Liogenys mendozana Moser, 1918

Cherman, Mariana Alejandra, Basílio, Daniel Silva, Mise, Kleber Makoto, Frisch, Johannes & Almeida, Lúcia Massutti De, 2021, Liogenys Guérin-Méneville, 1831 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae Diplotaxini) from the Chacoan Province and its boundaries: taxonomic overview with four new species, Zootaxa 4938 (1), pp. 1-59 : 27-29

Liogenys mendozana Moser, 1918

Figs. 12 ; 26 .

Liogenys mendozanus Moser, 1918: 102 ; Frey 1969: 38, 41 (key); Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist); Cherman et al. 2017: 4 (generic history).

Liogenys mendozana: Blackwelder 1944: 227 (checklist).

Liogenys mendozanus mendozanus: Frey 1969: 52 .

Liogenys mendozana mendozana: Evans 2003: 210 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 179 (checklist).

Liogenys mendozanus incisus Frey, 1969: 52 ; Krajčík 2012: 145 (checklist). New synonym

Liogenys mendozana incisa: Evans 2003: 210 (checklist); Evans & Smith 2009: 179 (checklist).

Type material. Liogenys mendozanus male lectotype here designated ( ZMHB): [white, outlined black, typeset and handwritten] “ Argentinien / Mendoza ”, [white handwritten] “ Liogenys / mendozanus / Mos / Typen ♂”, [light red typeset] “Typus”, [white, outlined red, typeset and handwritten] “ LIOGENYS / MENDOZANA / Moser, 1918 / LECTOTYPE / Des. Cherman M. A.”, genitalia mounted. Paralectotypes (1) ( ZMHB) with the same data of the lectotype, plus the label: [white, outlined red, typeset and handwritten] “ LIOGENYS / MENDOZANA / Moser, 1918 / PARALECTOTYPE / Des. Cherman M. A.”.

Liogenys mendozanus incisus female neotype here designated ( MZSP): [white typeset] “ Argentina / Salta / XII.1959 / Aguaray / A. Martinez leg.” [red, typeset and handwritten] “ LIOGENYS / MENDOZANUS / INCISUS / NEOTYPE / [Des.] Cherman M. A.” .

Non-type material (14). BOLIVIA. Santa Cruz: Río Pailon , 320 m, 14.X.2001, P. Schmith, 1 female ( CMVD) . ARGENTINA. Salta: Urundel , 10.X.1968, L. Peña, 1 female ( NHMB) ; 1 km N Cafayate , 24.XI.2006, 26º03’52’’S 65º56’19’’W, F. Ocampo, E. Ruiz, G. SanBlas, & G. Zalazar, 2 females ( IADIZA) ; Tucumán: without locality, date and collector, 2 males and 3 females ( MLPA) ; Santiago del Estero: without locality and date, Wagner, 1 male ( MLPA) ; Córdoba: San Vicente, Frenzel, 1 female ( ZMHB) ; Mendoza : without locality, 1957, H. Kulzer, 1 male ( ZMHB) ; Estación Pedregal , without date, Jensen-Haarup, 1 female ( ZMUC) ; Santa Rosa, Reserva de Ñancuñan , 11–13.XII.2002; V.M. Diéguez, 1 female ( CMVD) .

Diagnosis. Body elongate, dark brown, shiny ( Fig. 12 A–B); frons swollen; clypeal emargination shallow, rounded and narrow; outer sides of anterior teeth follow the lateral margin of clypeus ( Fig. 12E ); antenna with 9 antennomeres; elytra coarsely punctate, elytral suture unicolored with the elytron, slightly or not elevated; three protibial teeth equal in size; distance between basal and middle teeth longer than between middle and apical; inferior tooth of a claw very short and perpendicular to the axis of the superior tooth; male metatibia strongly expanded subapically towards the apex ( Fig. 12F ), protarsomeres and mesotarsomeres I to IV slightly enlarged; parameres equal in width along their total length; apex strongly truncate ( Fig. 12H ).

Redescription. Length 10.7–12.4 mm; width: 5.8–6.5 mm. Dark brown. Head: distance between eyes more than twice the width of one eye in males, three times in females; frons swollen; clypeal emargination shallow, rounded and narrow; outer sides of anterior teeth follow the lateral margin of clypeus; lateral margin straight or slightly convex, not produced; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width slightly wider than the apex; fovea deep shallow, elongate, extending past the transverse midline of the palpomere; antenna with 9 antennomeres, club lighter in color and equal to the funicle. Thorax: anterior margin of pronotum straight; glabrous, punctures coarse and sparse; pronotal posterior corners rounded to subangulate; hypomere with short bristles; mesepisternum and sides of metaventrite with bristles; distance between mesocoxae and metacoxae twice the length of the metacoxa; scutellum ogival, sparsely and randomly punctate. Elytra: shiny, glabrous, dark brown; elytral suture slightly unicolored with the elytron, not elevated; all four elytral ridges weakly defined, sometimes inner pair of ridges more defined than the others. Legs: three protibial teeth equal in size; distance between basal and middle teeth longer than between middle and apical; mesotibia cylindrical in cross section, surface finely sculptured; two transverse carinae, the apical one complete; metacoxa sparsely with bristles, thick bristles; basal apophysis of metacoxa not produced; two metatibial transverse carinae present in females, absent or weakly marked in males; male metatibia carinate along the inner margin; abruptly produced and strongly expanded subapically towards apex, apical inner surface setose abundantly; metatibial apical spurs of different lengths; the larger longer than the diameter of the tibial apex; protarsomeres and mesotarsomeres I to IV slightly enlarged, protarsomere long; metatarsomere I slightly shorter than metatarsomere II; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth of a claw longer and equal in width to the inferior, distance between teeth more than twice the length of the inferior tooth; inferior tooth perpendicular to the axis of the superior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites scarcely with bristles on disc; propygidium glabrous; pygidium flat; subtrapezoidal, as wide as it is long ( Fig. 12G ), narrower in females ( Fig. 12H ); pygidial width not exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc glabrous; pygidial apex quadrate. Parameres: basal region equal in width to both sections of the parameres at its maximum width, parameral split at third portion, inner margins straight and close together; apically slightly curved downwards; apex strongly truncate, forming in a frontal view rounded structure, sculptured, spiked at the inferior margin; parameres slightly convex in lateral view ( Fig. 12J ).

Type locality. Liogenys mendozana : ARGENTINA, Mendoza ; L. mendozana incisa : ARGENTINA, Salta .

Geographical distribution. BOLIVIA (Santa Cruz); ARGENTINA (Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, Mendoza).

Remarks. Among the specimens of L. mendozana examined, we found a range of variation in the coarseness of the punctures on pronotum and elytral disc, which has been previously mentioned by Frey (1969). Frey (1969) used this variation to distinguish two subspecies, while all the other morphological features are identical.After examining the material we understand that this is only an intraspecific variation, so here we propose L. mendozana incisa as the junior synonym of L. mendozana . The type series Frey (1969) used to describe L. mendozana incisa , which comprises five specimens with males and females, was not found at USNM or NHMB, even though both depositories were stated by the author in the original description. We found one specimen from Salta (MZSP) that was identified and labeled by Frey as L. mendozana incisa , and matches with the description and type locality mentioned by the author [Article 76.1, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999)] ( Frey 1969). Due to the purpose of clarifying the taxonomic status by fixing this name to a specimen, according to the Article 75.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999), this specimen was selected as the neotype ( Fig. 12B, D ).

Liogenys mendozana is distributed along the eastern Andes, from Bolivia (new country record presented here) through Mendoza ( Argentina), at the Monte Province where xerophytic vegetation predominates. It can be found in sympatry with L. cribricollis , L. densata , L. obscura , L. opacicollis , and L. pallens .

Figures

FIGURE 12. Liogenys mendozana Moser, 1918 male lectotype views: A) dorsal, C) labels, E) head and pronotum, F) lateral, G) pygidium, H) female pygidium, and parameres in views: I) dorsal and J) lateral; L. mendozanus incisus Frey, 1969 female neotype views: B) dorsal, D) labels.

FIGURE 26. Geographical distribution of four known Liogenys species occurring in the Chacoan province and its boundaries. Shaped points: previously known species; colors: Neotropical provinces (Morrone 2014) and Monte province from the South American Transition Zone (Roig-Juñent et al. 2018).