Pelidnota kuhnti (Ohaus, 1912)

Moore, Matthew R., Jameson, Mary L., Garner, Beulah H., Audibert, Cedric, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Seidel, Matthias, 2017, Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) and annotated catalog of the species and subspecies, ZooKeys 666, pp. 1-349 : 1

Pelidnota kuhnti (Ohaus, 1912)

Heteropelidnota kuhnti Ohaus, 1912: 310-311 [original combination].

Pelidnota kuhnti (Ohaus) [comb. n.].

Distribution.

PARAGUAY: Paraguarí ( Ohaus 1912, 1918, 1934b, Machatschke 1972, Krajcik 2008, Soula 2008).

Types.

Holotype ♂ at ZMHB (Fig. 72 ) with labels: a) "Paraguay Paraguari F. Schneider" (white label, typeset), b) male genitalia card-mounted, c) mouthparts cardmounted, d) “Typus!” (red label, typeset).

Remarks.

Ohaus (1912) described the genus Heteropelidnota , and in it he placed H. kuhnti . He compared H. kuhnti with P. aeruginosa var. citripennis (valid name P. semiaurata citripennis ). He commented that the new genus was near Hoplopelidnota . Based on the original description, Ohaus (1912) had one male specimen given to him by Paul Kuhnt (for whom the species is dedicated).

The specimen on which the species is named appears to be a teratological deviant. The base of the pronotum is weakly triemarginate and surface sculpturing of pronotum appears weakly protuberant anterior to the emarginations. Additionally, the inner apices of the elytra are rounded, the apices of the meta- and mesotibia are eroded, the metacoxae and metafemur are quite gracile (about ½ the width of any pelidnotine scarab). The male genitalia are quite similar to P. semiaurata citripennis as well as the coloration, head, protibia, and protarsal claws. The apices of the elytra are poorly developed, thus exposing dense setae (one of the characters for which the genus was proposed). Other than the holotype specimen, no additional specimens are identified as H. kuhnti . It is possible that this specimen is a teratological deviant of P. semiaurata citripennis . Indeed, Soula (2008) also seemed to imply that H. kuhnti was a member of the genus Pelidnota . We synonymize the genus Heteropelidnota with Pelidnota . Lacking certainty of the species association due to the extreme deformities, we retain the species name and transfer the species to the genus Pelidnota as a new combination.

Figures

Figure 72. Heteropelidnota kuhnti Ohaus (valid name Pelidnota kuhnti [Ohaus]) holotype male from ZMHB. A Dorsal habitus B Lateral habitus C Specimen labels, mouthparts, and male genitalia D Male genitalia, lateral view E Male parameres, dorsal view.