Zopherus championi Triplehorn 1972

Zopherus championi

Zopherus elegans Champion (nec Horn), 1892:489, tab. 22, fig. 7.

DESCRIPTION.—Holotype, sex undetermined. Short, stout, black and white, dull in luster. Head entirely black; epistomal margin evenly and feebly emarginate, dorsal surface coarsely but shallowly and sparsely punctured, each puncture with a short, coarse, yellowish seta, ventral surface smooth except for a few widely spaced punctures laterally; mentum broadly transverse, apical margin bisinuate with angles lobed and prominent, coarsely and sparsely punctured. Pronotum in dorsal view just slightly broader than long, sides strongly arcuate, somewhat angulate above apex of antennal fossae, abruptly and briefly sinuate just before base, apical margin broadly and shallowly emarginate, the angles bluntly rounded, basal margin slightly rounded, thickened medially, angles obtusely rounded; surface, except for lateral borders, black and alutaceous with widely spaced, fairly coarse but extremely shallow punctures, white lateral borders occupying less than one seventh the pronotal width on each side, inner border rather irregular, a few very small black spots within white margins, these more numerous anteriorly; ventral surface black; antennal fossae rounded apically, prosternum coarsely, deeply, and densely punctured, prosternal process shallowly excavate between coxae, ventral surface of prothorax entirely smooth, impunctate. Elytra about two thirds as wide as long, sides evenly rounded, base broadly and deeply emarginate, slightly wider than pronotal base, humeri acute and prominent; apical ridges black, moderately swollen, oblique, broadly in contact with raised suture where it passes between them, also continuous with apical margin; surface feebly irregular without distinct tubercles, punctures coarse, shallow, and very sparsely distributed, median three fifths black in color and alutaceous, outer borders white, irregularly spotted with black blotches, inflexed portion entirely black, coarsely and sparsely punctured. Mesosternum and metasternum coarsely and irregularly punctured; abdominal sterna coarsely and densely punctured medially but practically impunctate laterally; ventral callus of terminal abdominal sternum trilobed with the median lobe acutely rounded and prominent, the usual patch of yellowish hair present. Legs entirely black, except for the usual pattern of yellowish hairs, conspicuously punctured.

VARIATION.—The elytral sculpturing in some of the specimens is somewhat more irregular than in the type, with an approach to distinctly flattened tubercles. The series is, for the most part, remarkably constant in coloration and general appearance.

MEASUREMENTS.—Holotype: Length 13.3 mm; width 5.3 mm. Paratypes: Length 11.9–15.1 mm; width 4.3–5.6 mm.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED.—Holotype and four paratypes from Villa Lerdo, Durango, Mexico, collected by Höge (BMNH). The holotype is the specimen from which Champion’s illustration was prepared. Paratypes: (1) Huasteca Canyon, near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 11 July 1963, H. F. Howden (CNC); (1) same locality and date, R. H. Arnett, Jr., and E. R. Van Tassell (FSCA); (1) Sanderson, Texas, 7 August 1959, R. B. Selander and J. C. Schaffner (JMC). One additional specimen, not designated a paratype because the white pattern cannot be seen: Sanderson, Texas, 6 June 1956, H. and A. Howden (OSU).