Diplognatha (Diplognatha) gagates (Forster, 1771)

Serrano, Artur R. M., Capela, Rúben A., Nunes, Telmo & Santos, Carmen Van-Dú- Nem Neto, 2020, The rose chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) of Angola: a descriptive checklist with new records and synonymic notes, Zootaxa 4776 (1), pp. 1-130 : 70-71

Diplognatha (Diplognatha) gagates (Forster, 1771)

( Fig. 15e )

Distribution: Africa south of Sahara.

Distribution in Angola (Provinces): 1) CAB, CNN, HUI, LNO, LUA, MAL.

Historic records:

— Angola (without locality) ( Harold 1879 sub Diplognatha gagates F.);

— Cabinda (CAB), Humbe (CNN), Gambos (=Chibemba) (HUI) ( Paulino de Oliveira 1882 sub Diplognatha gagates F.);

—Malange (= Malanje) (MAL), Quango (=Cuango) (LNO) ( Quedenfeldt 1884);

—Dundo (LNO) ( Gomes Alves 1959);

— Luanda (LUA) ( Ferreira, 1965).

Material examined: Angola, 4 exs, 1906, Nº 1907 (blue label), P. Gregorio leg., RQC/CSFC, box nº II-71, MZUC ; Angola, 1 ex., 1906, Nº 1722 (blue label), P. Gregorio leg., RQC/CSFC, box nº II-71, MZUC; Dundo (7º 22´S, 20º 50´E, 1470 m alt., 51) ( LNO), 2.V.1946, 1 ♀, Nº 649, -. X.1948, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Nº 2130, 1 ♀, Nº 2148, -. XII.1948, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Nº 2146, -. I.1949, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Nº 2131, -. III.1949, 3 ♂, 2 ♀, Nº 2132, 1 ♀, Nº 2151, Junta de Investigações Coloniais (Entomologia), IICT, MUHNAC .

Remarks. Two subspecies were recognized within D. gagates , the nominal and Diplognatha (Diplognatha) gagates silicea MacLeay, 1838 ( Holm & Marais 1992; Beinhundner 2017a). However, Basilewsky (1956) and Rigout & Allard (1992) considered these subspecies as species (a criterion followed here), stating that they differ by the number of mesotibial teeth (two vs. one) and other minor morphologic pronotal charaters (lateral punctuation and crenulation). These authors, Krajcik (2008a) and Schoolmeesters (2018) considered also that Diplognatha (Diplognatha) gagates holosericea Bainbridge, 1842 is a subspecies within this taxon, but Holm (1990b) synonymized it with Porphyronota cinnamomea (Afzelius, 1817) . All the examined specimens exhibit two mesotibial teeth. Unfortunately, the studied adult specimens of MZUC do not present labels with the indication of the sampling localities. Comparing the available data for both species it seems that Diplognatha (Diplognatha) gagates occurs predominantly in the Northern Provinces of Angola and Diplognatha (Diplognatha) silicea in the central and southern-eastern Provinces. The larva (L 3) was described by Šípek (2005) and ecological data were provided by Holm & Marais (1992).

Figures

FIGURE 15. Cetoniinae species of Angola. a, Anthracophorides capeneri (dorsal view), male, Satchijamba, BIE, ASC; b and c, Diphrontis gerstaeckeri (dorsal views), male and female, respectively, Satchijamba, BIE, ASC; d, Diplognatha (Diplognatha) crampeli (dorsal view), MZUC; e, Diplognatha (D.) gagates (dorsal view), female, Dundo, LNO, IICT; f, Diplognatha (D.) silicea (dorsal view), female, Mussende, CUS, ASC; g, Diplognatha (D.) pagana (dorsal view), male, Cateculo (Calulo), CUS, ASC; h, Porphyronota cinnamomea angolensis (dorsal view), male, Dundo, LNO, IICT; i, Porphyronota hebraea hebraea (dorsal view), and associated labels, MZUC.