Parapucaya Prell, 1934

López-García, Margarita M., Gasca-Álvarez, Héctor J. & Amat-García, Germán, 2015, The scarab beetle tribe Pentodontini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) of Colombia: taxonomy, natural history, and distribution, Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 451-492 : 469

Parapucaya Prell, 1934

Parapucaya Prell, 1934: 162 . Type species: Parapucaya amazonica Prell 1934: 162 .

Diagnosis. This genus is characterized by having a trapezoidal clypeus, frontoclypeal suture strongly impressed, eye canthus with a few setae, pronotal tubercles inconspicuous and visible only as two small prominences, and male protarsi enlarged. The genus contains the smaller species of the tribe and their yellow and testaceous coloration is also unique in the group. The spiculum gastrale is simple, U-shaped, and without basal piece, which is unique among members of Pentodontini .

This genus is difficult to distinguish from Cyclocephala Dejean, 1821 because of their nearly equal color, clypeal shape, and enlarged male protarsi. Parapucaya can be recognized by the presence of two small, pronotal tubercles that are best observed in lateral view; this character is sometimes difficult to see, and the tubercles are nearly absent in some specimens. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis of Cyclocephalini based on morphology indicated that Parapucaya should be a member of this tribe, grouping a genus along with Cyclocephala melanocephala (Fabricius, 1775) ( Clark 2011) . So, it is necessary to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships between both tribes in order to define the position of the genus.

Dechambre (2006) described the monotypic genus Denhezia to include the species Denhezia caucacola Dechambre, 2006 from Colombia. However, the only diagnostic character to differentiate it from Parapucaya is the absence of pronotal tubercles. Taking into account that those tubercles have been found to be sometimes nearly absent in species of Parapucaya , these two genera should be considered as the same, but revision of type material is needed to define a synonymy.

Distribution. This is mainly a South American genus, although one species ( P. amazonica ) reaches Honduras ( Ratcliffe & Cave 2006). Both species in the genus occur in Colombia.