Moronius vazdemelloi Carvalho & Grossi, 2018

Carvalho, Tamara G. & Grossi, Paschoal C., 2018, Description of a second species of the genus Moronius Grossi & Vaz-de-Mello, 2015 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini), Zootaxa 4434 (2), pp. 369-372 : 369-371

Moronius vazdemelloi Carvalho & Grossi , new species

Type locality. Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul, Sonora.

Type material. Holotype male not dissected, labelled ( CERPE): a) white typed label, “ Brasil: Mato Grosso do / Sul. Sonora. Faz. Espigão / 17°19’20”S, 53°50’47”W / VIII-2011. FPFlorêncio”; red typed label, b) Moronius vazdemelloi / Carvalho & Grossi, 2018 / HOLOTYPUS ”. 12 male paratypes with same data as holotype, except by the yellow paratype label (five at CERPE and seven at CEMT).

Description. Male (Holotype) ( Fig. 1 ). Total length: 14.5 mm. Width across humeri: 8.1 mm. Colour: General aspect light to dark yellow with metallic green patterns on head, pronotum, scutellum, elytra, legs, and venter. Antennae dark brown to black. Clypeus brownish yellow; frons, pronotum and pygidium pale yellow, with metallic dark green spots; elytra testaceous, yellow, sides brownish-yellow, darkened on margins; legs metallic dark green, femora laterally pale yellow; ventrites metallic dark green. Vestiture: Dorsal surface glabrous, except pronotal borders, setose, setae more than 10 times longer than puncture diameter; venter densely setose, setae long, completely obscuring view of

mesothoracic surface in places. Head: Dorsal surface uniformly punctate, punctures smaller on frons, becoming larger and denser near sides and ocular canthus; clypeus pentagonal, reflexed, moderately deep, apex weakly concave, sides rounded; frontoclypeal suture weakly curved, almost straight; frons broad, slightly convex; ocular canthus setose, setae longer than three times ocular canthus width; mentum longer than wide, sides convex, apex sinuous, anterior angles divergent ( Fig. 9 ); labrum distinct in ventral view; maxillae with five teeth on galea (two distal teeth—one apical and one medial, larger, and transverse; three proximal teeth smaller and vertically arranged) ( Fig. 7 ); antennal club longer than antennomeres 2–7 combined, antennae black ( Fig. 2 ). Pronotum: Wider than long; surface moderately punctate; punctures fine, sparsely setose with scattered, long setae restricted to borders; anterior angles obtuse, surface with metallic green reflections; bead straight and incomplete at middle anteriorly and posteriorly, disc with an M-shaped macula. Elytra: Dorsal surface distinctly punctate, punctures fine to moderate; each elytron with eight distinct striae, one near elytral suture, five on disc, and two on sides near humeri; interstriae finely punctate on disc and humeri, and moderately punctate near suture. Venter: Propleura broad, convex, elevated, setose, moderately punctate; mesoventral process conspicuous, ventrally and anteriorly flat, surface glabrous on anterior face, short, not exceeding mesocoxal apex ( Fig. 11 ). Legs: Protibiae tridentate, densely punctate, with a distinct longitudinal setose line; mesotibiae with punctures and setae, not limited to oblique carinae, but scattered; outer claws distinctly stronger than inner protarsal and inner metatarsal claws; metatibiae with one obsolete oblique carina; apex with more than 25 long spinules, aproximately 4–5 times longer than wide. Abdomen: Pygidium moderately convex, finely punctate, with a shagreen aspect; setae restricted to basal margin, long, slender. Ventrites almost smooth, punctures fine, moderately setose, setae longer than segments II–IV, and as long as segment V; sixth ventrite with surface shagreen, sides densely and finely punctate. Parameres: Symmetrical, sinuous laterally, with near parallel sides; apex slightly curved downwards, bifurcation weak, distally straight ( Fig. 3 ).

Variation. Male paratypes differ from holotype mainly in size: Length: 16.1–20.0 mm. Width across humeri: 8.4– 8.5 mm. Metallic green marks on pronotum varying from an M-shaped pattern to a subpentagonal shape.

Female. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis. Moronius vazdemelloi is mainly distinguished from M. miguelangeli by the following combination of characters: general colouration light to dark yellow in the new species ( Fig. 1 ), metallic green in M. miguelangeli ( Fig. 4 ); frontoclypeal suture weakly curved to almost straight in M. vazdemelloi ( Fig. 2 ), distinctly curved in M. miguelangeli ( Fig. 5 ); mentum longer than wide, and less setose in M. vazdemelloi ( Fig. 9 ), subquadrate, and more setose in M. miguelangeli ( Fig. 10 ); labrum more visible ventrally in M. vazdemelloi ; maxillae with five teeth—one apical, one medial and three basal in M. vazdemelloi ( Fig. 7 ) and maxillae with five teeth - one apical, two medial and two basal in M. miguelangeli ( Fig. 8 ); pronotum with long setae near anterior angles in M. vazdemelloi , glabrous in M. miguelangeli ; elytra with eight distinct striae in the new species and more strongly punctate, and with obsolete striae, and finely punctate elytra in M. miguelangeli ; mesoventral process longer and distinct in M. vazdemelloi ( Fig. 11 ), obsolete in M. miguelangeli ( Fig. 12 ); parameres with sides parallel and with a short bifurcation in M. vazdemelloi ( Fig. 3 ), divergent in M. miguelangeli with a deeper bifurcation ( Fig. 6 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym to Dr. Fernando Zagury Vaz-de-Mello (UFMT), a good friend of PCG, who has contributed tremendously to the knowledge of Scarabaeoidea in the Neotropical Region.

Remarks. The South American Areodina comprises a very uniform clade of beetles. According to Jameson (1990) they share, among other features, aedeagi with separated parameres and a distinct paramere shape, while the Central and North American members have contiguous parameres, separated by a longitudinal line. Most of the South American genera occur in Brazil, with the exception of three species of Byrsopolis Burmeister, 1844 , which are found in the Amazon region of French Guiana (Soula 2010). These Byrsopolis species are the only known Amazonian areodines. All other Areodina occur in Atlantic Forest as well as Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah) habitats, ranging from northeastern (Bahia State) to southern (Santa Catarina State) regions. The species of Moronius were collected in the western region of Brazil, near the limits of Cerrado and Pantanal wetlands ( M. miguelangeli in Mato Grosso and M. vazdemelloi in Mato Grosso do Sul). Moronius miguelangeli was collected using flight interception traps, near a planted Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) forest, while M. vazdemelloi was collected in the early morning using mist nets, which are commonly used for trapping birds. For this reason, most M. vazdemelloi specimens have some elytral damage. Despite M. vazdemelloi having been found in Mato Grosso do Sul, the type localities are relatively near each other and they belong to the same Brazilian Savannah, the Cerrado biome. The females of both Moronius species are unknown, possibly indicative of a behavioural difference between the sexes (Grossi & Vaz-de-Mello 2015). The collecting data for Moronius indicates that these species are very active flyers, and that flight interception traps are recommended for collecting Areodina .

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Moronius species. 1) Moronius vazdemelloi holotype male, dorsal view. 2) Moronius vazdemelloi, head in oblique view. 3) Moronius vazdemelloi, parameres in caudal view. 4) Moronius miguelangeli, holotype male, dorsal view. 5) Moronius miguelangeli paratype, head in oblique view. 6) Moronius miguelangeli paratype, showing parameres in caudal view. Scale bars = 2 mm (for Figs. 1–2, 4–5) and 0.5 mm (for Figs. 3, 6).

FIGURES 7–12. Moronius species. 7) Moronius vazdemelloi, left galea in dorsal view. 8) Moronius miguelangeli, left galea in dorsal view. 9) Moronius vazdemelloi, mentum in ventral view. 10) Moronius miguelangeli, mentum in ventral view. 11) Moronius vazdemelloi, mesoventral process in oblique view. 12) Moronius miguelangeli, mesoventral process in oblique view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm (for Figs. 7–10) and 1 mm (for Figs. 11–12).