Coccinellinid? - Hyperaspidius hardyi

Moved

… Tim Moyer, 15 December, 2011 - 9:54pm

Moved

Moved from Beetles.

… v belov, 14 December, 2011 - 1:33pm

H. hardyi

currently favoring H. hardyi Gordon '78. Location is "inland sand dunes, SOCAL", as Gordon's key states (uses location to separate many of these species).

Gordon lists the type from San Bernardino Co., Cadiz Dunes, 4/25/1978 (USNM). And 1 from 6mi. N. Palm Springs, 7/8/54.

Jim, is this from your personal collection? What a great find! And yours also pre-dates the type description by a few years.

Give the rarity that this beetle appears to be, please add additional images if possible, including venter showing abdominals, head-on, and exact perpendicular dorsal to verify the shape of the lateral margin (there's a few other possibilities, and these views should help confirm). Another confirmation (which I can't tell from the current image) would be "coarse punctures on the elytron are confined to the median brown vitta, which I (Gordon) have not observered in any other Hyperaspidius species."

Species named in honor of one of the type series collectors, R. Hardy. (walking dunes at night)

… Tim Moyer, 7 December, 2011 - 10:54pm

Thank you Tim ...

... for your comments on this beetle.

Yes, this beetle is from my personal collection. It was one of several "Desert" beetles and other insects, including this white weevil (1), that I collected on a two day trip to the Glamis area. Glamis is on the east side of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.

The beetle is glued to a homemade paper-point; so I do not know if I can get a good ventral photo. However, I shall shoot the other views tomorrow and upload them asap.

… Jim Moore, 8 December, 2011 - 1:23am

Extra photo added...

... hopefully they will be of some benefit. The specimen appears to have suffered from, perhaps, carpet beetle larva damage; see my comment on the ventral view image.

… Jim Moore, 8 December, 2011 - 3:15pm

thanks

thanks for the extra images. While I wish the lateral elytra margin appeared more curved, I believe we can confirm this beetle as H. hardyi with enough certainty. The coloration on the pronotum appears unique to H. hardyi, and from what I can see of the last abdominal segment, it is not greatly / suddenly narrowed prior to the apex.

Thanks for the images, and another new species for BugGuide :)

… Tim Moyer, 15 December, 2011 - 9:45pm

could be a Hyperaspidius

if so, may be new for BugGuide. Hope Abigail or othes see it.

… Blaine Mathison, 7 December, 2011 - 2:14pm

Hyperaspidius for sure

given southwestern location, this could be a good one!

… Tim Moyer, 7 December, 2011 - 10:20pm