Praocis montana Kulzer

Flores, Gustavo E., 2009, Revision of some types of the South American tribes Nycteliini, Praocini, and Scotobiini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), with new synonymies, Zootaxa 1985, pp. 21-33 : 26-27

Praocis montana Kulzer

( Figs. 9–10 )

Praocis montana Kulzer, 1958: 91 .

Praocis baloghi Marcuzzi, 2001: 273 . NEW SYNONYMY.

Type material. Holotype of Praocis montana ( Fig. 9 ): [Puno – Peru / (Lago Titicaca)/ 3900 m XII-1940 / leg. Weyrauch] [Holotypus / Praocis / montana nov./ det. H. Kulzer 1957] ( NHMB).

Holotype of Praocis baloghi ( Fig. 10 ): [Soil-Zoological Exp./ Bolivia, Copacabana/ La Paz 3850 m / Balogh, Mahunka, Zicsi] [Nº 526/ single material/ 26-XII-1966] [Holotypus] [ Praocis / ( Anthrasomus )/ baloghi / Marc.] [Dono Prof./ G. Marcuzzi/ XI-1999] [Holotypus / Praocis / baloghi / Marcuzzi, 2000] [Museo Civico di Genova] ( MSNG).

Discussion. Marcuzzi (2001) assigned Praocis baloghi to the subgenus Anthrasomus Guérin-Méneville , but according to the key of Kulzer (1958) it clearly belongs to the subgenus Praocida by having prosternum horizontal, with anterior margin broad, elytra with lateral margin broad and double, external carina joined to the lateral margin; on the other hand, species of Anthrasomus are recognized by prosternum inclined forward, with anterior margin finer and well marked, elytra without external carina, with lateral margin single and rounded. After studying the types of species of the subgenus Praocida, I found that Praocis baloghi is a synonym of P. montana based on the characters shared by both nominal species ( Figs. 9–10 ): pronotum with lateral margin concave, arcuate in anterior half, almost parallel in posterior half, narrowing from base towards anterior margin, anterior angles subacute, base bisinuate, posterior angles acute, disc with sparse punctures separated by a distance twice the diameter of a puncture, with a smooth area on the center, with a row of long, finer, golden setae arising on punctures between lateral margin and disc; elytra with sparse big punctures, twice the size of pronotal punctures, with two equidistant carinae not elevated, the internal weakly demarcated, joining together at posterior end, lateral margin with sparse long, finer, golden setae arising on protuberances.

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 10. 9. Praocis montana holotype; 10. P. baloghi, holotype.