Exopholis Motschulsky, 1859

Calcetas, Orlando A., Adorada, Jessamyn R. & Navasero, Mario V., 2020, Review of the genus Exopholis Motschulsky, 1859 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae Melolonthinae: Leucopholini) in the Philippines, Zootaxa 4859 (4), pp. 527-536 : 528-529

Exopholis Motschulsky, 1859

( Figs. 1–3 )

Differential diagnosis. The body is small and ovoid. The labrum is nearly twice the width of clypeus and not bilobed ( Fig. 1 ). The antennae with 9 antennomeres and antennal club with three antennomeres. The prosternal process is triangulate in ventral view, rounded towards apex and it is also sparsely scaled and sparsely setose ( Fig. 2 ). The metaventral process is triangulate, widely carinate mesally and carina narrowing towards the anterior margin ( Fig. 3 ). Legs with the longer metatibial spur long, straight and tapered apically in males while it is curved mesally and with narrow and rounded apex in females. The scutellum is generally wider than long.

Exopholis , like the closely related genera Leucopholis Dejean, 1833 and Lepidiota Kirby, 1837 , has an antennal club with three antennomeres in contrast to Engertia Dalla Torre, 1912 with six. The clypeus is inclined backward when viewed laterally and the pronotum is without a median carina in Exopholis , Leucopholis and Lepidiota , this is in contrast to Stephanopholis Brenske, 1896 where the clypeus is inclined forward when viewed laterally and the pronotum with a distinct median carina. However, the labrum is not bilobed in Exopholis while it is bilobed in both Leucopholis and Lepidiota . Also, the posterior margin of the maxillary palpi are medially acute and the terminal palpomere is lacking an indistinct flattened area, shallow groove, or depression in Exopholis while the posterior margin of the maxillary palpi are not acute and the terminal palpomere has a flattened area, shallow groove, or depression in both Leucopholis and Lepidiota .

The prosternal and metaventral processes of Exopholis and Lepidiota are similar. Probably, these are the characters observed and given weight by Moser (1910) to classify E. philippinica under Lepidiota . The prosternal processes of Exopholis and Lepidiota are both lanceolate dorsally, round when viewed laterally and with a rounded apex. They are also covered with long, yellowish-white hairs and acicular scales. The metaventral process of both Exopholis and Lepidiota are triangulate and rounded apically. Also, the metaventral process of Exopholis and Lepidiota is not extending in front of the mesocoxae while it is extending in front of the mesocoxae in Leucopholis .

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Exopholis philippinica Brenske, 1894, male from IRRI. 1, clypeus and labrum, anterior aspect; 2, mesoventral process, dorsal aspect; 3, metaventral process, dorsal aspect.