Acmaeodera (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): A new species of Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, 1829 from the southwestern United States, with three new synonymies, new state and host records, and a key to species occurring east of the Rocky Mountain states

Authors

Jason A. Hansen, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Los Indios, TXFollow

Date of this Version

10-2023

Citation

Hansen JA. 2023. Acmaeodera (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): A new species of Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, 1829 from the southwestern United States, with three new synonymies, new state and host records, and a key to species occurring east of the Rocky Mountain states. Insecta Mundi 1012: 1–52.

Comments

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License.

Published on October 27, 2023 by Center for Systematic Entomology, Inc. P.O. Box 141874 Gainesville, FL 32614-1874 USA http://centerforsystematicentomology.org/

Abstract

Acmaeodera natlovei new species (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is described from the southwestern United States. Details of phenology, geographic range, larval, flower and adult host plants, and similar spe­cies are discussed. Acmaeodera yuccavora Knull, 1962 is newly synonymized with Acmaeodera conoidea Fall, 1899. Acmaeodera thoracata Knull, 1974 and A. bryanti Van Dyke, 1953 are newly synonymized with Acmaeodera neoneglecta Fisher, 1949. New state and host records are reported for United States. A key to the 46 species of Acmaeodera occurring east of the Rocky Mountain states is provided.

Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, 1829 is one of the most speciose buprestid genera in America north of Mexico (Nel­son et al. 2008). Many species are notoriously variable in size and markings, making identification challenging. Adding to the difficulty, it has been well over a century since the last comprehensive review of Acmaeodera was published (Fall 1899). Since that time, nearly 100 additional species have been described from the United States, yet only a few regional keys have been produced, mostly for areas where species diversity is low (Barr 1971; Wellso et al. 1976; MacRae 1991; Harpootlian and Bellamy 2014).

Acmaeodera in the United States and Canada generally can be divided into eastern and western species by the Rocky Mountains, which cut a path across North America from Alaska to New Mexico. Roughly one-third of the known species in America north of Mexico fall east of this geographic divide, most occurring in the state of Texas, where ten distinct ecoregions provide diverse habitats (Gould et al. 1960). The main objective of this work is to provide important updates to the taxonomy, distribution, and biology of several species of the eastern fauna. A key to the 46 species occurring east of the Rocky Mountain states is provided.