Cyclocephala marquezi Delgado and Mora-Aguilar, 2020

Delgado, Leonardo & Mora-Aguilar, Eder F., 2020, A New Species of Cyclocephala Dejean (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) from Eastern Mexico, with New Records for Mexican Species of Cyclocephalini, The Coleopterists Bulletin 74 (2), pp. 447-453 : 448-451

Cyclocephala marquezi Delgado and Mora-Aguilar , new species

ZooBank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:61A57B93-769A-43B2-88E4-8B89A23116FE ( Figs. 1–7 )

Type Material. Holotype male labeled: “ MÉXICO: Veracruz, Ilamatlán, Xoxocapa , 16-X-2006, Alt. 393 m, trampa de luz, J. Márquez, J. Asiain, L. Herman y F. Ram´ırez cols./ N 20°48 ′ 25.9 ′′ W 98°29 ′ 49.6 ′′, selva baja caducifolia”. One female paratype with same data as holotype. Two males paratypes with same data, except: 9-VI-2005, Alt. 365 m, J. Asiain, F. Ram´ırez y J. Márquez cols./ N 20°48 ′ 21.4 ′′ W 98°20 ′ 47 ′′.

The holotype and one female paratype are deposited in IEXA. Two male paratypes are deposited in CC-UAEH and LLDC.

Description. Holotype male ( Fig. 1 ). Length 9.9 mm; width 4.1 mm. Dorsal surface glabrous, color testaceous, except clypeus and pronotum light reddish brown, and frons and vertex piceous to black. Head: Clypeus trapezoidal with anterior angles rounded, apex truncate, slightly reflexed; clypeal surface rugose. Frons with sparse punctures, moderate in size, smaller on vertex. Interocular width equals 2.5 transverse eye diameters. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club oblong, longer than antennomeres 1–7. Pronotum: Lateral margins almost equally curved, posterior angles rounded; basal bead complete; surface with ocellate punctures, moderate in size and density, denser on sides. Elytra: Sides almost parallel, striae with punctures moderate in size, 1 st interval densely punctate; epipleuron not enlarged or thickened. Pygidium: Surface convex, rugulose, basal quarter with sparse setae. Legs: Protibia tridentate, teeth about equidistant from one another; apical protarsomere thickened, with inner claw broad, widely cleft at apex, and shorter than apical protarsomere ( Fig. 2 ). Mesotarsus longer than mesotibia. Metatarsus as long as metatibia. Venter: With long, yellowish setae denser on meso- and metathorax. Prosternal process long, columnar, apex semioval, with a raised, transverse, thickened “button” on anterior half. Abdominal sternites concave with last sternite emarginate. Genitalia: Parameres triangular with apices slightly widened, and with a lateral denticle ( Figs. 3–4 ).

Paratypes (2♂♂, 1♀). Length 9.6–11.8 mm; width 4.3–4.9 mm. The female ( Figs. 5–7 ) differs from the male in the following respects: interocular width equals 2.7 transverse eye diameters; antennal club slightly shorter, but semiequal to antennomeres 1–7 combined; marginal bead of pronotum absent in front of scutellum; epipleuron attenuated, becoming obsolete at level of metacoxa or sternite 1; pygidium less convex and with larger punctation; protarsus and inner claw not thickened, inner claw entire; meso- and metatarsi shorter than respective tibiae; abdominal ventrites convex; and last abdominal ventrite entire. In the three paratypes, the dorsal color is slightly darker than the holotype. In the two male paratypes, the interocular width equals 2.4–2.5 transverse eye diameters, and in one male paratype the frons is reddish brown at sides and piceous on the disc.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Juan Márquez, colleague and friend, and specialist of the Coleoptera family Staphylinidae . Juan formed and developed the Colección de Coleoptera del Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

Diagnosis. Cyclocephala marquezi is similar to Cyclocephala halffteriana Mart´ınez, Cyclocephala immaculata (Olivier) , Cyclocephala longula LeConte , and Cyclocephala seditiosa LeConte. The new species shares with these species the following character states: body color primarily testaceous, rarely with black pattern; dorsum completely glabrous; clypeus truncate and weakly reflexed; antennal club longer than antennomeres 1–7 in the males; pronotum with basal bead complete or slightly interrupted in front of scutellum; and metatarsi subequal in length to metatibiae, not longer. The new species differs from C. halffteriana , C. longula , and C. seditiosa by the inner claw of the protarsus broadly cleft in the males, while the males

(white triangle), C. longula (gray square), C. seditiosa (black square), and C. marquezi , new species (black triangle).

of C. halffteriana have the inner claw finely cleft, and males of C. longula and C. seditiosa have the claw entire, not cleft. From C. immaculata , C. marquezi differs by the posterior half of the frons and pronotum with punctures moderate in size and ringed, not with small, simple punctures, and by the different shape of the male genitalia, i.e., parameres short and with a lateral denticle ( Figs. 3–4 ), not elongated and lacking lateral denticle (fig. 170 in Ratcliffe and Cave 2015).

The female of C. marquezi is also similar to females of C. longula and Cyclocephala larssoni Endrödi. From both species, C. marquezi is distinguished by the clypeal apex very slightly reflexed (below the level of the frons in lateral view) ( Figs. 6–7 ), whereas the clypeal apex is not distinctly reflexed (above the level of the frons in lateral view) in the other species ( Figs. 8–11 ).

In addition, C. marquezi is easily separated from Cyclocephala laminata Burmeister and Cyclocephala melanocephala (Fabricius) and other similar species by the club longer than antennomeres 1–7 in males and semiequal to antennomeres 1–7 in females, not shorter than antennomeres 1–7 combined.

Species similar to C. melanocephala have been suggested as related to the genus Parapucaya Prell , a genus previously placed in the tribe Pentodontini but now included in the Cyclocephalini tribe ( Paucar-Cabrera and Moore 2018). In the key by Paucar-Cabrera and Moore (2018), C. marquezi keys to Cyclocephala because the lateral margins of the clypeus near the base are flat, the clypeus adjacent to the frontocypeal suture is weakly thickened, the frontoclypeal disc is flat, and the anterior margin of pronotum is devoid of tubercles (cfr. couplet 8).

The keys to separate males and females of Cyclocephala species from Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize ( Ratcliffe et al. 2013) are partially modified as follows (changes in italics) to include C. marquezi :

Key to males:

17 ′. Frons piceous or black ............. 17a

17a (17 ′). Inner claw of protarsus broadly cleft ... ................ C. marquezi Delgado and Mora-Aguilar , new species

17a ′. Inner claw of protarsus entire or finely cleft ........................................ 18

18 (17a ′). Elytra with short, pale setae, especially along suture on apical half. Parameres as in fig. 330 ................. C. sinaloe Howden and Endrödi

Key to females:

24 (22 ′). Epipleuron attenuated and becoming obsolete at level of metacoxa or sternite 1. Metatarsus shorter than metatibia.. .............................................. 25

24 ′. Epipleuron simple but not obsolete at level of metacoxa, instead extending to near apex of elytron. Metatarsus slightly longer than metatibia ........... ....................... C. freudei Endrödi

25 (24). [DELETE FIRST PHRASE] Antennal club as long as antennomeres 1–7 combined ( Fig. 8 ) .................... 25a

25 ′. [DELETE FIRST PHRASE] Antennal club shorter than antennomeres 1–7 combined ( Figs. 10–11 ) .................. ...................... C. larssoni Endrödi

25a (25). Clypeal apex slightly reflexed below plane of frons; antennal club wide (1: 0.45) ( Figs. 5–7 ) ........................... .............. C. marquezi Delgado and Mora-Aguilar , new species

25a ′. Clypeal apex distinctly reflexed above plane of frons; antennal club slender (1:0.35) ( Figs. 9–10 ) ...................... ...................... C. longula LeConte

Distribution. Cyclocephala marquezi is known from the region of Xoxocapa in the municipality of Ilamatlán in the northern portion of the state of Veracruz, Mexico ( Fig. 12 ). This region is characterized by lowlands with elevations below 500 m, sandy soil, and disturbed tropical deciduous dry forests.

The distribution of C. marquezi contrasts with the distribution of similar species. Cyclocephala marquezi occurs in northeastern Mexico, while C. immaculata is distributed in the Lesser Antilles, C. halffteriana is known only from extreme northwestern Mexico, C. larssoni occurs on the Pacific slopes of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, C. longula is found in the western half of the USA and in northwestern Mexico, and C. seditiosa is endemic to the eastern USA ( Fig. 12 ). These species share a similar habitat, occurring in lowlands with sandy soil and xerophilous scrub, chaparral, and/or dry deciduous forests.

Figures

Figs. 1–11. Cyclocephala species. C. marquezi, new species: 1) Habitus of holotype; 2) Apical protarsomere and claw, holotype; 3) Parameres of holotype, frontal view; 4) Parameres, lateral view; 5) Habitus of female paratype; 6) Head, female paratype, dorsal view; 7) Head, female paratype, lateral view. C. longula, female head: 8) Dorsal view; 9) Lateral view. C. larssoni, female head: 10) Dorsal view; 11) Lateral view.

Fig. 12. Distribution of Cyclocephala species. C. halffteriana (white circle), C. immaculata (gray circle), C. larssoni