The Coleopterists Society

A New Species of Buprestidae (Coleoptera) from Dominican AmberAuthor(s): C. L. BellamySource: The Coleopterists Bulletin, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Dec., 1999), pp. 321-323Published by: The Coleopterists SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4009438 .

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The Coleopterists Bulletin, 53(4):321-323. 1999.

A NEW SPECIES OF BUPRESTIDAE (COLEOPTERA) FROM DOMINICAN AMBER

C. L. BELLAMY' Coleoptera Department

Transvaal Museum P.O. Box 413

Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Abstract

The first species of Buprestidae from Dominican amber is described as Chrysobothris amberestris, new species. A short discussion of fossil buprestids is presented.

Examples and specimens of the beetle family Buprestidae from amber de- posits were recently reviewed by Bellamy (1995). Subsequent to that paper, I received an invitation to study a buprestid from Dominican amber from David Grimaldi, Department of Entomology, American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH).

Discussion

The following description will obviously lack some detail due to the spec- imen being imbedded in amber. The unique nature of this specimen and rela- tively thin layer of amber surrounding some areas made it inadvisible to at- tempt a better view or perspective by sectioning or otherwise removing more of the amber enclosure (Grimaldi 1993).

Chrysobothris amberestris, new species Fig. 1

Description. Small, 12.8 mm long, 5.5 mm wide; elongate ovoid, flattened above and below; short, semi-erect setae visible on frontovertex; large eyes strongly converging dorsally; antennae typical of Chrysobothris Eschscholtz with scape elongate, robust, pedicle shorter, narrower; antennomeres: 3 slender, elongate; 4-10 trapezoidally serrate; 11 oblong; pronotum about 2X wider than long, anterior margin evenly, shallowly con- cave; posterior margin strongly biarcuate; lateral margin irregular, bisinuate; posterolat- eral angles subobtuse; disk appears more or less evenly transverse. Elytra wider opposite humeri than pronotal width; disk depressed basally on either side between humerus and scutellum; disk otherwise uniform although an indication of longitudinal carinae present; lateral margins subparallel from past opposite humeri to about posterior 1/3, thereafter moderately converging to separately acuminate apices; margin entire, not serrulate. Ven- tral surface largely obscured under folded legs and trapped air bubbles and dirt particles. Legs with femora stoutly fusiform, tarsomeres lack anterolateral projections of Acteno- des.

Specimens Examined. Holotype (sex unknown) (ANMH No. DR-14-263) AMBER: Oligo-Miocene, Dominican Republic, North Mines.

Remarks. The lack of any apical emargination to the fifth visible abdominal sternum suggests that the holotype is a female.

'e-mail: bellamy @tm.up.ac,za, http://www-tm.up.ac.za/coleop/bups.htm

321

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322 THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 53(4), 1999

Fig. 1. Dorsal view, Chrysobothris amberestris, new species.

Although many fossil buprestids are known from many parts of the world and geologic deposits (e.g., Homschemeyer and Wedmann 1994; Weidlich 1987a, b; Wedmann and Hornschemeyer 1994), I have found records for only four species of fossil Chrysobothris Eschscholtz, C. coloradensis Wickham (1 914:44 1), C. gahani Cockerell (1 911:72), C. haydeni Scudder (1 876:80), and C. suppressa Wickham (1914:440). All four of these species are known from the Miocene Florissant shale deposits of Colorado and were last discussed by Wickham (1920). Dominican amber is older than the Colorado deposits (Gri- maldi 1995).

Most species of extant Chrysobothris are found on the foliage, stems or trunks of their respective host plants, both conifers and angiosperms, often on the dead or decadent portions or on slash. They are active during warmer parts of the day and quick to fly to avoid predators or collectors or to disperse to locate food or mates. This can explain why this fossil species was probably trapped in the sap of the plant it may have been associated with.

Acknowledgments

I thank David Grimaldi and Caroline Chabo, AMNH, for the opportunity to study this specimen and for providing the photograph and to two anonymous reviewers for insightful comments.

Literature Cited

Bellamy, C. L. 1995. Buprestids from amber deposits: a brief review and family switch. The Coleopterists Bulletin 49(2):175-177.

Cockerell, T. D. A. 1911. Fossil insects from Florissant, Colorado. Bulletin of the Amer- ican Museum of Natural History 30:71-82, pl. III.

Grimaldi, D. A. 1993. The care and study of fossiliferous amber. Curator 36(l):31-48. Grimaldi, D. A. 1995. Chapter 11. The age of Dominican Amber [pp. 203-217]. In:

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THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 53(4), 1999 323

Amber, resinite, and fossil resins (K. B. Anderson and J. C. Crelling, editors). American Chemical Society Symposium Series 617.

Hornschemeyer, T., and S. Wedmann. 1994. Fossile Prachtkafer aus dem Mitteleozan der Grube Messel bei Darmstadt, Teil 1. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 170:85-136.

Scudder, S. H. 1876. Fossil Coleoptera from Rocky Mt. Tertiaries. Bulletin of the United States Geological & Geographical Survey of the Territories 2:77-87.

Wedmann, S., and T. Hornschemeyer. 1994. Fossile Prachtkafer uas dem Mitteleozan der Grube Messel bei Darmstadt, Teil 2. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 170: 137-187.

Weidlich, M. 1987a. Systematik und Taxonomie der Buprestidae des mitteleozanen Gei- seltales (Insecta, Coleoptera). Hallesches Jahrbuch fur Geowissenschaften 12:29-52.

Weidlich, M. 1987b. Lepidopterologische und coleopterologische Beobachtungen aus den mittleren und nordlichen Teilen des Bezirkes Halle/S. unter besonderer Be- rucksichtigung von Gefahrdungsursachen (Insecta, Macrolepidoptera, Coleoptera: Buprestidae et Cerambycidae). Faunistische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum fur Tierkunde Dresden 14(9): 13 1-160.

Wickham, H. F. 1914. New Miocene Coleoptera from Florissant. Bulletin of the Mu- seum of Comparative Zoology 58(11):423-494, 16 pl.

.Wickham, H. F. 1920. Catalogue of the North American Coleoptera described as fossils [pp. 349-365]. In: Catalogue of the Coleoptera of America, North of Mexico (C. W. Leng, editor). Mount Vernon, NY. 470 pp.

(Received 3 November 1998; accepted 3 March 1999)

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