpini) are difficult to separate. In this paper, the genus Beltia Jacoby is redefined and diagnosed by features of the pygidium, lateral wings of the prosternum, and metatibiae to distinguish it from Colaspoides and other medium-sized, ovate Eumolpini. Fourteen new species from Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are described and illustrated—Beltia awapita, B. confusa, B. gorgona, B. herreri, B. ledesmae, B. napoensis, B. osa, B. rugosa, B. sanchezae, B. talaga, B. tilarana, B. tisingalita, B. tsachila and B. vacilona. A key and range maps for all species recognized herein are provided. Colaspoides placidula Bechynĕ, Colaspoides placidula angustomarginata Bechynĕ, Colaspoides chiriquensis Jacoby, and Colaspoides weyrauchi Bechynĕ are transferred to Beltia and redescribed. Colaspoides turrialbana Bechynĕ is synonymized with B. chiriquensis, and Colaspoides chanchamaya Bechynĕ is synonomized with B. weyrauchi. Morphological similarities with Beltia indicate that Old World Colaspoides also should be removed from Colaspoides s. str.

El género Beltia Jacoby (especie tipo: Beltia nicaraguensis Jacoby) y Colaspoides Laporte (especie tipo: Colaspoides limbata [Olivier]) (Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae: Eumolpini) son difíciles de separar. En este trabajo, el género Beltia Jacoby es redefinido y diagnosticado por characteres del pigídio, las alas laterales del proesterno, y las metatibias para distinguirlo de Colaspoides y otros géneros de forma ovalada y tamaño mediano en los Eumolpini. Se describe catorce especies nuevas de Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador, y Perú—Beltia awapita, B. confusa, B. gorgona, B. herreri, B. ledesmae, B. napoensis, B. osa, B. rugosa, B. sanchezae, B. talaga, B. tilarana, B. tisingalita, B. tsachila, y B. vacilona son descritas y ilustradas. Colaspoides placidula Bechynĕ, Colaspoides placidula angustomarginata Bechynĕ, Colaspoides chiriquensis Jacoby, y Colaspoides weyrauchi Bechynĕ son transferidas a Beltia y son redefinidas. Se proponen Colaspoides turrialbana Bechynĕ como sinónimo de B. chiriquensis, y Colaspoides chanchamaya Bechynĕ como sinónimo de B. weyrauchi. Se proporcionan una clave y mapas de distribución de todas las especies. Los rasgos morfológicos en común con Beltia señalan que las Colaspoides del Viejo Mundo también deben ser sacadas de Colaspoides s. str.