Gonaphodiopsis, Dellacasa & Dellacasa & Gordon, 2012

Dellacasa, Marco, Dellacasa, Giovanni & Gordon, Robert D., 2012, Systematic revision of Gonaphodiellus taxa, with description of two new genera and fourteen new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (230), pp. 1-41 : 22-23

Genus Gonaphodiopsis new genus

Type species. Gonaphodiopsis montesdeocai new species, here designated.

Diagnosis. Small size species (length 4.0-5.5 mm), shortly oblong, strongly convex, shiny, glabrous. Piceous or reddish brown, usually with pronotum and elytral disc darker. Head with epistome rather coarsely, evenly punctured; clypeus feebly sinuate at middle, round at sides, margin glabrous; genae obtusely round, not ciliate, not or feebly protruding from the eyes; frontal suture not tuberculate; first segment of labial palps longer than second ( Fig. 117 ). Pronotum moderately transverse, convex, dually punctured, rarely with a basal belt of contiguous large punctures crenulating a sort of edge; hind angles broadly obliquely truncate; base not bordered. Scutellum small, triangularly elongate. Elytra amygdaliform, distinctly denticulate at shoulder, deeply striate; striae crenulate or subcrenulate; interstriae convex, sometimes preapically subcariniform. Fore tibiae distally tridentate and proximally serrulate on outer margin; upper side densely and more or less coarsely punctured. Hind tibiae with feeble transverse carinae on outer face; apically fimbriate with spinules moderately elongate and irregularly unequal. Pygidium strongly alutaceous, evenly roughly punctured; each puncture with a short recumbent hair; apical margin with few, very elongate, straight setae. Sexually dimorphic characters shown in males by pronotum relatively more transverse, less convex, less coarsely and less densely punctured; fore tibiae apical spur stouter and shorter. Aedeagus with parameres apically shortly bristled, medially with a characteristic oblique fold. Epipharynx with anterior margin deeply sinuate at middle, widely round at sides; epitorma subconical; corypha with two prominent apical strong spiculae; pedia densely pubescent, with irregularly arranged lateral stout chaetae; chaetopariae dense and rather short.

Distribution. Guatemala, Mexico.

Etymology. The name results from the combination of the genus name Gonaphodius and the suffix – opsis [= looking like]. The gender is feminine.

Bionomics. Besides the species collected in horse or sheep dung in open pastures or in forests, several taxa were found feeding in bat dung in caves (labels data).

Figures

Figure 109-119. Gonaphodiopsis hypogea, new species (Salamander Cave, Rancho del Cielo, Gomes Farias, Tamaulipas, Mexico). 109) Epipharynx. 110-111) Habitus (length ideogram and morphological details). 112- 113) Aedeagus (dorsal and lateral view). Gonaphodiopsis montesdeocai, new species (Xuatusco env., Parada de los Pinos, Veracruz, Mexico). 114) Epipharynx. 115-116) Habitus (morphological details and length ideogram). 117) Right labial palp (dorsal view). 118-119) Aedeagus (dorsal and lateral view).