Eurygaster shoshone

Appearance

The genus as such and the Nearctic species therein have a rich history of confusion, species description, synonyms etcetera due to the fact that most species are very variable in individual appearance and the species generally "all look alike".

Eurygaster shoshone however is an oddball within the Nearctic Eurygaster spp. and the only one of the bunch that would be classified in the subgenus Eurygaster sensu stricto (with the European Eurygaster hottentotta as type species) if historically defined subgenera would merrit world wide usage.

As such Eurygaster shoshone does not seem to be closely related to the other North American Eurygaster spp, but more closely realted to the European E. hottentotta.

E. shoshone is recognizable by the postero-lateral margin of pronotum (margin behind the bluntly rounded shoulder) being very clearly _very_ sinuate and the scutellum being clearly keeled medially. Please be aware that other species will often have a clear medial stripe on the scutellum that also carries less punctures, making it look like a keel optically, but not actually keeled(!)

Naming

The species has previously been described by Van Duzee in 1904 under the name Eurygaster carinata, but Kirkaldy (1909) found that the name was preoccupied and rediscribed the species as Eurygaster shoshone.

Distribution

E. shoshone is known from the Northwestern United States (Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada)