Pseudataenius, Brown, 1927

Stebnicka, Z. Teresa & Skelley, Paul E., 2009, Taxonomic redefinition of the genera Parataenius Balthasar and Pseudataenius Brown, with descriptions of three new species (Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Eupariini), Insecta Mundi 2009 (66), pp. 1-18 : 10

Genus PSEUDATAENIUS Brown

Pseudataenius Brown 1927: 290 – Woodruff 1973: 134; Cartwright 1974: 14-16; Dellacasa 1988: 271 (catalogue). Type species: Ataenius socialis Horn , by monotypy.

Ataenioides Petrovitz 1973: 150 . New synonymy. Type species: Ataenioides gracilitarsis Petrovitz , by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Head transverse, more flattened in male, eyes large, abdominal sternites weakly coalesced, tarsi slender, protibial spur elongate and inwardly curved in male.

Description. Length 4.3-5.0 mm. Body elongate-oblong, yellowish brown to castaneous, shiny. Head flattened, eyes large. Pronotum slightly convex, finely margined, usually with lateral fringe of setae. Elytral striae fine, intervals minutely punctate. Ventral sclerites shiny; meso-metasternal carina fine or lacking. Abdominal sternites weakly coalesced; pygidium convex, transverse carina fine, disc alutaceous, not deeply eroded. Legs of various length; protibia with 1 to 3 lateral teeth, meso- and metatibia with apical row of setae.

Remarks. The North American members of the genus exhibit strong sexual dimorphism such that females could be mistaken for separate species. The principal differences between the sexes are: general appearance of body, shape and sculpture of the head and pronotum, modification of protibia, and length of tarsi. Besides the characters given in the key, males show a yellowish brown to brown background color, while females are usually darker with elytra lighter or darker than head and pronotum. Male genitalia are similar in shape to those of the West Indian Ataenius terminalis group of species ( Stebnicka 2002, 2007).

Distribution. Central and southern United States, Brazil, Bolivia.