Amithao pyrrhonotus ( Burmeister, 1842 )

Ratcliffe, Brett C., 2013, A Revision Of The Neotropical Genus Amithao Thomson, 1878 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 67 (3), pp. 265-292 : 286-287

Amithao pyrrhonotus ( Burmeister, 1842) ( Figs. 54–58 )

Gymnetis pyrrhonota Burmeister 1842: 267 (original combination). Type not seen, not found at MNHN or MLUH . Type locality: “ Mexico.”

Description. Length 21.2–29.6 mm; width across humeri 12.3–17.1 mm. Color of pronotum and elytra glossy reddish brown; pygidium reddish brown to piceous; head, venter, and legs glossy black. Head: Lateral margins elevated. Frons and base of clypeus longitudinally tumescent at middle, depressed either side of tumescence. Surface moderately dense to densely punctate; punctures moderate in size, glabrous. Clypeus with apex broadly bilobed ( Fig. 54 ), reflexed. Eyes large, interocular width equals 3.5 transverse eye diameters in both sexes. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club distinctly longer than antennomeres 2–7 in males, slightly longer than antennomeres 2–7 in females. Pronotum: Surface with sparse, small punctures, punctures usually becoming larger and denser on lateral thirds. Sides with thick marginal bead. Elytra: Surface with 2 nearly obsolete, elevated, parallel costae terminating at prominent apical umbone; punctures sparse, small, in distinct rows on disc. Apices behind apical umbone similar or with slightly larger punctures. Apices at suture

acutely produced. Pygidium: Surface densely, concentrically strigulose, glabrous in males, setigerous in females; setae dense, short, black. In lateral view, profile weakly convex in both sexes. Venter: Setae black. Mesometasternal process distinctly attenuate and protuberant in lateral view ( Figs. 56 ), apex broadly rounded in ventral view. Abdominal ventrites in both sexes nearly smooth in central third; lateral thirds with moderate to large, sparse to moderately dense punctures in males, females with punctures usually denser, larger. Legs: Protibia slender in males, with 2 lateral teeth. Protibia in females broader, strongly tridentate, teeth subequally spaced. Parameres ( Figs. 57–58 ): Form subrectangular, apices rounded and with distinct, sharp spur laterally.

Distribution. Amithao pyrrhonotus is known only from central to southern Mexico.

Locality Records. 41 specimens from AMNH, BCRC, CNCI, CZUG, DEIC, EGRC, FMNH, HAHC, MAMC, MGFT, MNHN, RMNH, USNM, ZMHU, ZSMC. Some data from Morón (1995) and Deloya and Morón (1997). MEXICO (38): CHIAPAS (1): Francisco Madero (2 mi. E), San Cristóbal (20 km NE). HIDALGO (1): Chapulhuacán (2 mi. S). OAXACA (2): Juquila Mixes, Metates. PUEBLA (7): Patla, Xicotepec. VERACRUZ (13): Catemaco, Córdoba, Fortín, Xalapa. NO DATA (14). NO DATA (3).

57) Dorsal view; 58) Lateral view.

Temporal Distribution. March (1), May (8), June (4), July (2), August (3), October (1). Too few specimens have label data with the month of collection to indicate a reliable temporal distribution.

Diagnosis. Amithao pyrrhonotus is unique because of its highly polished, bright reddish brown (almost orange) pronotum and elytra, and glossy black venter and legs.

Natural History. Nothing is known of the life history of this uncommon species. They have been collected in banana traps at elevations of 650–1,500 m (label data).

Figures

Figs. 54–56. Amithao pyrrhonotus. 54) Dorsal view; 55) Ventral view; 56) Lateral view.

Figs. 57–58. Amithao pyrrhonotus, parameres.