Liogenys flaveola Moser, 1924

Cherman, Mariana A., Basílio, Daniel S., Mise, Kleber M., Frisch, Johannes, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Almeida, Lúcia M., 2020, Liogenys Guérin-Méneville, 1831 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from the southern South American Transition Zone and boundaries: taxonomic overview with four new species, Zootaxa 4896 (1), pp. 46-84 : 54-56

Liogenys flaveola Moser, 1924

Figs. 3 , 11 A–B, 14

Liogenys flaveolus Moser, 1924: 122 ; Dallas 1926: 41 (teratologic case); Frey 1969: 47 (key).

Liogenys flaveola: Blackwelder 1944: 227 (checklist); Evans 2003: 209 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 177 (checklist); Krajčík 2012: 144 (checklist); Cherman et al. 2017: 4 (generic history).

Liogenys kadleci Frey, 1970: 281 ; Evans 2003: 210 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 178 (checklist); Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist); Cherman et al. 2016: 759 (systematics); Cherman et al. 2017: 5, 6 (generic history, taxonomy); new synonym.

Type material. Male holotype of Liogenys flaveola (ZMHB) : [white, typeset, outlined] “RCA. ARGENTINA / Gob. Chubut / 190 [space] / C. Bruch ”, [white handwritten] “Camarones / J. Wiederrecht ”, [white handwritten] “ Liogenys / flaveolus / Typen Mos”, [red typeset] “Typus”, [white typeset] “ Liogenys / flaveolus / Mos.” .

Male holotype of Liogenys kadleci (NMHB) : [white, typeset] “ ARGENTINA / Villa Regina / Rio Negro / 20.XI.63 leg. Pena”, [red typeset] “ TYPE ”, [white, typeset and handwritten] “Type / Liogenys / kadleci / n. sp. / det. G. Frey, 1970 ”, genitalia mounted. Male paratype ( ZMHB): [white, typeset] “ ARGENTINA / Villa Regina / Rio Negro / 20.XI.63 leg. Pena”, [red typeset] “ PARATYPE ”, [white, typeset and handwritten] “Type / Liogenys / kadleci / n. sp. / det. G. Frey, 1970 ”. Male paratype ( CMNC): [white, typeset] “ ARGENTINA / Villa Regina / Rio Negro / 20.XI.63 leg. Pena”, [red typeset] “ PARATYPE ”, [white, typeset and handwritten] “ Liogenys / kadleci / det. G. Frey, 1970 / n sp”, [white, typeset] “H. & A. HOWDEN / COLLECTION / ex. A. Martinez coll.”, [white, typeset] “Southern Neotropical Scarabs / database # AS 2614382 / Liogenys kadleci / Frey, 1970 ³ / DET: A.B. T. SMITH 2008” Male paratype ( CMNC): [white, typeset] “ ARGENTINA / Villa Regina / Rio Negro / 20.XI.63 leg. Pena”, [red typeset] “ TYPE ”, [white, typeset and handwritten] “Type / Liogenys / kadleci / det. G. Frey, 1970 / n sp”, [white, typeset] “H. & A. HOWDEN / COLLECTION / ex. A. Martinez coll.”, [white, typeset] “Southern Neotropical Scarabs / database # AS 2614381 / Liogenys kadleci / Frey, 1970 ³ / DET: A.B. T. SMITH 2008”.

Non-type material (67). ARGENTINA. Buenos Aires: Without locality and collector, 1 male ( MLPA) ; Monte Hermoso , XII.1955, A. Martínez, 1 female ( DZUP) ; Puán, Felipe Solá , XII.1953, A. Martínez, 1 male ( CMNC) ; Mendoza: without locality, 9.XI.1987, L. Peña, 1 male ( CEMT) ; Pata Mora (36 km W), 36º58’20’’S 69º6’19’’W, 7.I.2003, 1145 m, F.C. Ocampo & A.B. T. Smith, 1 male ( CMNC) ; San Rafael , 6.XII.1988, L. Peña, 1 female ( INPA) ; Río Negro: without locality, date and collector, 1 male ( MLPA) ; General Roca , 24.XI.1920, A. Wetmore, 1 male ( CASC) ; Villa Regina, XII.1961 , A. Maller, 3 females (1 CMNC, 2 DZUP) ; 20.XI.1963, L. Peña, 1 male

( NHMB); San Antonio Oeste , 15.XII.1966, E.I. Schlinger & M.E. Irwin, at lights, 7 males and 10 females ( CASC) ; San Antonio Oeste , XII.1992, A. Martínez, at lights, 5 males ( CMNC) ; San Antonio Oeste, Los Grutas , XII.1992, A. Martínez, 2 males and 4 females ( CMNC) ; Valcheta , XII.1992, A. Martínez, 1 male ( CMNC) ; Chubut: Península de Valdés, Golfo Nuevo, Estancia San Pablo , 42°41’42’’S, 64°10’46’’W, 27.XI.2005, 50 m, 15 males and 3 females ( CMNC) ; Península de Valdés, Golfo Nuevo, Estancia San Pablo , 42°41’42’’S, 64°10’46’’W, 15.XII.2005, 50 m, G. Cheli, 1 male, 1 female ( CMNC) ; Puerto Madryn (13 KM N), 14.XII.1966, M.E. Irwin & E.I. Schlinger, 1 female ( CASC) ; Puerto Pirámides , XII.1992, 44 males and 39 females ( CMNC) .

Diagnosis. Body elongate, sides parallel in males, wider on posterior third in females; dull yellow, pronotum shiny, unicolored with elytra; elytra shiny or semiopaque, glabrous ( Fig. 3A ); clypeal emargination shallow, wide and rounded; clypeal lateral margin concave; antenna with 10 antennomeres; pronotal posterior corners subangulate to rounded ( Fig. 3B ); protibia with three teeth equally spaced; mesotibia quadrate in cross section ( Fig. 3D ); pygidium flat; subtrapezoidal; pygidial disc smooth and glabrous ( Fig. 3C ); in males inner margin of metatibia carinate towards apex and curved frontwards; the smaller metatibial spur wider and ½ the length of the larger, apex slightly curved frontwards ( Fig. 3E ), protarsomere II very wide; inner margins of parameres convex; four times the length of the apex; apex lanceolate in a single plane ( Fig. 3F ).

Redescription. Length: 9.0– 10.7 mm; width: 4.7–4.9 mm. Dull yellow. Head. distance between eyes slightly more than twice the width of one eye; frons swollen, as long as the clypeus; clypeal emargination shallow, wide and rounded; outer sides of anterior teeth subparallel or follow the lateral margin of clypeus; clypeal lateral margin concave, clypeus in males ( Fig. 11A ) with teeth longer and broader than in females ( Fig. 11B ); distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width slightly wider than the apex; fovea deep, very small, only at the base; antenna with 10 antennomeres, club lighter in color than funicle. Thorax: anterior margin of pronotum straight; pronotal disc with punctures coarse and sparse; posterior corners subangulate to rounded; hypomere with long bristles; mesepisternum, sides of metaventrite and metacoxae with bristles, disc of metaventrite with spine-like bristles; distance between mesocoxae and metacoxae twice the metacoxa length; scutellum ogival, finely punctate at the sides. Elytra: shiny, glabrous; elytral suture and elytron unicolored, slightly elevated; inner two pairs of elytral ridges more defined than the outer ridges. Legs: procoxa with bristles and punctate; protibia with three teeth, middle and apical teeth equal in size, basal teeth slightly shorter; three teeth equally spaced; mesofemur with thick, erect bristles along the inferior margin; mesotibia quadrate in cross section, mesotibial surface almost smooth; mesotibia with two transverse carinae present posteriorly, in females the apical one complete; metafemur with thick, erect bristles along the inferior margin; inner margin of metatibia carinate towards apex and curved frontwards; surface finely sculptured, almost smooth; metatibia with two transverse carinae present posteriorly; metatibial apical spurs of different lengths, the longer spur equal to the diameter of the tibial apex, males with the smaller spur half the length of the longer spur, apex truncate, slightly curved frontwards, females with longer, wider spurs and apex rounded; metatarsomere I slightly shorter and wider apically than metatarsomere II; protarsomeres and mesotarsomeres I–IV enlarged, protarsomere II very wide; protarsomeres almost two times wider than the mesotarsomeres; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth of claw longer and as wide as the inferior; distance between teeth equal to the length of inferior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites uniformly with bristles; propygidium with a few bristles; pygidium flat; subtrapezoidal; pygidial width not exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc smooth and glabrous; pygidial apex subquadrate. Parameres: basal region slightly wider than both sections of the parameres at its maximum width, parameral split at 2/3 the length of the basal region; inner margins convex; apex lanceolate in a single plane; parameres in lateral view straight, not coplanar ( Fig. 3G ).

Type locality. Liogenys flaveola : ARGENTINA. Chubut, Camarones [44°47’56.8’’S, 65°42’36.2’’W]. Liogenys kadleci : ARGENTINA. Río Negro, Villa Regina [39°06’01.2’’S, 67°05’19.6’’W] .

Geographical distribution. ARGENTINA (Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut) .

Remarks. Liogenys flaveola is most similar to L. calcarata (see remarks of L. calcarata ). We compared the holotypes of L. flaveola and L. kadleci , the former only differs in the outer sides of anterior clypeal teeth following the lateral margin, and the pronotal posterior corners are rounded. Unfortunately, the parameres of the holotype of L. flaveola are lost. Since the non-type material of L. kadleci showed intraspecific variations that match with the holotype of L. flaveola , we concluded that L. kadleci is a junior synonym of L. flaveola .

Dallas (1926) described the teratology found in a female specimen of L. flaveola from Río Negro ( Argentina), collected in 1922 by Carlos Bruch. It consisted in the right protarsus bifid, ramified from the second tarsomere, with a normal pair of claws on the inner tarsus and a double pair of claws on the outer one. This kind of deformation is called melomelia, the presence of more than the usual number of limbs, or their ramification ( Dallas 1926). We were unable to find the Dallas collection.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Liogenys flaveola Moser, 1924, male holotype views: A) dorsal, B) clypeus and pronotum, C) pygidium, D) lateral, E) metatibia, and parameres views: F) dorsal, G) lateral.

FIGURE 11. Dimorphism in clypeus. Liogenys flaveola Moser, 1924: A) male, B) female; L. flavida Moser, 1918: C) male, D) female; L. kuntzeni Moser, 1921: E) male, F) female; L. rufoflava Moser, 1918: G) male, H) female.