Hoplopyga miniata ( Blanchard, 1846 )

Shaughney, Jennifer Marie & Ratcliffe, Brett C., 2015, A Monographic Revision of the Genus Hoplopyga Thomson, 1880 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 69 (4), pp. 579-638 : 615-617

Hoplopyga miniata ( Blanchard, 1846)

( Figs. 73–76 )

Gymnetis miniata Blanchard 1846: 193 (original combination).

Holotype female at MNHN, labeled “HOLOTYPE//7???/34//?// Gymnetis / miniata/Blanch//MUSEUM PARIS/ BOLIVIE / (CHIQUITOS)/D’ ORBIGNY 1834// G. miniata / Type/Bl.//MNHN/ EC4453 ” ( Fig. 75 ), examined via photographs. Type locality: “ Chiquitos ”.

Description. Male unknown. Length 13.0 mm; width across humeri 7.9 mm. Color of dorsum opaque reddish orange with large, dense, reddish brown or black spots, each spot enclosing a puncture as follows: head with small, reddish brown, coalescing spots on frons and clypeus, shiny; pronotum with large, irregularly spaced spots either side of midline; elytra with large, irregularly spaced or coalescing spots. Ventral surface reddish brown, shiny. Setae tawny. Head: Clypeus with minute, sparse, round punctures. Frons with small, dense, n-shaped punctures, each puncture embedded in a spot and with a minute seta. Clypeal apex weakly reflexed, emarginate at middle, weakly angulate either side of emargination. Antennal club longer than antennomeres 2–7 combined. Pronotum: Lateral margins obtusely angulate, lacking marginal bead. Surface with large, moderately dense to dense, n-shaped punctures, each puncture embedded in a spot. Elytra: Surface of each elytron with indistinct costae, with large, moderately dense to dense, horseshoe-shaped punctures, each puncture embedded in a spot. Apices at suture subquadrate. Pygidium: Surface moderately convex with large, dense, transversely vermiform punctures nearly obscuring surface, punctures with minute setae. Venter: Metasternum with large, dense, n-shaped punctures either side of middle, each puncture with a long seta. Mesometasternal process, in lateral view, at a slight oblique angle to horizontal axis of body, moderately protuberant beyond mesocoxae, with long, dense setae on anterodorsal face; in ventral view ( Fig. 74 ), sides narrowing to rounded apex. Abdominal sternites each impunctate on middle third, with large, dense, n-shaped punctures on lateral thirds, each puncture with a short seta; last sternite with small, dense, weakly n-shaped punctures across middle. Legs: Protibia tridentate, with apical tooth distinct and subsequent teeth reduced. Parameres: Unknown.

Distribution. Hoplopyga miniata is known from one specimen from Chiquitos, Bolivia ( Fig. 76 ).

Locality Record. 1 specimen from MNHN. BOLIVIA (1): SANTA CRUZ (1): Chiquitos .

Temporal Distribution. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Hoplopyga miniata is similar to H. miliaris but can be distinguished by its reddish orange dorsum, entirely reddish brown venter, and by the form of the mesometasternal process. In contrast, H. miliaris has a yellow or orangish yellow dorsum, a pale yellow venter, and a mesometasternal process that is broadly rounded in ventral view and, in lateral view, short and subparallel to the horizontal axis of the body.

Nomenclature. The catalogs of Blackwelder (1944) and Krajcik (1998) listed the date of publication of the name Gymnetis miniata as 1843, but the correct date should be 1846. The work in which this name first appeared was published in segments from 1837–1846, with this species being described in the last segment. Schürhoff (1937) transferred G. miniata to Hoplopyga .

Natural History. Nothing is known about the natural history of this species, although Blanchard (1846) mentioned that these beetles are found “on the trees” in his original description.

Figures

Figs. 73–76. Hoplopyga miniata, holotype (Photographs courtesy of A. Mantilleri, MNHN). 73) Dorsal view; 74) Ventral view; 75) Labels; 76) Distribution.