Euphoria dimidiata ( Gory and Percheron, 1833 )

Orozco, Jesús, 2012, Monographic Revision of the American Genus Euphoria Burmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 11) 66, pp. 1-182 : 20-21

Euphoria dimidiata ( Gory and Percheron, 1833)

(Appendix 4: Fig. 4 )

Cetonia dimidiata Gory and Percheron: 1833 : 275. Original combination.

Lectotype at MHNG here designated. One paralectotype at MHNG, examined.

Euphoria leucopyge Bates 1889: 366 . New synonymy.

Lectotype at BMNH designated by Hardy (2001), not examined. One paralectotype at BMNH, examined.

Description (n = 338). Length 8.8–12.7 mm; width 5.3–7.5 mm. Color: Surface shiny, head and pronotum black. Elytra light to dark red or orange on basal half, area to the sides of scutellum frequently black, posterior half and apex occasionally with cretaceous markings; markings white, short, transverse, with greenish or bluish reflections, extending from lateral margin. Pygidium variably covered by cretaceous layer. Head: Frons strongly strigose to strigopunctate, sparsely to densely setose; setae moderate to long, whitish to yellowish. Clypeus subrectangular, sides not raised, weakly to moderately convergent anteriorly, apex not raised, weakly sinuate; surface strigopunctate to densely punctate; punctures moderate in size, round, coalescent, glabrous to sparsely setose; setae yellowish to whitish, short to long. Antennal club as long as stem in males, slightly shorter in females. Pronotum: Surface moderately densely punctate; punctures lunulate, small, denser and confluent towards apex and sides, sparsely to densely setose; setae short to moderate, yellowish to whitish. Sides weakly angulate to evenly rounded, base in front of scutellum weakly to moderately emarginate. Scutellum longer than wide, impunctate. Elytra: Surface moderately densely punctate; striae bearing 3 rows of lunulate punctures, first striae frequently with grooves and geminate punctures, costae weakly to well defined. Posterior half of sutural costa raised in lateral view. Surface glabrous to moderately densely setose; setae short to long, whitish to yellowish. Pygidium: Surface subconcentrically striate, striae discontinuous, glabrous to densely setose; setae short to moderate, whitish to yellowish. Legs: Protibial teeth equidistant, occasionally entirely worn down; apical tooth occasionally enlarged. Metatibial carina weakly developed. Venter: Mesometasternal process weakly compressed laterally, extending anteriorly to same level as mesocoxae or slightly beyond, glabrous on mesosternal lobe, apex rounded to slightly flat. Mesepimera, metasternum, and metacoxae setose, setae as on legs. Metasternum rugose, setose laterally, glabrous an impunctate at middle. Median sulcus vague to weakly evident. Metafemora with weakly developed carina. Abdominal sternites densely setose laterally, sparsely setose medially, setae on sternites 3–5 exclusively on anterolateral margin, setae on segments 6–7 on lateral margin; setae as on legs. Male genitalia: Parameres as in Fig. 4c .

Diagnosis. Euphoria dimidiata is separated from the other species in the group by the truncate apex of the clypeus, base of the pronotum in front of the scutellum weakly to moderately emarginate, and the mesometasternal process extending anteriorly to the same level as the mesocoxae or only slightly beyond. The bluish cretaceous markings present on the elytra of some specimens are also unique in the genus.

Notes. Specimens with tomentous markings (previously considered to be E. leucopyge ), are more common in the northern part of its range but are also found elsewhere.

Taxonomic History. Gory and Percheron (1833) described E. dimidiata from a Mexican specimen. Bates (1889) described E. leucopyge based on specimens, some sympatric with E. dimidiata , that had the pygidium covered by a white, cretaceous layer. Based on the examination of the types and the study of 335 specimens, I hypothesize that E. leucopyge is conspecific with E. dimidiata and therefore place it in synonymy.

Natural History. Adults are known to visit flowers of Asteraceae ( Deloya 1988) . Morón et al. (1997) recorded the species feeding on flowers of Mimosa sp. and Spondias sp. (Anacardiaceae) in a variety of habitats between 200–1,600 m elevation. Larvae and adults are frequently found associated with debris piles of A. mexicana .

Temporal Distribution. January (2), May (2), June (4), July (6), August (3), September (31),

October (103), November (26), December (8) ( Fig. 4e ).

Geographic Distribution. Known from northern Mexico south through Honduras ( Fig. 4f ). Morón et al. (1997) is the only record known from Chihuahua, Mexico (recorded as E. leucopyge ). Three specimens with label data for Austin, TX, USA are considered suspect as the species probably does not occur in that area. The northernmost distribution for the species is northeastern Mexico (Linares, Nuevo León, which is 627 km south of Austin).

Specimens Examined (338). Type material: Euphoria dimidiata ( Gory and Percheron, 1833) ; lectotype male at MHNG here designated labeled “Gory/ TYPE// dimidiata/ G. et P. B./ Mexico // Coll. Melly ” and my lectotype label; paralectotype male at MHNG labeled “Gory/ TYPE// Coll. Melly ” and my paralectotype label. Euphoria leucopyge Bates 1889 ; paralectotype female at BMNH labeled “PARA/ LECTO-/TYPE/ SYN-/ TYPE// I Álamos/ Mexico/ Buchan – Hepburn.// B.C.A. Col., II(2)./ Euphoria / leucopyge, Bates // PARALECTOTYPE / Euphoria / leucopyge Bts ” . Other material: EL SALVADOR (7): AHUACHAPÁN: San Francisco Menéndez (2); CUSCATLÁN: Rosario (1); LA LIBERTAD: Santa Tecla (2); SAN MIGUEL: La Ceiba (1); SAN SALVADOR: San Salvador (1). GUATEMALA (2): CHIMALTENANGO: Quisaché (1); SAN MARCOS: Palin (1). HONDURAS (108): COMAYAGUA: El Taladro (66), Siguatepeque (5); CORTÉS: Santa Cruz de Yojoa (2); FRANCISCO MORAZÁN: Cedros (7), El Zamorano (1), Suyapa (1), Talanga (25 km SW) (2), Tegucigalpa (1); LA PAZ: La Paz (20); YORO: Yoro (3). MEXICO (194): BAJA CALIFORNIA: Ensenada (1); CHIAPAS: Rizo de Oro (1), Tuxtla Gutiérrez (2), Villa Morelos (3); COLIMA: Manzanillo (1); DURANGO: Durango (1); ESTADO DE MÉXICO: Tejupilco (1), Temascaltepec (2); GUANAJUATO: San Luis de la Paz (1); GUERRERO: Acahuizotla (3), Chichihualco (2), Chilpancingo (1), El Bejuco (3), Iguala (2), Ixcateopán (10 km S) (1), Tixtla (2); HIDALGO: Actopán (4), Zimapán (1), El Venado (2); JALISCO: Ajijíc (2), Autlán (20 km N) (1), Chamela (3), Guadalajara (22), La Floresta (1), San Gabriel (1), San Patricio (1), Volcán Colima (37), no data (1); MICHOACÁN: Cotija (9), Morelia (1), Uruapán (1); MORELOS: Cuernavaca (15), Tepoztlán (1); NAYARIT: Compostela (4); NUEVO LEÓN: Linares (1); OAXACA: Huajuapan de León (4); PUEBLA: Atlixco (1), Huajuapan (3), Izúcar de Matamoros (3), Santiago Chazumba (6), Tehuacán (2), Tlacotepec (2), no data (1); QUERÉTARO: Cadereyta (1); SAN LUIS POTOSÍ: San Luis Potosí (2); SINALOA: La Capilla del Taxte (14 km NW) (1), no data (1); SONORA: Alamos (2), Arizpe (1), Estrella (2), Guaymas (2), Cerro Poza (5); VERACRUZ: Córdoba (1), Fortín de las Flores (1), Orizaba (3), Palma Sola (1), Veracruz (1), Xalapa (1); ZACATECAS: Tlaltenango (1); NO DATA: “Mexico” (7), “Mat.” (1), “from Durango to the Pacific” (3). SUSPECT RECORDS (24): “Austin, Texas” (3), “Venezuela” (21).

Figures

Fig. 4. Euphoria dimidiata. a) Habitus, b) Head, c) Parameres, d) Color variation, e) Temporal distribution, f) Geographic distribution in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico; open square indicates state record only.