Orizabus amalgamatus Ratcliffe and Cave, 2010

Ratcliffe, Brett C. & Cave, Ronald D., 2010, New species of Orizabus Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Pentodontini) from Mexico and Guatemala, with a revised key and checklist of the species in the genus, Insecta Mundi 2010 (127), pp. 1-16 : 2-3

Orizabus amalgamatus Ratcliffe and Cave , new species

(Fig. 1-3, 26-27)

Type Material. Holotype male labeled “ MEXICO: Sonora; 7029' el./ Hwy 16, 9.1 mi. E. + 1.8 mi. / SW Yecora, 8/Aug./2004 // 28 o 22'13" N, 109 o 01'53" W / R. Cunningham + B. Streit lgt/ Near Radio Tower, BL + MV ” . Allotype female and five paratypes with same data; one paratype with same data but 2003. One male paratype labeled “ MEXICO: Edo Mexico, @ 1980 m / Sierra de Nanchitichitla, 27.2-27.7 km / SW Luvianos 26-28/July/ 2006 / Vicinity: 18 o 52'34"N 100 o 24'02"W / R. A. Cunningham & G. Nogueira L.” Holotype and allotype deposited at the Instituto de Ecología (Xalapa, Mexico), two paratypes in the R. Cunningham collection (Chino, CA), one paratype in U. S. National Collection, one paratype in the William Warner collection (Chandler, AZ), and two paratypes in the B. C. Ratcliffe collection (Lincoln, NE).

Holotype. Male. Length 16.9 mm; width 9.6 mm. Color black. Head: Surface completely, transversely rugose. Frontoclypeal region with slender, transverse, arcuate carina, central tubercle absent. Clypeus with subapical carina weakly bilobed, reflexed. Interocular width equals 4.0 transverse eye diameters. Antenna with 10 segments, club distinctly longer than segments 2-7. Pronotum: Surface on anterior half and posterior angles with moderately dense, small punctures; posterior half with sparse, small punctures; anterior angles and sides near margins densely punctate. Fovea absent. Base lacking marginal bead. Elytra: Surface with 5 punctate, furrowed striae between suture and median edge of humerus; punctures moderately large. Intervals 2 with incomplete row of similar punctures. Sides with similar, but less distinct, rows of punctures. Pygidium: Surface completely, densely rugulopunctate. Apex with complete marginal bead. In lateral view, surface regularly convex. Legs: Protibia tridentate. Metatibia at apex with 13 spinules on left leg and 14 spinules on right. Venter: Prosternal process long, columnar, covered with long, reddish brown setae. Parameres: Apex with thickened, lobe-like swelling mesad of sclerotized, needle-like apex (Fig. 2-3).

Allotype. Female. Length 18.3 mm; width 10.3

mm. As holotype except in the following respects:

Head: Frontoclypeal carina with small, transverse

tubercle at center. Interocular width equals 5.2

transverse eye diameters. Elytra: Interval 2 with

long row of punctures. Pygidium: Surface moder-

ately punctate, punctures small. Legs: Metatibia

at apex with 15 spinules.

Variation. Male paratypes (6). Length 17.1-17.5

mm; width 10.0- 10.2 mm. As holotype except in

the following respects: Color black (5 specimens)

to reddish brown (1 specimen). Head: Reddish

brown specimen with small, transverse tubercle

at center of frontoclypeal carina. Legs: Metatibia

at apex with 14-18 spinules.

Female paratype (1): Length 18.3 mm; width

10.5 mm. The single female paratype does not dif-

fer significantly from the allotype.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the

Middle English amalgame and Medieval Latin

amalgama, meaning a mixture or combination.

Used here to refer to the mixture of character states

seen in other species of Orizabus that delineate

this species e.g., the pronotal and pygidial puncta-

tion and the form of the male parameres.

Distribution. Orizabus amalgamatus is known

only from near Luvianos in the Sierra de

Nanchichitla, Mexico and from Yécora, Sonora,

Mexico ( Fig. 26-27 ). The wide separation in locali-

ties may be indicative of isolation and/or little or

no collecting between the two points.

Temporal Distribution. August (8).

Diagnosis. Orizabus amalgamatus resembles

closely O. batesi Prell , especially the males. The

pronotum of O. amalgamatus is distinctly punc-

tate everywhere, whereas in O. batesi it is smooth

and impunctate except for a few punctures in the Figure 1-3. Orizabus amalgamatus . 1) Dorsal view. 2-3) anterior angles. In the males, the pygidium of O. Parameres, caudal and lateral views.

amalgamatus is densely rugulopunctate, but in

O. batesi the surface has only small, sparse punc-

tures; the punctation on the pygidium of the females is similar between both species. Each paramere of O. amalgamatus has a thickened, lobe-like swelling mesad of the sclerotized, needle-like apex (Fig. 2), while this structure is small and slender in O. batesi ( Fig. 17 ).

Biology. The type series was taken at lights at an elevation of 2,142 m. The type series of O. amalgamatus was collected at the same time and place as specimens of O. ratcliffei Delgado. Nothing else is known of the life history of this species.

Figures

Figure 26. Distribution map for the new Orizabus species described in this paper.

Figure 27-30. Habitats for some Orizabus species. 27) Type locality of O. amalgamatus near Yécora in Sonora, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Ian Swift. 28) Type locality of O. delgadoi at Cerro Zempoaltepetl in Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Daniel Curoe. 29-30) Type locality of O. thomasi in the vicinity of Excola in the Municipio de Calcahualco in Veracruz, Mexico. Photos courtesy of Karen Robacker.

Figure 17-25. Parameres of Orizabus spp. 17) O. batesi. 18) O. brevicollis. 19) O. clunalis. 20) O. cuernavacensis. 21) O. fairmairei. 22) O. pyriformis. 23) O. rubricollis. 24-25) O. teamscaraborum.