Classification, natural history, and evolution of the Epiphloeinae (Coleoptera: Cleridae). Part III. The genera <I>Parvochaetus</I> , n. gen., <I>Amboakis</I> , n. gen., and <I>Ellipotoma</I> Spinola.

Abstract

The checkered beetle genera Parvochaetus, n. gen. and Amboakis, n. gen. are described and the genus Ellipotoma Spinola is reviewed. Four new species plus P. linearis (Gorham), which represents a new combination, comprise Parvochaetus: P. albicornis, P. froeschneri, P. fucolatus, and P. sandaracus. Amboakis, a replacement name for the junior homonym Teutonia Opitz, involves four previously described species and 20 new species. The new species are A. anapsis, A. atra, A. barinas, A. binotonis, A. cauca, A. charis, A. epiomidia, A. erythrohapsis, A. funebris, A. incondita, A. katatonis, A. linitis, A. mica, A. micula, A. prolata, A. rudis, A. taruma, A. selva, A. stenosis, and A. vesca. Four previously described species now classified under Amboakis involve new combinations; they are Epiphloeus capitatus Gorham, Epiphloeus nitidus Gorham, Phlogistosternus flavicollis Zayas, and Teutonia nova Opitz. The bitypic Ellipotoma contains E. tenuiformis Spinola and E. turmalis, n. sp. Lectotypes are designated for Epiphloeus capitatus Gorham, Apolopha linearis Gorham, Epiphloeus nitidus Gorham, and Ellipotoma tenuiformis Spinola. Parvochaetus specimens may be distinguished from Amboakis and Ellipotoma specimens by the extraordinarily slender antennal club. The expanded condition of the funicular antennomeres will separate specimens of Parvochaetus and Amboakis from those of Madoniella. Specimens of the bitypic genus Ellipotoma are very slender in body form and the elytral disk is devoid of secondary (2o) setae. These features will easily separate Ellipotoma specimens from those of Madoniella. On the basis of adult external morphology Parvochaetus and Amboakis may be conveniently organized into monophyletic species groups, 5 in Parvochaetus and 9 in Amboakis. Descriptions of the alimentary canal of Amboakis nova (Opitz) and of the stomodaeal valves of A. nova and Ellipotoma tenuiformis Spinola are provided and serve as basic data for subsequent analyses involving higher categories. The alimentary canal involves a well-differentiated stomodaeum, ventriculus, and proctodaeum. The ventricular papillae are poorly developed and there are 4 cryptonephridial Malpighian tubules. The stomodaeal valve is comprised of 4 primary lobes with the lateral lobes longer and more slender than shorter dorsal and ventral lobes; the ventral lobe is particularly broad. The male internal reproductive organs are characterized by having two pairs of accessory glands with the medial being longer than the lateral. A well-developed spermatheca and saccular bursa copulatrix are important features of the female internal organs. Species descriptions, a key to species, and biological information are included. These checkered beetles are diurnal, considerably active flyers, and are predators of lignicolous insects and particularly of bark beetles. Included is a discourse of species level and supraspecific level discontinuities. Differences in the aedeagus, antennae, body form, presence or absence of 2o setae, and arrangement of punctations on the elytral disc were important characters in the discernment of species. Forty characters of Parvochaetus, Amboakis, and Ellipotoma and their states were polarized to hypothesize intergeneric relationships and intrageneric relationships of Parvochaetus and Amboakis. Hennigian principles of phylogenetic analysis were implemented to prepare two trees. The predominant distribution of Parvochaetus, Amboakis, and Ellipotoma taxa in South America suggests that the progenitor of these genera may have existed on that continent with subsequent dispersal and vicariant events distributing species throughout Middle America and onto islands of the Greater Antilles. Pre-Tertiary South American diversification produced 3 ancestral stocks, each of which fostered lineages that migrated northward via the proto-Antillean Archipelago across the isthmanian closure of the late Tertiary. These temporal frameworks, paleographic dispersals, and vicariant events would explain the presence of relatively primitive, and derived Amboakis elements in Mexico