Diabrotica spilota Baly

Species name

Diabrotica spilota Baly 1886: 216

Type locality

Colombia, Oceana [misprinted Ocaña]

Type depository

BMNH, lectotype, male, verified

Synonyms

Diagnosis

Body length 5.6-6.5 mm, width 3.0-3.5 mm. Head basic color black. Antennae filiformfiliform:
slender antennae with antennomeres of similar shape
, uniformly yellow or bi- or tricolored, antennomeres 1-3 yellow, antennomeres 4-8 uniformly yellow, yellow ocher or gradually infuscated, antennomeres 9-10 yellow ocher, antennomereantennomere:
"segment" of antenna, more or less clearly separated
11 completely light (yellow ocher) or dark apically. Antennomereantennomere:
"segment" of antenna, more or less clearly separated
3 less than 1.5 times longer than antennomereantennomere:
"segment" of antenna, more or less clearly separated
2, male antennae length exceeds two third of elytronelytron:
<em>(pl. elytra)</em> the fore highly sclerotized wing of beetle
length. Maxillary palpi black or piceous, labrumlabrum:
the "upper lip" of beetles, a movable sclerite joined under clypeus
black. Pronotumpronotum:
the notum of the prothorax with highly sclerotized pronotal disc
yellow or mustard yellow, subquadrate, nonfoveate or bifoveate, with small round foveae, not shagreened. Scutellumscutellum:
small, usually triangular shield between the bases of elytra
black or amber brown. Elytra yellow or rufous, maculatemaculate:
(here) marked by maculae or patches of a different shape and size, usually clearly separated from each other
with six black or chestnut sharp edged maculae on each elytronelytron:
<em>(pl. elytra)</em> the fore highly sclerotized wing of beetle
, frequently connected one another. Epipleura completely yellow, sutural anglesutural angle:
the posterior angle or apex of the elytron near the suture
of elytronelytron:
<em>(pl. elytra)</em> the fore highly sclerotized wing of beetle
round, punctation scattered, fine. Abdomen yellow. Tarsi yellow or yellow ocher. Tibiatibia:
<em>(pl. tibiae)</em> the forth part of the beetle leg articulated with femur on the one side and with tarsus on the other side
uniformly yellow or yellow ocher, or bicolored: yellow, outer edge with piceous or testaceous line, or extensively darkened. Femora yellow or yellow ocher. Aedeagusaedeagus:
the main sclerotized part of the male genitalia; "aedeagus" is used here instead of "median lobe of aedeagus"
symmetric, with four internal sac scleritessclerites:
(here) the sclerotized hooks, spines or plates in the internal sac
.

Known distribution

Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia

Host plants

Unknown

Potential problems with identification

Diabrotica spilota is very similar to D. biannularis Harold and D. chontalensis Jacoby. Sclerite 4C in the internal sac of aedeagusaedeagus:
the main sclerotized part of the male genitalia; "aedeagus" is used here instead of "median lobe of aedeagus"
is slightly longer and slender in D. spilota than in D. biannularis and D. chontalensis. Diabrotica spilota is slightly larger than D. biannularis and D. chontalensis. It is possible that all three names belong to the same species. Jacoby (1887) noted about D. spilota: "there are, however, varieties before me in which the spots of the elytra are either transversely or longitudinally connected". Thus, D. spilota is most likely an example of an extreme pattern reduction in D. biannularis. Finally, Baly (1886) gave Mexico as a locality for D. spilota. Smith and Lawrence (1967) wrote that "It is possible that the Mexico record given by Baly is a misinterpretation of a [Magd] handwritten label". It seems that Mexico record was true and D. spilota range may be from Mexico to South America.