Liogenys pallens Blanchard, 1851

Figs. 17; 25.

Liogenys pallens Blanchard, 1851: 167; Lacordaire 1855: 269 (revision, systematics); Harold 1869: 1140 (checklist); Bruch 1911: 200 (checklist); Dalla Torre 1913: 318 (checklist); Blackwelder 1944: 227 (checklist); Frey 1969: 49, 61 (key, redescription); Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist); Evans 2003: 212 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 180 (checklist).

Liogenys fulvescens Blanchard, 1851: 167; Lacordaire 1855: 269 (revision, systematics); Harold 1869: 1140 (checklist); Dalla Torre 1913: 318 (checklist); Blackwelder 1944: 227 (checklist); Frey 1969: 50, 61 (key, redescription); Evans 2003: 209 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 178 (checklist); Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist) New synonym.

Liogenys flavicollis Frey, 1964: 693; Frey 1969: 40 (key); Evans 2003: 209 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 177 (checklist); Krajčík 2012: 144 (checklist). New synonym.

Type material. Liogenys pallens male lectotype here designated (MNHN): [white handwritten] “ Montevideo. / 7 bre 8 bre / 1820.”, [light green, typeset and handwritten] “MUSÉUM PARIS / Montevideo ”, [green handwritten] “ L. pallens / Cat. Mus. / Montevideo / M. A. St Hilaire. ”, [red typeset] “ SYNTYPE ”, [white, outlined red, typeset] “ LECTOTYPE / Liogenys pallens / Blanchard, 1851 / Cherman M. A. 2015”, genitalia mounted .

Liogenys fulvescens female lectotype here designated (MNHN): [white handwritten] “ Montevideo. / 7 bre 8 bre / 1820.”, [light green, typeset and handwritten] “MUSÉUM PARIS / Montevideo ”, [green handwritten] “ L. fulvescens / Cat. Mus. / Montevideo / M. A. St Hilaire.”, [red typeset] “ SYNTYPE ”, [white, outlined red, typeset] “ LECTOTYPE / Liogenys fulvescens / Blanchard, 1851 / Cherman M. A. 2015”. Paralectotype (1): One female (MNHN) with the labels: [white handwritten] “Del’emb. / del’uruguay / jusqu’aux / missions”, [light green typeset] “MUSÉUM PARIS”, [red typeset] “ SYNTYPE ”, [white, outlined red, typeset] “ PARALECTOTYPE / Liogenys fulvescens / Blanchard, 1851 / Cherman M. A. 2015”.

Liogenys flavicollis female holotype (NHMB): [white typeset] “ ♀ ”, [white handwritten] “ Formosa / Gran Guardia / XI.52”, [red typeset] “TYPE”, [white handwritten] “ Typus ♀ / Liogenys flavicollis / n. sp. / [typeset] det. G. Frey 1964 ”. Paratypes (2): One female with the same label as the holotype (NHMB) . One female with the labels: [white handwritten] “ Formosa / Gran Guardia / XI.52”, [red typeset] “TYPE”, [white handwritten] “Typus F / Liogenys flavicollis / n. sp. / [typeset] det. G. Frey 1964 ”, [white typeset] “H. & A. HOWDEN / COLLECTION / ex. A. Martínez coll.”, [white typeset] “Canadian Museum of / Musée Canadian de la / NATURE / CMNEN 00018922” (CMNC) .

Non-type material (79). Without country locality, date, and collector, 2 females (ZMHB). PARAGUAY: Asunción, IX.1952, M. Alvarenga, 3 females (DZUP). ARGENTINA: without locality: Stempelm, 3 females (MZSP); Kraatz, 1 male and 5 females (SDEI); Formosa: Clorinda, 26.IX.1937, without collector, 2 males (MLPA); Chaco: Antequera, Departamento Primero de Mayo, 27°26.500’S 58°51.459’W, 52 m, 22.XII.2014, M. Ibarra Polesel, 1 specimen; Estación San Francisco, Departamento San Fernando, 27°30’35.90’’S 59° 4’47.60’’W, 54 m, 16– 17.X.2013, M. Ibarra Polesel, 1 specimen (CARTROUNNE); Santiago del Estero: without locality, E.R. Wagner, 1 female (MLPA); 7.XI.1963, Cartwright, 1 female (NHMB); Girardet, without date and collector, 1 male (MLPA); Choya, 27.XI.1962, without collector, 1 male (NHMB); Catamarca: without locality, date, and collector, 1 male (MLPA); La Rioja: 20 km N La Rioja, 25.IX.1968, without collector, 5 males and 1 female (AMNH), Córdoba: without locality, date, and collector, 3 males and 6 females (ZMHB); without locality, date, and collector, 2 females (MLPA); Córdoba, 10.XI.1903, C. Bruch, 1 male (ZMHB); San Luis: Potrero de los Funes, 20.XII.2012, M.A. Cherman, 1 female (DZUP); El Milagro, Ayacucho, XI.1966, A. Martínez, 1 female (CMNC); Mendoza: without locality, date, and collector, 5 males and 11 females. (ZMHB), without date, Jensen-Haarup, 1 female (ZMUC); Pedregal Railway Station, El Pedregal, Maipú, without date, Jensen-Haarup, 6 males and 8 females (ZMUC); Santa Rosa Railway Station, Santa Rosa, Jensen-Haarup, 1 female (ZMUC); Santa Rosa, Ñancuñan, 33º50’81.5’’S 67º53’71.7’’W, 5.I. 2005, 540 m, E. Ruiz, 1 male (IADIZA); Santa Rosa, Ñancuñan, 34°2’57.840’’S 67° 58’0.480’’W, 11.II.1982, S. Claver & S. Roig, 1 male (IADIZA); La Pampa: Santa Rosa, XI.1961, Daguerre, 1 female (NHMB); (1) Buenos Aires: La Plata, without date and collector, 1 female (ZMHB).

Diagnosis. Length: 12.0– 15.5 mm; width 5.7–7.3 mm. Body elongate, dull yellow, more uniform in color in males (Fig. 17A) than in females (Fig. 17 B–C) semi-opaque to shiny, head and base of elytra darker; distance between eyes twice as wide as one eye in males, wider in females; clypeus in males long, clypeal emargination shallow, rounded, almost straight, wider than the frons; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth shorter than the eye; clypeal lateral margin convex, projection sharp or blunt; distance between clypeal lateral projection and anterior margin of eye as long as one eye; distance between clypeal lateral projection and the adjacent anterior tooth equal to the basal width of the anterior tooth; obtuse angle between outer side of anterior teeth and clypeal lateral projection; in females, clypeal emargination deep, rounded, wide; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth shorter than the eye; clypeal lateral margin convex, projection sharp; distance between clypeal lateral projection and anterior margin of eye longer than one eye; distance between clypeal lateral projection and the adjacent anterior tooth equal to or longer than the basal width of the anterior tooth; right angle between outer side of anterior teeth and clypeal lateral projection; antenna with 10 antennomeres; pronotal posterior corners rounded; scutellum ogival, finely punctate throughout; three dark protibial teeth, middle and apical equally large; distance between basal and middle teeth longer than between middle and apical; mesotibia cylindrical in cross section, with two transversal carinae, the apical carina incomplete in males, complete in females; inner margin of male metatibia not carinate; two metatibial transverse carina present posteriorly; metatarsomere I shorter than metatarsomere II; in males protarsomeres and mesotarsomeres I to IV strongly enlarged; claw bifid, symmetrical, inferior tooth strongly reduced; pygidium convex, pygidial disc glabrous or slightly with bristles on apex, finely punctate, coarser in females; pygidial apex rounded (Fig. 17H); parameres, basal region equal in width to the parameres at the midline; parameral split at the apical third; inner margins of parameres straight; parameres narrower subapically; apex strongly bent downwards, ventral surface expanded laterally forming an acute angle (Fig. 17I); parameres in lateral view straight, not coplanar (Fig. 17J).

Type locality. Liogenys pallens and L. fulvescens: URUGUAY, Montevideo; L. flavicollis: ARGENTINA, Formosa, Gran Guardia.

Geographical distribution. PARAGUAY (Asunción); ARGENTINA (Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, La Rioja, Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza, La Pampa, Buenos Aires); URUGUAY (Montevideo).

Remarks. Frey (1969) designated a neotype for L. pallens, which is housed at the NHMB. As we found the primary type of Blanchard (1851) at the MNHN (Fig. 17A, D), the former must be invalidated (Article 75.8, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999). Despite Blanchard (1851) mentioned a range of length in L. pallens description, we found a single type specimen, which is here designated as the lectotype. This species has a strong sexual dimorphism and many characters vary within its distribution. A large series with males and females from the same collection event from Mendoza (Argentina) allowed the association of males and females. After comparing the male lectotype of L. pallens, the female lectotype of L. fulvescens (Fig. 17B, E) and the female holotype of L. flavicollis (Fig. 17C, F), we propose that both latter names are synonyms of L. pallens .