Euphoria limbalis Fall, 1905

Orozco, Jesús, 2012, Monographic Revision of the American Genus Euphoria Burmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 11) 66, pp. 1-182 : 44-45

Euphoria limbalis Fall, 1905 revised status

(Appendix 4: Fig. 16 )

Euphoria limbalis Fall 1905: 273 . Original combination.

Holotype at MCZ, examined. Synonymized with Euphoria fulgida (F.) by Hardy (2001).

Description (n = 190). Length 11.2–14.7 mm; width 6.1–8.4 mm. Color: Dorsal surface shiny. Body bright green, yellowish green, reddish green, or reddish. Elytra frequently with reddish brown, longitudinal band on sides, band occasionally on pronotum; elytra frequently with small, dispersed, cretaceous markings mostly on apical half. Pygidium frequently with 2 or 4 irregular, cretaceous markings. Head: Frons densely punctate, punctures moderate in size, round, frequently confluent; excavated, with 1 central or 2 longitudinal depressions separated by ridge; sparsely to moderately setose; setae short to moderate, yellowish. Clypeus subquadrate, densely punctate; punctures as on frons; apex weakly reflexed, truncate in dorsal view, sinuate in frontal view; sides weakly arcuate, subparallel, moderately to strongly raised. Antennal club longer than stem in males, shorter in females. Pronotum: Surface glabrous, densely punctate; punctures round and moderate in size at middle, denser, lunulate, larger towards lateral margins. Base in front of scutellum strongly emarginate. Scutellum longer than wide, impunctate, apex variably rounded. Elytra: Surface glabrous, densely punctate; punctures dense, moderate in size, lunulate in anterior half, irregular and coalescent in posterior half. Costae weakly to strongly raised. Lateral margins strongly rugose. Posterior half of sutural costa elevated. Pygidium: Surface concentrically strigose, moderately setose; setae short, yellowish. Legs: Basal protibial tooth obsolete to subobsolete in males, weakly developed in females. Mesotibial carina frequently developed into 1–2 sharp teeth. Procoxae and profemora setose; setae long, yellowish. Venter: Mesometasternal process well developed, extended beyond mesocoxae, glabrous, apex evenly rounded. Mesepimera, metasternum, and metacoxae setose, setae as on procoxae. Metasternum rugose, setose laterally, glabrous and impunctate at middle; median sulcus strongly impressed. Abdominal sternites 2–5 with cretaceous markings laterally; markings variable in size, irregular in shape; sides of abdomen strongly ridged; sternites of males at middle with weak to moderate, medial longitudinal depression. Male genitalia: Parameres as in Fig. 16c .

Diagnosis. Euphoria limbalis is distinguished based on the bright coloration, smaller size, antennal club longer than head in males, pronotum coarsely punctate at middle, impunctate scutellum, strongly developed mesometasternal process, strongly ridged abdominal sternites, and the male genitalia. Most specimens are smaller than those of E. fulgida , but size is not a reliable character to separate these species. The dorsum of E. limbalis appears coarse to the naked eye, while in E. fulgida it appears smooth.

Taxonomic History. Fall (1905) described E. limbalis based on one female from Enterprise, Florida, USA. The characters listed by Fall represented a combination of useful characters to separate E. limbalis from related species ( E. fulgida and E. monticola ) and characters with high intraspecific variability. The shape of the prothorax, the lateral bead of the pronotum, and the vestiture of the pygidium and abdomen listed by Fall all vary, and the variant forms are also observed to a certain degree in E. fulgida and E. monticola . Casey (1915) included this species in the subgenus Erirhipis . Lastly, Hardy (2001), without justification, listed E. limbalis as a subspecies of E. fulgida . I hereby reinstate E. limbalis as a valid species.

Natural History. Adults have been collected in window traps, Malaise traps, McPhail traps, and fruit fly traps.

Temporal Distribution. March (2), April (7), May (75), June (44), July (21) ( Fig. 16f ).

Geographic Distribution. Found in Florida, USA ( Fig. 16g ).

Specimens Examined (190). Type material: Holotype male at MCZ labeled “Enterprise/ 28-5 Fla// Limbalis/ TYPE// n. sp.// Sz. det.// H.C. FALL// COLLECTION// CollHubbard/ &Schwarz// M.C.Z./ Type/ 24877”. Other material: USA (187): FLORIDA. Alachua Co. : Gainesville (1); Broward Co.: Royal Palm Park (2); Gilchrist Co.: Trenton (7.5 mi. E) (1); Highlands Co.: Lake Placid (24), Sebring (1); Hillsborough Co.: Lutz (1); Lee Co.: Estero (1), Sanibel Island (3); Levy Co.: Archer (7); Marion Co.: Dunnellon (4), Lake Marion Estates (2); Miami-Dade Co.: Everglades National Park (1), Florida City (4), Homestead (1), Key Biscayne (2), Lemon City (1), Miami (44), Naranja (1), Virginia Key (3), no data (2); Monroe Co.: Big Pine Key (1), Islamorada Key (17), Key Largo (14), Vaca Key (1), Long Key (5), Lower Metacumbe Key (1), Plantation Key (1), Upper Key Largo (6), Upper Metacumbe Key (3), no data (1); Orange Co.: No data (1); Osceola Co. : Kissimmee (1); Palm Beach Co.: Palm Beach (6), Royal Palm Park (7); Polk Co.: Fort Meade (1); Sarasota Co. : Venice (6); Seminole Co.: Sanford (1); Volusia Co. : Daytona Beach (1), Enterprise (5), Holly Hill (1); No data: Florida (3).

Figures

Fig. 16. Euphoria limbalis. a) Habitus, b) Head, c) Parameres, d-e) Color variation, f) Temporal distribution, g) Geographic distribution in the United States.