ANTHICIDAE OF THE GREATER ANTILLES , AND A NEW SPECIES FROM VENEZUELA ( COLEOPTERA ) BY

Thirteen of the 29 species that are known or reported from the Greater Antilles appear to be endemic. Five (Anthicus darlingtoni, hispaniolae, macgillavryi, soledad and subtilis) make up the subtilisgroup, which does not seem to have near relatives on the mainland. Three others stand quite isolated in their genera: Acanthinus schwarzi in an almost exclusively neotropical genus, Anthicus blackwelderi and russoi in a world-wide genus that contains many diverse elements. A. blackwelderi is counted among the endemic species because it has different color patterns on the islands that it is known to inhabit; the form of the internal sac of the male genitalia is very different from that of possible relatives on the mainland. A. russoi is probably not properly placed in Anthicus, and is unlike any anthicid known to me in several details; Menozzi’s (1930) evidence that it is a myrmecophile with a native ant makes local origin seem logical. The 5 other endemic species are similar to mainland New World species. Mecynotarsus hispaniolae and jamaicanus belong to the elegans-group, which has species from Florida to Central America. Notoxus bipunctatus and jamaicus have been assigned to the monodon-group (Chandler 1978), which ranges from Canada to northern South America. Finally, Anthicus antilleorurn seems to have originated in the Greater Antilles and spread to the Virgin Islands and Bahama Islands; its nearest relatives are found around the southern Caribbean.

Vertex of head somewhat produced, edge nearly straight from middle to weak temporal angles (Fig. 11).Uniform pale brown, somewhat shiny, elytra sometimes with a weak median cloud.Ca. 2.6 mm.Hispaniola, Puerto Rico  Thicanus texanus (LaFert) Base of head from truncate to evenly rounded 6 Base of head truncate, temporal angles narrowly rounded Base of head rounded, temporal angles broadly rounded or not evident 10 Head microreticulate between punctures.Rufescent to brown, elytra usually brown except across base.Elytral pubescence very short and inconspicuous. 2.9-3.2mm.Jamaica Anthicusformicarius (Goeze)   Head smooth and shiny between punctures 8 Elytral setae sparse and as long as width of a femur, subde- eumbent.Rufescent, shiny, elytra with dark markings that Psyche [Vol. 90  10(6)   11.
usually isolate a common pale spot in apical third.2.5-3.2mm.Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands Anthicus crinitus LaFert6 Elytral pubescence shorter than width of a femur; dark elytral markings not enclosing a common pale spot in apical area 9 Elytral pubescence short and even, the erect tactile setae extending well above the decumbent setae.Prosternum with uniformly distributed punctures and pubescence in front of coxae.Elytra pale at base and usually in an obliquely oval spot in apical third of each. 2.0-2.3 mm.Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Virgin Islands and Bahama Islands; elytra usually lacking posterior pale spots in Jamaican population Anthicus antilleorum, sp.n.Elytral pubescence longer and less decumbent, the tactile setae barely evident among the setae.Prosternum with front half of portion in front of coxae smooth, back half bearing some coarse punctures and setae.Uniformly dark (Jamaica) or elytra pale across base and at apex, the posterior marking rounded in front (Cuba, probably Hispaniola). 2.27-2.55mm Anthicus blackwelderL sp.n.Rufescent or paler, with pale appendages; elytra usually with suture and whole apical half black except for a round, very pale spot on each in apical third. 2.6-3.0 mm.tegmen with apex knob-like, lacking lateral tufts of setae.Jamaica, Virgin

Islands
Anthicus tobias Marseul Elytra usually with a complete or interrupted dark midband and an oblique pale subapical band, never with a round pale spot on each in apical third.tegmen pointed, with a tuft of setae on each side.Anthicus subtilis-group 11 front tibiae excavated in apical 2/5.Elytral midband often complete. 2.11-2.24mm.Cuba Anthicus macgillavryi Buck front tibiae simple 12 tegmen gradually tapered to apex, slender.Elytral mark- ings dark, all connected along suture, including a dark zone across base.Ca. 2.5 mm.Hispaniola 1983] Werner A nthicidae 215 13.
tegmen very bluntly truncate at apex except for a small median point.Elytral midband complete in Cuban specimens seen, interrupted at suture in Jamaican specimens. 2.22-2.53mm.Cuba, Jamaica  Anthicus so&dad, sp.n. tegmen with sides slightly constricted beyond middle 14 Antennae unusually long and slender.Elytral midband reduced to a pale brown triangle with point toward suture, on each side.Pronotum with a pair of small bumps near anterior edge of disc.Fringe setae of mesosternum closely appressed to mesepisterna.Rufous, elytra black or brown with basal fourth rufous in a well-demarcated zone; appearing glabrous and subopaque. 2.6-3.2mm.Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands Anthicusfloralis (L.)   Pronotum without such bumps.Fringe setae of meso- sternum at least slightly raised from surface of mesepisterna 16 Sides of prothorax not constricted, almost evenly tapered from widest part, near front, to basal impressed line 17 Sides of prothorax at least slightly constricted anterior to basal impressed line 18 Shiny, only erect tactile setae very obvious; luteous to rufous, elytra with apex and an interrupted submedian band dark.2.3-2.8mm.Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands Vacusus vicinus (LaFert6) Shiny but with surface partly obscured by appressed pubes- cence; tactile setae short and inconspicuous.Moderately slender, entirely tannish. 1.8-2.0mm.Jamaica Vacusus holoxanthus (Fairmaire & Germain) 18(16) Pubescence fine, silky, moderately dense, appressed, cover- ing all of elytra.Dull rufescent to brown, elytra with dark midband and apex, markings usually connected along su- ture Psyche [Vol.9o Pubescence very sparse, or dense pubescence confined to postbasal transverse impression of elytra 20 19.
Head and prothorax strongly sculptured 22 Whole dorsal surface smooth, shiny, punctures fine and indistinct, setae very short, sparse and inconspicuous, only erect tactile setae evident 23 22.

Cuba
A canthinus schwarzi Werner 23(21) Rufescent, elytra paler with brownish to almost black mark- ings, at least in narrow, interrupted bands at basal and apical thirds, to dark with postbasal impression and a narrow post- median band pale.Prothorax with a strong constriction that continues weakly across dorsum.Edge of mesosternal shelf visible from above, in front of elytral humeri.Head nar- rower than semicircular behind eyes. 2.0-2.9 mm.Cuba Acanthinus scitulus (LeConte) Pale rufescent, elytra pale rufescent at base, dark brown on humeri and behind postbasal transverse impression.Pro-1983] Werner Anthicidae 217 thorax weakly constricted, almost evenly globular from basal impressed line to collar.Only fringe setae of mesoster- num visible from above.Ca. 2.0 mm.Hispaniola Anthicus russoi Krekich 24(3) fifth visible abdominal sternum shallowly dished out on disc, the excavation flanked with some erect setae.Ca. 2.0 mm.Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Virgin

Islands
Sapintus teapensis (Champion) visible sternum 5 simple.Ca. 2.7 mm. Jamaica Sapintus similis Werner 25(1) Each side of prothoracic horn with 3 teeth, the apex about equal to a tooth.Visible abdominal sternum without a pubescence-lined invagination behind each hind coxa.Length ca. 2 mm.Mecynotarsus elegans-group 26 Each side of prothoracic horn with 3-7 teeth, the apex con- siderably broader than any tooth.Visible abdominal sternum with a pubescence-lined invagination behind each coxa.
Elytra slightly inflated.Pubescence cinereous but with some intermixed ferrugineous scales on disc of pronotum and basal half of elytra; elytra piteous at base, in a postmedian band, and in a large posterior triangular marking on each.

Mecynotarsus jamaicanus Werner
Elytra strongly inflated.Pubescence cinereous, with diffuse slightly darker to pale rufescent markings on disc of pronotum, dull brown on elytra from base along a broad zone to an apical pale cordate mark, and in a feeble slightly postmedian band and subapical band delimiting the cordate mark.Markings very weak in some individuals.Hispaniola Mecynotarsus hispaniolae, sp.n. 27(25) Dark elytral markings usually including some on sides that curve inward toward suture at apex.Tip of aedeagus trun- cate.Jamaica Notoxus jamaicus Pie Dark elytral markings not including any on sides behind an irregular transverse midband.Tip of aedeagus deeply split.

Puerto Rico
Notoxus bipunctatus Chevrolat Measurements are given in 0.01 mm as head: length from vertex to clypeofrontal suture over width across eyes and behind; pro- thorax: length including collar over width at collar, maximum, at constriction, and across base; elytra: length over width at humeri where 45 angle would touch them, and maximum.Total length as given is the sum of head, prothorax and elytra.
2.01-2.24mm, rufescent, the legs luteous, elytra with a brown midband, the base and an oblique apical mark on each luteous.Head quadrate, antennae moderately thick toward apex; elytra somewhat inflated, even in fully winged individuals.Pubescence moderately short, almost appressed, the tactile setae evident above the setae.
The specimens from Jamaica are darker than those from Cuba and Hispaniola, only one of them having the posterior pale elytral mark.The pubescence may be less appressed but the specimens are so abraded that they were identified with difficulty.This species is probably most closely related to A. pauxillus Champion, panamen- sis Werner, and margaritae, sp.n., from Guatemala, Panama, and eastern Venezuela, respectively.The color pattern is similar.The genitalia are similar, but the simple internal sac provides few clues to relationship.A. panamensis has the tegmen step-tapered.
Fig. 8, 20. 1.90-2.20 mm, of form of Anthicus panamensis Werner and anti# leorum, sp.n., differing from both species in having the head broader behind the eyes and gradually widened to the narrowly rounded temporal angles.Tegmen of genitalia convexly tapered as in antilleorum, but with the apex slightly more pointed.Anterolateral angles of prothorax quite narrowly rounded, as in the above 2 species, differing mainly in this feature from A. exiguus Champion.
Paratypes in CASC and collections of KSH and FGW.
2.27-2.55mm, of aspect of a Vacusus species, head truncate, prothorax without a constriction, and elytra subparallel.Jamaican Psyche [Vo.9o individuals brown, with slightly paler legs, antennae and palpi.Cuban individuals with pale marking at base and apex of elytra.Moderately coarsely punctured.Holotype , 2.34 mm.Head 44/51,47; eyes 19/15, 35 apart, 20 from base, which is truncate with a slight impression at midline, the temporal angles narrowly rounded; disc slightly flattened, smooth, with strong punctures ca. 4 apart except on midline of front; setae decumbent.Antennae ca.97 long, 7 thick at segment 10, which is slightly longer than thick.Prothorax 49/16,40,3 l, with even punc- tures denser than on head, ca. 2 apart, about as wide as intervals.Elytra 141/56,73, with feeble omoplates, as deeply punctured as head and prothorax, punctures ca. 3 apart; setae decumbent, 8, slightly curved; tactile setae 4, suberect.Underside of thorax with punctures slightly smaller than above; front part of prosternum, anterior to coxae, smooth in front half, with some punctures and suberect setae in back half.First visible abdominal sternum finely punctured, rest punctulate.Visible sternum 5 with its apex gently convex, as in ; 6 with no indication of even an emargination; last visible tergum shiny, its edge beaded, almost concealed by the ter- gum before it, which is densely short-pubescent and has an almost evenly rounded apex, as in .
Records: HISPANIOLA; REP.DOM.; Jarabacoa (530m, 23.I.1972), and Boca Chica (10m, 6.X. 197l), both on single specimens, col- lected by J. & S. Klapperich, and in the Basel Museum.These specimens agree in general with the original description, which may have suffered from being translated from German into Italian, and finally from my translation to English.The original figure is not helpful.Professor M. Princippi informs me that there is a specimen of russoi in the Menozzi Collection at the Istituto di Entomologia of the Universith di Bologna.This must be the holotype, since the species was described from a single specimen.
I am leaving russoi in Anthicus for lack of a better place to put it.The mandibles and gonopore armature are different from Acanthi- nus.and the mesothorax differently designed from Formicilla.In Psyche [Vol. 90  that genus the setae on the sides of the mesothorax arise from a ridge above the side of the expanded mesosternum.Bonadona has placed it in Stricticomus, an Old World group characterized by the shape of the prothorax.While this is a convenient way to split up the numerous species of Anthicus, the division has not been defined on a phylogenetic basis.

Anthicus subtilis-group
Five species of Anthicus in the Greater Antilles form a very dis- tinctive group.The males have a unique tuft of long setae on the sides of the tegmen and the species share enough external features that two of them are indistinguishable in the female sex.Of the five, two have been taken only on Hispaniola, one only on Cuba, one on Hispaniola and Cuba, and one on Cuba and Jamaica, the last with some geographical variation on the two islands.All three species on Hispaniola are at least partly sympatric, as indicated by the labels, as are two on Cuba.
2.47-2.76mm, pale rufescent, legs, antennae and palpi dull lute- ous, tibiae obscurely darker at base, elytra with pale brown median marking widely interrupted at suture and more or less triangular with a mesal point, and a narrow, usually paler, diagonal subapical band.Pubescence short, fine, almost appressed, dulling the gener- ally shiny surface; punctures fine and not very evident except on base of pronotum.On the elytra the pubescence in this and the other species of the subtilis-group is slightly diagonal over most of the surface, to ca. 45 in the postbasal transverse impression and nearly transverse on rear of the weak omoplates.
The median dark elytral markings on this individual are 37 long, separated by 30 across suture, and 9 from side margin; subapical band ca. 11wide, paler than median marks, slightly oblique, extend- ing forward along suture for ca. 18, pale and evanescent laterally, to 7 from margin.All of the specimens have rather similar markings, and none has the median markings connected across the suture.
Records: All individuals are fully winged and apparently capable of flight.HISPANIOLA: HAITI: Ennery (nr. 1000' (4', 5@), Camp Per- tin (nr. 1000', 2), N.E.foothills of La Hotte (3000', l).REP.DOM.." Villa Altagracia (l), Pto.Plata (25 km. S. of, 2), San Jos de las Matas (1-2000', l@).CtBA: Loma (Pico) del Gato (Sierra Maestra, Oriente Prov., 2), Soledad hr.Cienfuegos (l).Almost all col- lected by P. J. D. am applying LaFert's name to this species largely on the basis that his description matches it quite well and that he particularly noted unusually slender antennae.He had two specimens to study, one in the Dejean collection and one in his own, the source of both being a series in the museum at Berlin, and ultimately the collecting of Moritz.have seen the specimen in the LaFert collection and compared it with West Indian material, but did so before realized that there are several species in the subtilis-group.have never seen a specimen of this group from a continental area.According to W. Horn's Entomologische Sammlungen, C. Moritz collected in both Colombia and Puerto Rico in the 1830's.It is likely that some labels got mixed.
Generally similar to subtilis but smaller, 2.02-2.42mm, head slightly truncate and with more distinct punctures, antennae not so slender, elytra more rounded at apex, median elytral markings usu- ally darker and barely narrowed mesally, and subapical band very faint.Some individuals, including the holotype, lack wings and have the elytra slightly inflated.Holotype , 2.06 mm.Head 36/46,41, subtruncate with broadly rounded temporal angles.Eyes 17/13, 31 apart, 15 from base.Disc evenly convex, shiny, with evenly distributed punctures ca.apart, small but well defined; diameter of punctures, including down- curved borders, about equal to intervals.The larger punctures de- scribed in subtilis are barely larger than those on the intervals.
In at least two localities this species is sympatric with subtilis, but it appears to have a narrower range.Six of the specimens have full wings (F) and 11 are entirely wingless (WL).
2.11-2.24mm, extremely similar to sympatric soledad individuals on Cuba, differing in having the front tibiae excavated in apical 2/5 and in having the tegmen of the genitalia slightly constricted beyond middle, similar to subtilis and darlingtoni.Elytra with dark midband complete in all specimens identified.
This species is more abundant than soledad on Cuba, so is the more likely one to be associated with Buck's name.The holotype and all 15 paratypes sent from the Amsterdam collection are females, so no part of the type series can be included in the records.
1.56-2.04mm (elytra plus prothorax including horn).Brown, appendages rufescent, surface largely concealed by appressed scales, which are cinereous but with a median rufescent cloud on the pronotum and dull brown markings on the elytra.The darkest of the elytral markings are lateral, one rounded and close to middle, the other larger, oval and subapical, both isolated from sides by a broad cinereous zone.Paler brown markings extend from the omoplate area to the level of the front of the subapical mark, with vague connections to both sets of dark marks.The background color of the elytra is slightly rufescent dorsally.Prothorax with a sparse fringe of long, erect, flattened, slightly clavate setae, on sides and onto base.Elytral scales of 2 different widths, the wider ca.11/2 times as wide, the 2 widths tending to be in alternate rows and the wider just perceptibly elevated.Holotype: 2.04 mm; head 39/45,45; eyes small, 12/9, their curved scales ca.1.5; 29 apart, 12 from base of head.Upperside of head fiat, with sparse setae and some 12 long, suberect setae and well- developed erect, flattened setae on horn outline, 10-14 long.Prothorax 39 long, 82 with horn, 63 wide; horn 31 wide at widest, 12 thick.Marginal setae 9 long, the ones on base slightly shorter.Horn Psyche [Vol. 90  Figures 1-13.Fig. 1.Anthicus subtilis, described specimen.Fig. 2. A. his- paniolae, holotype.Fig. 3. A. darlingtoni, holotype.Fig. 4. A. so&dad, holotype.
A. blackwelderL paratype, Kingston, Jam. with a well-developed crest of 2 ridges, these up to 8 apart, and with 3 strong teeth on each side.Underside of horn with a sparse brush of suberect, anteriorly directed simple setae 10 long.Elytra 122/65,87, strongly inflated, punctures ca. 3 apart but obscured by dense scales ca. 4 long; no tactile setae discernible.Hind tibia 47 long, tarsus 61, front tarsus 29.
Relationships: The species of Mecynotarsus in the elegans-group seem assignable to at least 3 subgroups.The first, already noted (Werner 1962), has the sutural area of the elytral apex pale, this zone restricted anteriorly by oblique dark bands.To this group belong elegans LeConte, intermixtus Werner, jamaicanus Werner, and probablyfalcatus Chandler.In this group the male genitalia are distinctive, the phallobase bearing rounded lateral lobes.The male antennae are not expanded and the prothoracic horn is relatively narrow.
A second subgroup has the markings at the tip of the elytra based on a pale sutural mark and lateral spots, with a narrow extension from the oblique subapical bands tending to reach the very apex on each side, where there may be a tiny development of a pit in the male.This subgroup contains balsasensis Werner and salvadoren- sis Werner.These 2 species have a distinctive pale strip through discal clouding on the pronotum.Werner (1962) indicates that the phallobase is simple but Chandler (1977) states that there are lateral lobes in salvadorensis.Very small size of the genitalia makes inter- pretation difficult.The antennae are simple in the male and the horn is relatively narrow.
Finally, a third subgroup has each elytron pale at the apex, with a convex anterior border to the pale zone.The most distinctive fea- ture is expansion of the intermediate antennal segments in the male, and simple phallobase of the male genitalia.The prothoracic horn is broader than in the other 2 subgroups, and any clouding on the pronotum lacks a median pale stripe.This last subgroup contains nevermanni Werner, alvarado Chandler, and vafer Chandler, with   sexnotatus Champion assignable to it on male characters but having the elytral markings so reduced that they are difficult to interpret.
M. hispaniolae is probably a member of this third subgroup, but 1983] Werner Anthicidae 231 no males have been collected.However, the more posterior dark mark on the elytra shows no sign of a posterior excavation, as is present in alvarado and vafer.The distinctive erect setae on the sides of the prothorax are matched in alvarado and approached in vafer, but are also approached in salvadorensis in the second subgroup.
No other species has such differences between the broad and narrow scales, but there is some difference in vafer, alvarado and salva- dorensis; the tendency may be more a function of denseness of scales than relationship.The long setae on the underside of the horn are matched in vafer and hinted at in some others in the third subgroup, salvadorensis in the second, and intermixtus in the first.The setae on the horn, and matching setae on top of the head, as well as the erect setae on the top of the head that outline the horn, probably have an adaptive value in keeping sand grains out of the space between head and horn when the beetle is digging.Degree of devel- opment might very well be habitat-related.
CHECKLIST OF SPECIES AND GREATER ANTILLES RECORDS Fig. 5, 22.