Liogenys quadridentata Blanchard, 1851

Cherman, Mariana A., Basílio, Daniel S., Mise, Kleber M., Frisch, Johannes, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Almeida, Lúcia M., 2021, Liogenys Guerin-Méneville, 1831 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae Diplotaxini) of northern South America and Central America: taxonomic overview with four new species, Zootaxa 4990 (2), pp. 201-226 : 217-218

Liogenys quadridentata Blanchard, 1851

Figs. 7 , 9 .

Liogenys quadridentatus Blanchard, 1851: 168 (original description); Lacordaire 1855: 269 (checklist); Harold 1869:1140 (checklist); Dalla Torre 1913: 318 (checklist); Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist).

Liogenys quadridentata: Blackwelder 1944: 228 (checklist); Evans 2003: 213 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 182 (checklist).

Amphicrania 4-dentata [quadridentata] Klug in litt. Burmeister 1855: 14 (synonym of Liogenys quadridens , nomen nudum).

Amphicrania quadridentatus Klug in litt.: Harold 1869: 1140 (synonym of L. quadridens ).

Type material examined. Liogenys quadridentatus male lectotype, present designation ( MNHN): [white handwritten] “292 / 39”, [green handwritten] “ Amphicrania / 4 Dentata.”, [light green typeset] “MUSEUM PARIS”, [green handwritten] “ L. quadridentatus / Cat Mus”, [red typeset] “ HOLOTYPE ”, [white, outlined in red, typeset and handwritten] “ LIOGENYS / QUADRIDENTATA / Blanchard, 1851 / LECTOTYPE / Des. Cherman M. A.”, genitalia mounted.

Additional material examined. PANAMA. Chiriquí: Volcán de Chiriquí, 2500–4000 feet, G.C. Champion, 4 males ( BMNH) . Panamá: La Chorrera, 2 females ( BMNH) . COLOMBIA. Magdalena: 12 miles W Santa Marta , 28.IV.1973, J.M. Campbell & H.F. Howden, 1 female ( CMNC) ; 12 miles W Santa Marta , 29.IV.1973, J.M. Campbell & H.F. Howden, 1 male, 3 females ( CMNC) ; 12 miles W Santa Marta , 12.V.1973, J.M. Campbell & H.F. Howden, 2 males ( CMNC) ; 18.V.1973, 3 males, 5 females ( CMNC) ; Parque Tayrona , 21 miles E Santa Marta, 15.V.1973, H.F. Howden & J.M. Campbell, 1 female ( CMNC) ; Aracataca , 25.III.28, Darlington, 1 female ( AMNH) ; Santa Marta , 3.V.1928, Darlington, 1 male ( AMNH) ; Bonda , VI, 12 females ( CMNH) . VENEZUELA. Delta Amacuro: 15 km E Los Casillos, 45 km NE Ciudad Guyana , 26.VI.1985, ultraviolet light, M.A. Ivie, 3 females ( CMNC) . Guárico: 12 km W Valle de la Pascua , 21–22.VI.1996, light, H.&A. Howden, 1 female ( CMNC) ; Estación Biológica Los Llanos, 12 km S Calabozo, 6–12.II.1969, ultraviolet light, P.&P. Spangler, 16 males, 9 females ( USNM) . Sucre: Cariaco , 20.V.1959, C. Bordon, 1 female ( CMNC) . Zulia: Maracaibo , without date, E. v. Jess., 1 male ( ZMHB) . Without locality and date, Moequerys, 2 females ( SDEI) ; with erroneous locality ( Brazil ), without date, Mniszech, 1 female ( MNHN) .

Diagnosis. Body light brown, elongate, sides parallel in males ( Fig. 7A ), slightly wider on posterior third in females; elytra light brown to yellowish brown, pronotum reddish to purplish brown; clypeus quadridentate; clypeal emargination deep, rounded, and narrow ( Fig. 1C ); anterior margin noticeable bent upwards, especially in females ( Fig. 1D ); distance between lateral and anterior clypeal teeth as long as basal width of one anterior tooth; acute angle between lateral and anterior clypeal teeth; mesotibia cylindrical in cross section ( Fig. 7D ); pygidium convex in both sexes, females with pygidium strongly convex medially ( Fig. 7E ); pygidial disc glabrous, with scattered bristles on apex; males with protarsomere II more than twice the length of protarsomere I in dorsal view; parameres up to three times the length of their apex ( Fig. 7F ); inner margins opened, slightly convergent; apex harpoon-shaped, lateral spine projected backwards, almost parallel to the outer margin of the parameres; spine length slightly more than twice the length of apex, subapical and part of the apex elevated medially, abruptly flattened at apex and spine.

Redescription. Length: 9.4–11.2 mm, width: 4.7–5.2 mm. Brown. Head: distance between eyes nearly twice the width of one eye; frons somewhat swollen; clypeal emargination deep, rounded, and narrow; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth shorter than the eye in dorsal view; clypeus convex laterally and strongly produced forming a conspicuous tooth-like projection; in females anterior margin noticeable bent upwards; distance between lateral and anterior teeth equal to basal width of one anterior tooth, distance between lateral tooth and anterior margin of eye longer than one eye length, acute angle between anterior and lateral teeth; distal maxillary palpomere maximum width wider than at apex; fovea deep, extending up to the transverse midline of the palpomere; antenna with 10 antennomeres, club lighter in color and longer than funicle. Thorax: pronotal anterior margin slightly produced medially; punctures very sparse, denser and coarser than the disc towards anterior margin; pronotal posterior corners rounded; hypomere with long bristles; mesepisternum with sparse, thin scales; anterior portion and sides of metaventrite with bristles; distance between mesocoxae and metacoxae nearly twice as long as metacoxal width; scutellum triangular, sparse punctures at the base and sides. Elytra: shiny, uniform light brown or yellowish brown, lighter in color than the pronotum; elytral suture unicolored with elytron and slightly elevated or flat; all four elytral ridges weakly defined. Legs: procoxa with bristles, fine, thin scales on outer surface; three protibial teeth, middle and apical teeth equal in size, distance between basal and middle teeth longer than between middle and apical teeth; protibial spur present; mesotibia cylindrical in cross section, surface finely sculptured, mesotibia with two transverse carinae, the apical carina incomplete in males, complete in females; metacoxa with bristles throughout; inner margin of male metatibia carinate and produced straight towards apex, apical inner surface glabrous, metatibial disc coarsely sculptured along the outer margin; metatibial transverse carina present posteriorly; protarsomere II elongate; protarsomeres and mesotarsomeres I–IV enlarged, protarsomeres slightly wider than the mesotarsomeres, more than twice the width of metatarsomeres; metatarsomere I slightly shorter and wider than metatarsomere II; claw bifid, outer tooth of a claw equal in length and narrower than the inner tooth; distance between teeth shorter than the inner tooth. Abdomen: disc of ventrites with sparse bristles; propygidium with bristles, pygidium convex, convexity with intraspecific variation, females with pygidium inflated medially; pygidium subtrapezoidal, apex rounded; pygidial maximum width exceeding the distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc glabrous, few bristles on apex. Parameres: basal region narrowed at the midline; parameral split at 2/3 the length of the basal region; length of parameres nearly three times the length of their apex; inner margins convergent; apex harpoon-shaped, lateral spine projected backwards, slightly divergent from the outer margin of the parameres, spine length slightly more than twice as long as apex, subapical and proximal part of the apex elevated medially, abruptly flattened distally at apex towards the spine. Parameres concave, not coplanar in lateral view ( Fig. 7G ).

Type locality. Not established.

Geographic distribution. COLOMBIA (Magdalena) , PANAMA (Chiriquí) , VENEZUELA (Delta Amacuro, Guárico, Sucre, Zulia) .

Remarks. The lectotype of Liogenys quadridentata bears a green label “ Amphicrania 4-dentata ”, a name credited to “Klug MSC” by Burmeister (1855) but not formally validated until Blanchard (1851) described the species. Burmeister (1855) listed the name as a junior synonym of L. quadridens . Soon after, Harold (1869) mentioned “ Amphicrania 4-dentata ” as a synonym of L. quadridens , followed by “in litt.”, which means: “new species mentioned in litteris (in correspondence), that will be described later in a separate paper”. Harold (1869) probably did not see the L. quadridentata type series, so he did not associate the name “ Amphicrania 4-dentata ” to the latter. After the mentioned synonymy of “ Amphicrania 4-dentata ” ( Burmeister 1855; Harold 1869), L. quadridentata was suggested to be a junior synonym of L. quadridens by later authors ( Bates 1887; Dalla Torre 1913). We here confirm that L. quadridentata is a different species from L. quadridens . Liogenys quadridentata differs from L. quadridens (in parenthesis) mainly in the anterior margin of clypeus strongly bent upwards (not strongly bent); anterior and lateral tooth closer and acute angle between them (anterior and lateral tooth less close and right angle between them); mesotibia cylindrical in cross section (mesotibia subquadrate); pygidium noticeably convex, inflated medially in females (pygidium flat in both sexes); males with the protarsomere II longer (as wide as it is long), and the parameres are different in shape.

The lectotype of L. quadridentata does not bear any locality data, and Blanchard (1851) did not mention the type locality in the original description. This fact agrees with Lacordaire (1855), who described the locality of L. quadridentata as “Patrie inconnue”. However, Burmeister (1855) and then Harold (1869) mentioned “Columbia” [current Colombia and Panama] as a locality record of “ Amphicrania 4-dentata ”, which is likely the actual distribution of this species. Dalla Torre (1913) cited L. quadridentata from Montevideo ( Uruguay). This is here interpreted as an error, which was reproduced by Blackwelder (1944) and subsequent authors. Due to the layout of Blanchard (1851) descriptions when they are contiguous, it is easy to attribute the type locality of one species to the next one. It is most likely that Dalla Torre (1913) attributed the type locality of Liogenys parva Blanchard, 1851 to L. quadridentata .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Clypeus and pronotum: Liogenys quadridens (Fabricius, 1798) A) male, B) female; L. quadridentata Blanchard, 1851 C) male, D) female. Parameres of E) L. quadridens and F) L. clipeosetosa Cherman new species. Black arrows indicate: A, C) angle between anterior and lateral teeth on clypeus; lateral expansion along the parameres F) entirely visible or E) partially hidden, E) disc of subapical portion and base of apex elevated.

FIGURE 7. Liogenys quadridentata Blanchard, 1851 male lectotype views: A) dorsal, B) labels, C) pygidium, D) lateral, E) lateral of pygidium in females, and parameres F) dorsal and G) lateral. Black arrow indicates the E) inflated pygidium of females.

FIGURE 9. Geographical distribution of the Liogenys of A) the northern South America and Central America, overlapping records in B) Panama and in C) Venezuela.