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G. it. Ent., 13 (59): 413-416
January 2014

A new species of Spectralia

(Coleoptera: Buprestidae)
from the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, Mexico
by

RICHARD L. WESTCOTT *

* Entomologist Emeritus, Plant Division, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Salem, Oregon 97301,
U.S.A. E-mail: rwestcott@oda.state.or.us

Abstract - Spectralia barri n. sp. is described from the Cape Region of Baja California
Sur, Mexico. The habitus and aedeagus are figured. This is only the second species described
from the Baja California peninsula.

INTRODUCTION

To date, only one species of the genus Spectralia Casey (formerly and for a long time
treated in the genus Cinyra Laporte & Gory) has been recorded from the Baja California
peninsula: S. purpurascens (Schaeffer, 1905), which was described and subsequently collected
from much the same area as the distinctive new species I describe herein. Two additional,
probably undescribed, species are known from the peninsula and await further study. Six
described species have been recorded from mainland Mexico, though at least that many more
are known and probably undescribed; and four species known only from the southwestern
United States should occur there. The genus Spectralia is in great need of at least a review,
including considerations at the generic level as first mentioned by CASEY (1909) then CHAMBER-
LIN (1920), although work is hampered because most species, at least those in tropical America,
are represented, if at all, in collections by few specimens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Abbreviations for collections in which specimens are deposited are given in parentheses as follows: CAS
= California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; CLBC = C. L. Bellamy, Sacramento, California; RLWE =
R. L. Westcott, Salem, Oregon. A section is provided to clarify label data, as all collections were made and
specimens labeled in years prior to Google Earth and the use of our now ubiquitous GPS units.

Spectralia barri new species Figs. 1, 2

Holotype male (Fig. 1). Moderately robust, length 12.8 mm, width across humeri 4.4 mm; dorsal
surface black with light coppery reflections, notably on elytra, the latter bearing numerous shallow, densely
setose, small roundish to oval foveae, especially on apical half; ventral surface black with distinct coppery or
purplish-coppery reflections in certain lights, moderately densely setose; setae white above and below; head
with distinct coppery reflections becoming golden green on lower frons and clypeus, bright golden green on
labrum, antennomeres 1-4 mostly with strongly reddish-coppery reflections, some portions with green, outer
antennomeres black with faint green reflection in certain light.
Head with front slightly convex, with a broadly depressed area back of clypeus and an irregularly linear
smooth median callosity; surface finely densely punctured on vertex, becoming more coarsely and rugosely
414 G. it. Ent., 13 (59) January 2014

punctate below, moderately clothed with forward-projecting recumbent to subrecumbent setae; clypeus broadly
arcuately emarginate, prominently toothed on either side. Antennae with scape moderately punctate, pedicel and
flagellum sparsely finely punctate, 4th antennomere 1.25 x longer than 5th; 6th distinctly wider, 7th to 10th
more rectangular and very gradually diminishing in length, 11th subequal in length to 10th and rounded at
apex.
Pronotum 1.58 x wider than long, 1.35 x wider at base than apex, trapezoidal, broadly evenly convex,
with a vague median depression on anterior half, slightly swollen basolaterally; lateral margins slightly sinuate,
broadened and smooth, not sharply defined, on apical third, visible from above only along basal third, front
angles quadrate, hind angles acutely produced; front margin scarcely produced along middle; hind margin
subtruncate, very shallowly arcuate in front of scutellum; surface smooth, finely moderately punctate, the
punctures slightly larger towards sides, setae minute and sparsely placed.
Scutellum small, smooth, orbicular, distinctly coppery.
Elytra convex, more so basally, at base equal in width to pronotum, distinctly wider across the
moderately punctate humeri then subparallel to beyond middle, from where they gradually narrow to bispinose
apices that are truncate between the spines; surface finely, rather sparsely punctate at middle, the punctures larger
and moderately placed laterally, mixed with rugae in small area behind and mesad of humeri, punctures very
dense and confused in foveae, vestiture consisting of scattered minute setae except for larger setae concentrated
as dense patches in the foveae. Each elytron configured with costae as in Fig. 1, only the two most prominent
and raised costae extending nearly from base to apex.
Underside with white flocculence, and moderately clothed with moderately long subrecumbent to
recumbent setae except as described below. Prosternum subflattened on middle, shallowly convex laterally,
rather coarsely densely punctate, rugose at sides, densely clothed along middle with very long erect to semierect
setae; front margin truncate, extending around each side to attain front angles of pronotum; process with distinct
lateral groove, narrowly rounded at apex. Metathorax with broad groove at middle densely clothed with setae
like on prosternum. Abdomen with a broad groove at middle of first ventrite and small portion of second that is
moderately clothed with semierect setae, which are shorter than those on metathorax; lateral callosities on
ventrites 1-3 smooth, prominent, each with a few punctures, that of ventrite 4 not as well developed; last
visible ventrite without callosities, with each lateral margin ending in a small tooth between which extends the
truncate apical margin, and with a sharply defined, irregularly truncate subapical plate or margin that extends
between the apical teeth on each side, the margins outlining groove between them. Legs black with faint
metallic reflections in certain lights.
Aedeagus in dorsal view as in Figure 2, ventral surface sparsely clothed with moderately long erect light
golden setae on expanded apical portion of parameres.

Allotype female. Length 14.3 mm, width across humeri 4.8 mm, differing from male holotype as
follows: front of head black with faint coppery reflections above, faint dark green reflections below; antennae
black with faint coppery and greenish reflections; prosternum sparsely punctate and setose on middle;
metathorax without groove, rather sparsely setose; abdominal median groove shallower, rather sparsely setose,
apical margin of 5th ventrite broadly shallowly rounded.

TYPE MATERIAL. Holotype male (CAS) labeled “MEX, Baja Calif. Sur, 7½ km E Los Divisaderos,
ca. 23°55’ N, 110°6’ W., 11-VIII-80, Westcott & Bellamy / on DIOSPYROS CALIFORNICA / HOLOTYPE
Spectralia barri WESTCOTT [hand printed, red label]”; allotype female (RLWE), same data as holotype /
“ALLOTYPE Spectralia barri WESTCOTT” [green label]. Paratypes as follows: 1 male, same data as holotype
(CLBC); 1 male, MEX, Baja Calif. Sur, 1 km SW La Burrera, 470 m, 27-VIII-1977, Fisher & Westcott /
beating DIOSPYROS CALIFORNICA var. CALIFORNICA; 1 female, MEX, Baja Calif. Sur, Hwy. 13, 1.6
km SE La Huerta, 600 m, 10-VIII-1980, Westcott & Bellamy, on DIOSPYROS CALIFORNICA; 1 male,
MEX, Baja Calif. Sur, .8 km N Las Cuevas, 12-VIII-1980, Maba intricata, Westcott & Bellamy (all RLWE).

Notes on localities. Los Divisaderos is located at 23.893º, -110.143º, elevation about 500 meters; the
collection site near here is likely at 550 to 600 meters. La Burrera is a rancho, also known as San Juan del
Aserradero, located at 23.501º, -110.050º, elevation 485 meters in the foothills of the Sierra La Laguna. The
 A new species of Spectralia from the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, Mexico 415

Figure 1. Holotype Spectralia barri n. sp., dorsal habitus. Figure 2. Spectralia barri n. sp., aedeagus, dorsal
view.

collection made 1 km SW of there is quite precisely at 23.499244°, -110.058815°, where the road crosses a
wash. A short distance past La Burrera is a popular trail leading to La Laguna (meadow) and the highest
mountains in the Cape Region. The site near La Huerta is at 24.050º, -110.151º, and the current highway
number is 286. At the time of collection, I considered that labeling from Las Cuevas would be straightforward,
but now it is anything but that if one does a search for that place, and most coordinates found for it are
incorrect. It is located along Hwy. 1 south of La Ribera, and the coordinates of the collecting site are 23.552°,
-109.675°, elevation 75 meters. The information provided here was facilitated by the use of Google Earth
(accessed 20-X-2012) and TOPOGRAPHY INTERNATIONAL, INC. (1986).

VARIATION. Length in mm of males is 11.4, 12.1, 12.8 and 13.2; of females, 12.0 and 14.3. On the
head of one male the coppery reflection on the lower frons is much less pronounced, and on the male from near
Las Cuevas, there are no green reflections on the front and the labrum is bright coppery-red. The latter was
collected from a different plant than all the other specimens. The anterior median depression on the pronotum
ranges from well developed, extending along slightly more than half the pronotal length on the allotype, to
absent on one male and one female. Coppery or purplish-coppery reflections both dorsal and ventral are variable.
416 G. it. Ent., 13 (59) January 2014

When fresh, individuals have a fine powdery bloom that is easily rubbed off the dorsal surface.

BIOLOGY. Four of the five specimens listed in the label data as collected on Diospyros
californica var. californica were spotted from the ground as they were sitting on small branches
in the trees, then I climbed to capture them. One specimen was beaten from a shrub, Maba
intricata, in the same family. According to http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ (retrieved 20-X-2012),
the former should be listed as Diospyros californica (Brandegee) I. M. Johnston and the latter
as Diospyros intricata (A. Gray) Standley. Both are in the family Ebenaceae. Diospyros
californica varies from a shrub to large tree, depending on rainfall or runoff, and is endemic to
the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, and D. intricata is a shrub endemic to the Cape Region
and Islas Cerralvo and San José (ROBERTS, 1989). These plant associations for the genus
Spectralia in Baja California Sur are not unique (personal observation). Two species have been
reared from D. texana Scheele in Texas (MACRAE, 2006), and at least one species has been
collected on Diospyros sp. in mainland Mexico (personal observation; Felipe Noguera,
personal communication).
COMPARISON AND DISCUSSION. Spectralia barri is not closely related to any
species known from the Baja California peninsula or in the U.S., being immediately separated
by the foveate elytra. However, there are species with foveate elytra in tropical America, but all
differ by being more or less elongate and parallel sided or, if more robust, the foveae are fewer
and larger: S. barri is of a different configuration and cannot be confused with any species
known to me.
ETYMOLOGY. This species honors William F. (Bill) Barr, who was my major
professor at the University of Idaho and a good friend for almost 50 years; he was a leading
authority on the family Buprestidae, notably the genus Acmaeodera Eschscholtz. I take great
pleasure in naming S. barri in his memory, and find it fitting because he accompanied Chuck
Bellamy and me for part of the trip during 1980 when most of the type specimens were
collected.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Tom Valente, Oregon Department of Agriculture, for imaging the holotype
(Figure 1).
LITERATURE CITED
C ASEY T. L., 1909 - Studies in the American Buprestidae - Proceedings of the Washington Academy of
Sciences, 11 (2): 47-178.
C HAMBERLIN W. J., 1920 - Description of one new buprestid with notes on other little known species
(Coleop.) - Entomological News, 31: 241-244.
MACRAE T. C., 2006 - Distributional and biological notes on Buprestidae (Coleoptera), with comments on
variation in Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) cyanella Gory and A. (H.) viridifrons Gory. - The Pan-Pacific
Entomologist, 82 (2): 166-199.
R OBERTS N. C., 1989 - Baja California plant field guide - Natural History Publishing Company, La Jolla,
California: xvi + 309 pp.
TOPOGRAPHY INTERNATIONAL, INC., 1986 - Baja topographic atlas directory - San Clemente, California: IV +
A1-6, B1-239, C1-7, D1-5.

Received 11 March 2013

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