Phyllophaga (Phyllophaga) copalensis García-López & Morón, 2009

García-López, Alejandra, Morón, Miguel Ángel, Micó, Estefanía & Galante, Eduardo, 2009, Two new species of Phyllophaga Harris (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Costa Rica, Zootaxa 2062 (1), pp. 37-45 : 39-41

Phyllophaga (Phyllophaga) copalensis García-López & Morón sp. nov.

( Figs. 1, 2–4 )

Description. Holotype. Male: Total body length: 18.6 mm. Humeral width: 8.1 mm. Clypeus, frons, pronotum and elytra dark brown; head and pronotum shiny with erect, mixed long and short setae on entire surface; mouth parts, sterna, pygidium and legs shiny reddish brown ( Fig. 1). Clypeus 3.6 times wider than long, surface densely rugopunctate, with many short, erect setae. Frons 2 times wider than long, convex, densely rugopunctate. Frons 4 times wider than dorsal diameter of eye. Eye canthus long and wide, with 11–14 setae. Mentum with anterior border moderately sinuate. Pronotum 2 times wider than long and 2.4 times wider than frons. Pronotal disk with large, shallow, round punctures irregularly separated from one another by less than 1 diameter to 2–3 diameters; lateral borders strongly angled, lateral marginal bead crenulate, with long, slender setae evenly distributed; anterior angles right, clearly prominent; posterior angles obtuse, prominent. Scutellum 1.4 times wider than long. Elytra 2.6 times longer than wider, densely setiferous punctate. Anal plate with transverse row of 6 long setae near the posterior border. Mesotibia with upper apical spur as long as lower spur. Upper apical spur of the metatibia with apex acute, 1.2 times longer than basal metatarsomere, and 1.37 times longer than lower spur. Protarsomeres 1–3 each with subapical small, toothlike prominence. Genital capsule with one lateroapical tooth at each side; apex straight, progressively narrowed, with the ventral border briefly notched ( Figs. 2–4 ). Aedeagus long, with dorsal spatula-like sclerotized support, with distal tuft of 8 long bristles; ventroapical border of the sclerotized support downturned, widely rounded; preapical area of inner sac with patches of golden setae and strongly sclerotized spines. Length of genital capsule from apex of parameres to border of phallobase: 4.5 mm.

Material examined. ( 1 specimen). Holotype male. COSTA RICA: Cartago, Jiménez, Pejibaye , Selva. Alb. El Copal, 1000 m, June 15, 2007. A. García, M. Moraga ( INBio).

Type locality. Reserva Biológica El Copal: Área de Conservación La Amistad-Pacífico , adjoining the Parque Nacional Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte. Province of Cartago. Costa Rica (9º 47’ 10” N, 83º 45’ 6” W) ( Fig. 10 ) .

Biological data. Phenology: June. Other species of Phyllophaga flying at the same time and place were P. densata (Moser) , P. guanacasteca (Morón & Solís) , P. guapiles (Saylor) , P. guapiloides (Morón & Solís) , P. lissopyge (Bates) , P. lorencita (Morón & Solís) , P. orosina (Moser) , P. prolixus (Bates) , P. pruinosa (Blanchard) , P. setidorsis (Blanchard) and P.larai sp. nov.

Remarks. Phyllophaga copalensis is closely related to P. larai but the small body size, dark color, shiny pronotum and elytra, shallow large punctures on the pronotum, long elytral setae, and lateroventral border of parameres with rounded tooth on each side will help to separate these species. It is also related to P. guapiles Saylor from the same area in Costa Rica, but the uniform and dense vestiture of the pronotum and elytra, and the ventroapical border of the sclerotized support of the aedeagus are clearly different Morón & Solís (2001).

Etymology. Derived from the locality name El Copal, where the holotype was collected. This name is dedicated with gratitude to the people who run the Biological Reserve.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Distribution of Phyllophaga larai, P. copalensis, P. guapiles and P. guapiloides in Costa Rica. Life Zones map provided by GIS Unit of Inbio. Distribution of P. guapiles and P. guapiloides taken from ATTA database (InBio).

FIGURES 2–4. Phyllophaga copalensis, male genital capsule. 2—lateral view with aedeagus extended. 3—Apex of parameres, ventral view. 4—Dorsal view. Scale bar 1 mm.