Enema endymion Chevrolat, 1843

Gillett, Conrad P. D. T., 2009, New records of dynastine scarab beetles in the tribes Oryctini, Agaocephalini and Dynastini from Cayo district, Belize (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (99), pp. 1-9 : 3-4

Enema endymion Chevrolat, 1843

( Fig. 4 )

Specimens examined. 20 (12 males and 8 females). BMNH, MGCB and JKCE.

Localities. Las Cuevas (12), Pook’s Hill (2), San Ignacio (6).

Temporal data. May (8), June (12).

Distribution. Southern Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia (Ratcliffe and Cave 2006). Bates (1888) and Blackwelder (1944) recorded it from British Honduras. New district record for Cayo.

Remarks. This species was remarkably abundant at all sites visited in Belize in May and June 2006. Evidently individuals were emerging en masse with the onset of the annual rainy season, beginning in late May/early June in that part of Central America. The beetles were seen by the hundreds in San Ignacio and often covered the pavements and roads of the area during the day, where many of them were crushed by pedestrians and vehicles.

Of the many hundreds of specimens of this species attracted to lights at Las Cuevas, I was able to collect a single male which possessed exceptionally well developed secondary sexual characters. In this specimen the cephalic horn is much longer than that of all other males seen (including all specimens in the BMNH) and, moreover, there is a well-developed bifurcate forward projecting protuberance on the anterior portion of the pronotum. The specimen, in fact, superficially resembles a small male of Enema pan (Fabricius) , although it is the typical brown color of E. endymion .

I observed E. endymion emerging from the open grass area surrounding Las Cuevas Research Station at around dusk (approximately 18:30 local time). Many beetles would quickly take off, and many were attracted to our lights. Beetles were also seen to burrow into the soil of the grassy area and into the ground surrounding the lights and the main building. From about 20:00, adult flight activity significantly declined. During the daytime it was exceptional to see a live beetle around the station, probably indicating that most beetles either dispersed with the onset of daylight or that they were lodged in bur- rows in the ground. Several specimens were collected in unbaited pitfall traps and also in traps baited with human dung to collect Scarabaeinae in the forest. Almost certainly these were accidentally captured by the traps and not actually attracted to them. If anything, it probably indicates the great abundance of these beetles roaming the forest floor. During daytime forays into the forest, occasional specimens of E. endymion would be seen crawling over the ground, suggesting that under the shady cover of the forest, this species can be diurnal.

Figures

Figure 4-8. Dynastinae collected at Las Cuevas research station, Cayo, Belize, during June 2006. Male specimens illustrated.4) Enema endymion. 5) Strategus aloeus.6) Strategus longichomperus. 7) Strategus jugurtha.8) Spodistes mniszechi. Photographs by James Kitson.