Chrysina centralis ( Morón, 1990 )

Sierra, José Monzón, 2010, Three new species of Chrysina Kirby (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae; Rutelinae) from Guatemala and Mexico, Insecta Mundi 2010 (143), pp. 1-12 : 10

Chrysina centralis ( Morón, 1990)

( Figure 7, 8 , 16 , 24 , 36 )

Female description. Length 27.0 mm; width at elytral humeri 13.0 mm; maximum width (middle of elytra) 15.0 mm. Color of dorsum dark yellowish green; anterior margin of clypeus and fronto-clypeal suture black; frons disc with triangular depression greenish gold and reddish brown, lateral margins and ocular canthi greenish gold with some metallic red; antenna brown, scape with slight greenish cast; pronotal margins golden; scutellum lateral margins golden; elytral margins golden and striae yellowish green with greenish golden punctures; pygidium iridescent golden green. Color of venter iridescent yellowish green; sternites with anterior half metallic greenish gold and posterior half reddish gray; posterior coxae iridescent gray with reddish reflections; tibiae grayish or greenish brown; tarsi reddish brown with green shine; mesometasternal protrusion dark brown. Pygidium iridescent gray with golden, greenish and reddish reflections. Clypeus ( Fig. 16 ) free margins subtrapezoidal in dorsal view, margined and raised; surface with coarse and dense punctures; frons irregularly depressed and punctuated, punctures dense and deep, forming a triangular shape; fronto-clypeal suture complete; interocular distance 1.6 times wider than antennal club length. Mentum ( Fig. 24 ) narrow; anterior depression wide and deep; lateral depressions faint; posterior depression triangularly shaped; surface with few large setigerous punctures, setae very long. Pronotum at base 2.8 times as wide as interocular distance; surface moderately punctate, punctures deep and circular. Lateral margin completely beaded. Elytra punctate striate; striae well defined and with punctures moderate in size and depth; intervals convex. Elytron 19.0 mm long and 2.7 times as long as pronotum; lateral margin with bead complete. Pygidium moderately rugopunctate, apical margin with long sparse tan setae; surface convex and slightly prominent towards apex. Venter with mesometasternal protrusion short and stout. Metasternum sides setigerously punctate; punctures small and moderately deep; setae abundant, long and tan colored. Legs with protibia clearly tridentate, teeth long and with a longitudinal row of deep and wide setigerous punctures, setae stout and moderately long; surface rugose. Inferior genital plates ( Fig. 36 ) asymmetrical, subcircular and convex; left one rounded with irregularly emarginated distal margin; right one with a lateral acute apex.

Material examined. One female with the following data: “ GUATEMALA, San Marcos, Aldea La Fraternidad, 1900 m., 3 JULIO 2004. Local collector”.

Remarks. Chrysina centralis is an intriguing species as I have been looking for it in many places in the Guatemalan highlands and middle elevations of the central and western volcanic chain (including the type locality) and only have found C. pehlkei . The latter species I have collected long series that show it is a fairly variable species, which lead David Hawks (personal communication) to think C. centralis was just a variation of C. pehlkei . The female specimen described here was collected by a local person, thus it is possible that the specimen didn’t come exactly from the cited collecting locality. Local people usually walk to gather firewood up higher in the volcanoes and I believe this specimen could have come from a colder, higher forest. In both of the localities where these species have been found there are higher forests which are characterized by having Abies guatemalensis Rehder (Pinaceae) , which haven’t been explored because of difficult access. Although similar in general appearance, the females of C. centralis can be differentiated from C. pehlkei easily by their different genital inferior plates ( Fig. 34 and 36 ). The female here described has the following characters that make it different from C. pehlkei females: clypeus semitrapezoidal (semicircular in C. pehlkei Fig. 15 ); mentum ( Fig. 23 and 24 ); pronotal marginal bead complete; protibial teeth long; abdominal sternites metallic greenish gold; pygidium iridescent golden green; mesometasternal protrusion dark brown. This female specimen matches most of the description of the species ( Morón 1990) except for the coloration of the tibiae and pygidium. Morón also doesn’t mention the metallic coloration of the sternites present in this female that could be attributed to the exposure of the holotype to alcohol, which he mentions and also is obvious in his picture of the holotype ( Morón 1990: fig. 4). Another possibility is that this female is a color variant like some specimens of C. orizabae Bates , another member of the same Adelaida group (sensu Hawks 2001).

Figures

Figure 1-12. Dorsal and ventral habitus of adult Chrysina specimens. 1-2) C. giesberti male paratype from Cerro Cruz Maltín, Huehuetenango. 3-4) C. hawksi male paratype from Bulej, Huehuetenango. 5-6) C. baileyana male paratype from Chiantla, Huehuetenango. 7-8) C. centralis female from La Fraternidad, San Marcos. 9-10) C. guatemalensis female from Bojonal, San Marcos. 11-12) C. tecunumani female from Cerro Pinalón, El Progreso.

Figure 13-20. Clypeus of Chrysina spp. 13) C. giesberti. 14) C. hawksi. 15) C. pehlkei male from Cerro Alúx, Sacatepéquez. 16) C. centralis. 17) C. baileyana. 18) C. triumphalis from Bojonal, San Marcos. 19) C. guatemalensis. 20) C. tecunumani. Length of line 7 mm.

Figure 21-28. Mentum of Chrysina spp. 21) C. giesberti. 22) C. hawksi. 23) C. pehlkei. 24) C. centralis. 25) C. guatemalensis. 26) C. baileyana. 27) C. triumphalis. 28) C. tecunumani. Length of line 4 mm.

Figure 32-38. Female inferior genital plates of Chrysina spp. 32) C. giesberti. 33) C. hawksi. 34) C. pehlkei. 35) C. baileyana. 36) C. centralis. 37) C. guatemalensis. 38) C. tecunumani. Length of line 2.5 mm.