An Undescribed Beetle in Colombia! - Observation of the Week, 7/18/24

Our Observation of the Week is this undescribed beetle in the tribe Colobotheini, seen in Colombia by @diegoamaya!

Diego Amaya is a botanist who’s currently at the National University of Colombia. Diego’s work is in the systematics, taxonomy and phylogenetics of angiosperms, and focuses on the family Campanulaceae. Last December, while searching for a member of that family, Siphocampylus bogotensis, he came across the beetle you see above.

That day I went with a friend who is interested in insects, so I was more attentive than usual, taking pictures of every insect I saw.

We were on a road that goes down an elevation gradient to link high areas of the western escarpment of Cundinamarca, with low areas in the inter-Andean valleys. This road is known as the Gualivá Reserve and is the most diverse and beautiful point (as far as I am concerned) of my hometown, Facatativá.

Diego posted a photo of the beetle to iNaturalist and originally identified it as a member of the net-winged beetle family (Lycidae), which it resembles, but Colombian entomologist @extasiptera corrected him, identifying it as a long-horned beetle (Cerambycidae) - a completely different family!

iNat beetle identifier extraordinaire @borisb identified it to tribe Colobotheini, and then 15 days ago, noted that it’s likely an undescribed species in or related to the genus Confluentia! I reached out to Boris, and he told me

I have compared this beetle with all described species illustrated on this site. Genera Allocarterica, Batesparna, Carterica, Confluentia, Francisparna, Piriana, and Sparna contain Lycidae mimics exclusively, a few also found within Sangaris. None has a colour pattern that approaches the present one: median area of elytra with dark crossband, instead of pale there. A minor difference in pattern would not indicate a “new” species, because mimics are notoriously variable - a prerequisite for evolution into a mimic.

There are a lot more Longhorn beetles with Lycid colouration in the Neotropics, partly with antennae optically dilated in the basal half by dense fringes of hair, which contribute to Lycid , such as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/29266366 and chromatic interruption of antennae can also be observed here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14476349 (in this case, probably derived from a non-mimic ancestor with “signal antennae” (white tips / intermediate segments - a nearly 100% tropical phenomenon of unclear relevance).

Diego (above, with a species of Drymonia that is under description) says that he’s loved nature since he was a child and explored the Colombian Andes. He was originally into insects and snakes, but of course ended up studying plants. His current work is under Professor Laura Clavijo, director of the Colombian National Herbarium.

Diego was introduced to iNat in 2017, by one of his professors, who was teaching them about citizen science tools. 

By the time the project was over, I was hooked and didn’t want to leave this great app. For a while, including the pandemic, I used iNaturalist as a tool to help identify observations, and at the same time it helped me to polish my taxonomic skills without leaving home, to the point of becoming a curator in the app. 

Once I was able to return to the field, my passion for photography took over, and iNaturalist became a diary, not only to corroborate IDs, but also to organize my photos and tours. Such has been the impact of iNaturalist in my professional life that it’s brought me several great moments. For example I made the first live records of a moth in more than 100 years. And even uploading observations and contacting expert taxonomists has led me to describing a new species of plant, thanks to these knowledge networks.

(Photo of Diego by Felipe Mesa. Some quotes have been edited for clarity.)

- you can follow Diego on Instagram here!

- @borisb’s work has also led to another beetle Observation of the Week!

- both net-winged beetles and long-horned beetles can be quite showy, check out the most-faved observations of each family here and here!

Publicado el 18 de julio de 2024 por tiwane