Amithao anthracinus Ratcliffe, 2013

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 : 272-273

Amithao anthracinus Ratcliffe , new species ( Figs. 10–13 )

Type Material. Holotype male, labeled “ Panamá: Panamá Pr./ Cerro Jefe , 700 m. / 9°12′N, 79°21′W // 16 Apr. 77/ G. Small /rotting banana/bait” and with my red holotype label . Allotype female labeled “ Panamá: Panamá Pr./ Cerro Jefe , 700 m. / 9°12′N, 79°21′W //11 June ′72/ G. Small ” and with my red allotype label . Paratypes (14 males, 10 females) labeled as follows: “Panamá: Panamá Prov./ Cerro Campana , 820 m / 8°40′N, 79°56′W / VIII-12–1975 / B. C. Ratcliffe ” (1). “ PANAMA, Pnm Prov/Cerro Jefe 3000′/ 26–30-VI-1997 /Wappes & Morris// fermenting/ banana trap ” (1). “Panama: Panama / Cerro Jeffé [sic]/ IV-7-1997 / G. Small ” (8). “Cerro Campana, 800m / Panamá Prov., R. P./26 /Sept. ′70 G. Small ” (2). “ PANAMA Panama Prov/Cerro Jefe along ridgeline/N 9°14.069 W 79°23.133′,/ 934m. 15–18.V.2008 Alan/Mudge, banana bait trap ” (9). “ PANAMA: Panama/Cerro Jefe/ 27 June-29 July 1997 / J. Huether ” (1). “ PANAMA: Pnm. Prov. /Cerro Jefe 3000′/ 1–9-VII-1997 /Morris & Wappes// fermenting/ banana trap ” (1). “ PANAMÁ: Panamá,/ Cerro Jefe,/ June 1–2, 1985,/ E. G. & M. A. Riley ” (1). All paratypes with my yellow paratype label .

Holotype and allotype deposited at UNSM . Paratypes deposited at ADMC, BCRC, EGRC, UNSM, USNM , and WBWC.

Description. Holotype. Length 27.0 mm; width across humeri 15.0 mm. Color entirely black, shiny. Cretaceous marks absent. Head: Lateral margins weakly elevated. Frons and base of clypeus longitudinally tumescent at middle. Surface densely punctate; punctures mostly large, glabrous. Clypeus with apex deeply bilobed ( Fig. 10 ) (each lobe subacutely rounded), reflexed. Eyes large, interocular width equals 3.9 transverse eye diameters. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club distinctly longer than antennomeres 2–7. Pronotum: Surface with punctures moderate in density and size, punctures becoming larger and denser on lateral thirds. Lateral margin with thick bead. Elytra: Surface moderately densely punctate, disc with 2 nearly obsolete, parallel costae terminating at prominent apical umbone; punctures moderate to large, moderately dense, becoming larger and denser laterally, in distinct rows on disc. Apices behind apical umbone rugulose. Apices at suture subacutely produced. Pygidium: Surface concentrically strigose, glabrous. In lateral view, profile weakly convex. Venter: Setae black. Mesometasternal process distinctly attenuate and protuberant in lateral view ( Fig. 11 ), apex broadly rounded in ventral view. Abdominal ventrites nearly smooth in central third; lateral thirds with moderate to large, sparse to moderately dense punctures. Legs: Protibia slender with 2 lateral teeth. Parameres ( Figs. 12–13 ): Form subrectangular, apices rounded and each with distinct, sharp spur laterally.

Allotype. Female. Length 29.6 mm; width across humeri 16.6 mm. As holotype except in the following respects: Head: Antenna with club slightly longer than antennomeres 2–7. Pygidium: Surface with short, black setae. Legs: Protibia broader, strongly tridentate, teeth subequally spaced.

Variation. Males (14 paratypes). Length 26.0– 32.0 mm; width across humeri 14.6–18.5 mm. As holotype except in the following respects: Head: Surface densely to confluently punctate; punctures mostly large, minutely setigerous (when not abraded away); setae moderately dense, tawny. Interocular width equals 3.0–3.5 transverse eye diameters in both sexes.

Females (10 paratypes). Length 26.7–30.5 mm; width across humeri 14.9–17.6 mm. The female paratypes do not significantly differ from the allotype.

Etymology. The epithet is adjectival and from the Latin anthracinus , meaning coal black, in reference to the color of this beetle.

Distribution. Amithao anthracinus is known only from the mountains of central Panama.

Locality Records. 26 specimens from ABCC, AJRC, BCRC, EGRC, WBWC. PANAMA (26): PANAMÁ (26): Cerro Campana, Cerro Jefe .

Temporal Distribution. April (9), May (9), June (3), July (2), August (1), September (2).

Diagnosis. Amithao anthracinus is most similar to A. metallicus . Whereas A. anthracinus is entirely black, A. metallicus has brownish to black elytra (usually with a greenish sheen), dark reddish brown femora and coxae, and often with cretaceous spots on the posterolateral corners of abdominal ventrites 1–4 and a spot in the basal angle of the pygidium. The male parameres also separate these species ( Figs. 12–13 versus Figs. 52–53 ).

Natural History. Specimens have been collected in ripe banana traps at elevations of 700–950 m (label data). Nothing else is known of its life history.

Figures

Fig. 10. Amithao anthracinus, dorsal view.

Figs. 11–13. Amithao anthracinus. 11) Form of mesometasternal process, lateral view; 12) Parameres, dorsal view; 13) Parameres, lateral view.

Figs. 52–53. Amithao metallicus, parameres. 52) Dorsal view; 53) Lateral view.