Lamoana Casey, 1915

Madrigal, Kevin, Zaragoza-Caballero, Santiago & Ramírez-Ponce, Andrés, 2023, Comparative morphology of the genera with perpendicular parameres in Anomalini (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae) allows revalidation of the endemic Mexican genus Lamoana Casey, 1915 stat. rev., European Journal of Taxonomy 910, pp. 175-199 : 185-187

Genus Lamoana Casey, 1915 stat. rev.

Figs 2 , 3a , 4a–b , 5a , 6a , 7a , 8–9

Lamoana Casey, 1915: 48 . (Type species: Phyllopertha villosella Blanchard, 1851: 179 , by original designation).

Lamoana – Blackwelder 1944: 245 (subgen.). — Machatschke 1957: 31 (syn.); 1972–1974: 85 (syn.).

Diagnosis

Body pubescent throughout, setae of short to moderate length and thickness (in Mazahuapertha present only on pronotum but long and thin, absent in Balanogonia , Callirhinus and Moroniella , in Strigoderma present only on the pronotum of a few species); pronotum posterior margin incomplete (complete in Balanogonia , Mazahuapertha , Callirhinus and Strigoderma , absent in Moroniella ); apex of elytral suture spiniform (rounded in Mazahuapertha , spiniform in Balanogonia , Callirhinus , Moroniella and Strigoderma ); intermesocoxal space very wide (apex of mesometasternal projection slightly greater than width of mesotrochanter) (narrow in Mazahuapertha , wide in Balanogonia , Callirhinus Moroniella , variable in Strigoderma ); parameres with abundant setae both dorsal and ventral portion (glabrous in Mazahuapertha , lightly covered in Balanogonia , Callirhinus , Moroniella , and in some species of Strigoderma ); medial lobe with one thick lobe on each side (absent in the others).

Etymology

Unknown.

Redescription of male

FORM. Oval body, slightly dorsoventrally flat.

SIZE. Total length 6.0– 9.22 mm; maximum width 2.91–5.0 mm.

BODY. Bright coppery with or without metallic reflections and yellowish elytra; abundant vestiture, setae short on dorsum and moderately long ventrally ( Fig. 5a ).

HEAD. Clypeus subtrapezoidal to semioval, moderately reflexed; frons flat ( Fig. 8d ); antennal club generally longer than the previous antennomeres; ocular canthus wide, setose at apex; postgenal area setose.

PRONOTUM. Subtrapezoidal; surface with setaceous punctation, homogeneous; setae backwards decumbent; posterior margin incomplete; lateral borders angled; anterior and posterior angles rounded ( Fig. 8b, d ).

ELYTRA. Surface with 11 striae punctuate, deep or moderately marked; surface setose, setae short ( Figs 5a , 6a , 8b ); epipleura reaches 2 nd visible sternite; apex of elytral suture spiniform.

MESEPIMERA. Projected further than the elytral humerus.

PREPYGIDIUM. Covered partially by elytral apex, widely setose in apical half ( Figs 5a , 6a ).

PYGIDIUM. Wider than long; uniformly setose; evenly concave.

MESOSTERNUM. Intercoxal space very wide.

MESOMETASTERNAL PROJECTION. Protuberant; generally, exceeds mesocoxae.

METASTERNUM. Surface abundantly setose, setae long.

ABDOMEN. Surface progressively setose towards sides, forming a patch laterad; visible sternites 2–4 generally similar in size; 5 th sternite twice as long as posterior sternites ( Fig. 8a, c ).

LEGS. Protibia bidentate, wide, protibial spurs present ( Fig. 8e ); protarsus 1–4 short and thickened, subequal in length than apical tarsomere; fifth tarsomere with basal denticle reduced; inner claw notably cleft; interior ramus 4 times as wide as superior ( Fig. 8f ). Mesotibia wider in the middle; one subapical transverse carina with 4–6 long spiniform setae; apical crown of 7–8 spines. Metatibia wider in the middle; one subapical transverse carina with 9–12 short spiniform setae and one sub basal transverse carina with 8–10 short slender spiniform setae; apical crown with 11–15 short spines.

MALE GENITALIA. Parameres abundantly setose in ventral and dorsal sides, perpendicular to the tectum (lateral view) ( Fig. 3a ); dorsoventrally depressed; external borders with preapical notch; tips rounded or triangular ( Fig. 4a ); median lobe subtriangular with apex acute or rounded (caudal view) ( Fig. 4a ), separated from basal piece and parameres (ventral view) ( Fig. 4b ), one prominent lobe on each side near the base (ventral view) ( Figs 3a , 4b ).

Distribution

Lamoana is an endemic genus to Mexico, exhibiting a typical Neotropical distribution pattern, species being found mainly along the coasts in lowland tropical forest, having possibly dispersed from south to north ( Halffter 1976; Halffter & Morrone 2017). It is present in the biogeographic provinces of the Balsas Basin and the Pacific Lowlands ( Morrone 2015; Morrone et al. 2017), in ecosystems with tropical deciduous forest located between 0 and 1500 m a.s.l.

Taxonomic comments

Due to the morphological differences that distinguish this genus from the genera mentioned before, it is proposed, with the aims of stability and priority, to taxonomically revalidate Lamoana Casey, 1915 , because it was first established to place the “aberrant” A. villosella ( Casey 1915) . Its special morphology caused it to be classified separately from the rest of the species (e.g., Blanchard 1851) or associated with species that now form different genera such as Xochicotlia, Pachystethus or Moroniella ( Bates 1888) . Considering both external and genital morphology, Lamoana most closely resembles the genus Moroniella ; both share the robust and depressed body, the shortening and notable width of the protarsi in males, and are the only genera with ornamentation at the base of the median lobe, in the form of lobes in Lamoana ( Fig. 4b ) and keel-like in Moroniella ( Fig. 4d ) ( Table 1 ).

Biological information

The genus Lamoana is diurnal and anthophagous, distributed in central and south Mexico, with activity between May to November.

Figures

Fig. 2. Dorsal habitus of American genera of Anomalini Peringuey, 1902 with their corresponding tegmen in ventral view. Scale bars: specimen = 2 mm; tegmen = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 3. Tegmen with the parameres in perpendicular position. a. Strigoderma villosella (Blanchard, 1851). b. Moroniella Ramírez-Ponce, 2015. c. Balanogonia Paucar-Cabrera, 2003. d. Callirhinus Blanchard, 1851. e. Mazahuapertha Morón & Nogueira, 1998. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 4. Parameres (caudal view) and median lobe (ventral view). a–b. Strigoderma villosella (Blanchard, 1851). c–d. Moroniella Ramírez-Ponce, 2015. e–f. Balanogonia Paucar-Cabrera, 2003. g–h. Callirhinus Blanchard, 1851. i–j. Mazahuapertha Morón & Nogueira, 1998. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 5. Lateral view of the genera with perpendicular parameres. a. Strigoderma villosella (Blanchard, 1851). b. Moroniella Ramírez-Ponce, 2015. c. Balanogonia Paucar-Cabrera, 2003. d. Callirhinus Blanchard, 1851. e. Mazahuapertha Morón & Nogueira, 1998. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 6. Dorsal habitus of the genera with perpendicular parameres. a. Strigoderma villosella (Blanchard, 1851). b. Moroniella Ramírez-Ponce, 2015. c. Balanogonia Paucar-Cabrera, 2003. d. Callirhinus Blanchard, 1851. e. Mazahuapertha Morón & Nogueira, 1998. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 7. Parameres and median lobe in ventral view. a. Strigoderma villosella (Blanchard, 1851). b–f. Strigoderma spp. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 8. Morphological characters in Lamoana villosella (Blanchard, 1851). a. Ventral view of habitus. b. Oblique view of habitus.c. Metasternum.d. Dorsal view of head and pronotum.e. Protibia.f. Protarsus.

Fig. 9. Distribution map of the genera with perpendicular parameres (the only genus not endemic to Mexico is Moroniella Ramírez-Ponce, 2015, which extends into Central America).