Gonaphodiellus Schmidt, 1913

Dellacasa, Marco, Dellacasa, Giovanni & Gordon, Robert D., 2012, Systematic revision of Gonaphodiellus taxa, with description of two new genera and fourteen new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (230), pp. 1-41 : 2-3

Genus Gonaphodiellus Schmidt, 1913

Aphodius (Gonaphodiellus) Schmidt, 1913: 133 .

Gonaphodiellus ; Paulian 1942: 73.

Aphodius (Gonaphodiellus) ; Balthasar 1960: 58 (as synonym of Gonaphodius ).

Aphodius (Gonaphodiellus) ; Dellacasa 1988: 239.

Gonaphodiellus ; Dellacasa et al. 2001: 154; Skelley et al. 2007: 4 .

Type species. Aphodius pacatus Harold, 1880 (subsequent designation by Paulian 1942: 73).

Diagnosis. Rather small to medium size species (length 3.5-6.0 mm), feebly or moderately convex, short or elongate oval, feebly shiny, glabrous or almost glabrous. More or less dark brownish, with or without elytral paler spots. Head with epistome punctured; clypeus subtruncate anteriorly or faintly sinuate at middle, round at sides, quite finely bordered, edge bristled; genae obtusely round, very shortly ciliate, protruding from the eyes or not; eyes rather large; frontal suture finely impressed, not tuberculate; first segment of labial palp as long as the second. Pronotum transverse, punctured; hind angles truncate and more or less distinctly inwardly sinuate; basal margin not bordered. Scutellum small, narrow, regularly triangular. Elytra more or less strongly denticulate at shoulder, rarely lacking denticle; striae fine and punctured, first one more superficial than the others and sometimes faint toward apex; interstriae slightly convex, finely punctured, rarely shortly sparsely pubescent on preapical declivity. Fore tibiae distally tridentate and proximally serrulate on outer margin; upper side rather densely and more or less coarsely punctured. Middle and hind tibiae with feeble transverse carinae on outer face, apically fimbriate with spinules elongate and irregularly unequal. Hind tibiae upper spur shorter than first tarsal segment. Pygidium with straight pubescence. Sexual dimorphism shown in males mainly by shape of fore tibiae and respective spur; by sparser punctation of head and pronotum; and pronotum with hind angles more strongly inwardly sinuate. Aedeagus with parameres short, at least as long as half of tegmen, or somewhat more elongate, always with clump of more or less dense hairs toward apex. Epipharynx with anterior margin distinctly sinuate at middle; epitorma drop-shaped; corypha with two strong apical spiculae; pedia densely pubescent, intermixed few stout and large chaetae; chaetopariae slender and elongate.

Distribution. Mesoamerican and Neotropical region.

Remarks. The correct identification of unassociated females of several Gonaphodiellus species is more or less impossible due to their weakly differentiated external morphological characters.