Scarabaeidae, Latreille, 1802

Clavijo-Bustos, Julián, Lopera-Toro, Alejandro & Noriega, Jorge Ari, 2023, On the Presence of Ataenius crenulatus Schmidt, 1910 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Colombia, The Coleopterists Bulletin 77 (2), pp. 221-225 : 222-224

Scarabaeidae Aphodiinae

Eupariini

ATaENIUS CRENULaTUS SchmIdt, 1910

(Fig. 1)

Ataenius crenulatus Schmidt 1910: 359 .

Syn. Ataenius rickardsi Hinton 1938: 123 .

Diagnosis ( Stebnicka 2006: 108; Stebnicka 2007: 57). Length 3.8–5.0 mm. Clypeal anterior margin obtusely rounded, sharply angulate, or finely denticulate. Punctures of pronotum moderate in size, unequally spaced, and separated by less than one puncture diameter. Elytral striae not bordered by undulate lines and narrower than intervals; strial punctures deep and intervals slightly crenate; intervals tectiform and more or less acutely elevated at the middle. Mesometaventral carina short; metaventrite, femora, and abdominal sternites with fine, equally spaced punctures separated usually by at least one puncture diameter. Metatibia with an accessory apical spine with the basal metatarsomere longer than the upper tibial spur and shorter than the following four tarsomeres combined.

Distribution. Mexico, Belize, Honduras; probably introduced to Lesser Antilles ( Barbados; Peck 2016), Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina ( Stebnicka 2006, 2007), and Colombia (new country record) ( Fig. 2 ).

Material Examined. COLOMBIA. Bolívar: Isla Tierra Bomba, bosque seco, 10°21′36′′N, 75°34′30′′W, 100 m, ex. hum., 01–31.viii.1996, F. Escobar (2: IAvH-E-21936, 21976); San Jacinto, Reserva Campesina La Flecha , 09°51′9.74′′N, 75°10′32.32′′W, 324 m, pitfall exc. h., x.2015, N. Beltrán (2: IAvH-E); Zambrano, Hacienda Monterrey, Lata borde, 09°45′N, 74°49′W, 70 m, pitfall #9, 10.vi.1993, F. Fernández (1: IAvH-E- 213453) . Casanare: Aguazul-Maní, Finca Las Mercedes, sabana y bosque de tierra firme, 04°53′54.90′′N, 72°24′5.73′′W, 194 m, pitfall con excremento humano, 01–31.i.2009, M. Beltrán (2: IAvH-E-215804, 215805); same as preceding except by “bosque de tierra firme, 05°53′30′′N, 72°24′19′′W, 197 m, pitfall trampa con excremento humano” (1 liquid lot of 22 specimens: IAvH-E-215828); Hato Corozal , Corregimiento La Chapa , Finca La Conquista , Caño Los Aceites , bosque galería, 05°54′23.1′′N, 71°28′49.4′′W, T. Exc.H. #A1 T5 , 19.ii.2015, J. Cárdenas, A. González (4: IAvH-E-213431, 213432, 213433, 213434); Maní, Vereda El Socorro, Estero Tres Moriches, 04°32′0.04′′N 72°20′32′′W, 181 m, Colecta directa, 2.iii.2008, R. Moreno, J. Cárdenas, Nonzoque N. (UPTC-02469); Paz de Ariporo , Resguardo Indígena Caño Mochuelo, 05°53′58.8′′N, 70°03′53.2′′W WGS84, 95 m, T. Exc.H. #48h ,

FIg. 1. Ataenius crenulatus , specimen from Guajira, Colombia. A) Dorsal view, B) Lateral view, C) Ventral view.

3.x.2015, C.A. Medina (1: IAvH-E-213484); Tauramena , Vereda El Palmar, bosque, 05°00′10.051′′N, 72°48′45.727′′W, 624 m, pitfall excr. hum ., iv.2018, P. Triviño (4: CECC-ALT); Yopal , Vda. Cagüi Primavera, 05°24′12.06′′N, 72°28′28.97′′W, 1,010 m, trampa pitfall ex. hum-cerdo, potrero con arbustos , 2.xii.2020, J.A. Noriega (2: CJAN). GuaInía : Caño Bocón , Santa Rosa, Rebalse, 03°40′46′′N, 68°02′26′′W, 100 m, pitfall excr. hum ., 4–13. xi.1996, A. Lopera (1: CECC-ALT); same as the preceding except by “ FIT, S. Amezquita ” (1: CECC-ALT). GuajIra : Distracción, Finca El Corralito, Bs-T, 11°01′27.28′′N, 72°57′14.22′′W, 740 m, FIT , ix.2016, A. Lopera, W. Chamorro (5: CECC-ALT); same as the preceding except by “ T. Luz” (18: CECC-ALT). Meta : Cubarral, Finca Andorra, pastizal, 03°48′34.94′′N, 73°48′26.60′′W, 530 m., pitfall excr. hum ., xii.2017, A. Lopera, W. Chamorro (1: CECC-ALT); Puerto Gaitán , Vereda Santa Helena, predio Bel Rey, Belrey norte, Bosque de galería y morichal, 03°53′17.2′′N 71°32′21.4′′W WGS 84, 198 m, T .Exc.H., 2021-06-25 /30, Cárdenas-Bautista J.S., Clavijo-Bustos J., Rojas Y.D. (3: IAvH-E); Puerto López, Fca. Santana, 04°04′N, 72°57′W, 340 m. , 22.x.2002, L. Niño, D. Cuadros ( CTNI 7114 ); Restrepo , Vereda Caney Alto, 04°16′07′′N, 73°33′22′′W, 600 m , 26.x.1994, M. Ospina (1: IAvH-E-213486); San Martín, Vda. Alto Rubiano, Fca. La Bendición , confluencia potrero, palma aceite, bosque galería, 03°45′20.68′′N, 73°42′7.55′′W WGS 84, 450 m, trampa de luz UV , 29–30.xii.2020, J. Clavijo-Bustos (4: IAvH-E). Santander: Cimitarra, Vda. El Águila, Sect. Caño Dorada , Hda. Lusitania, bosque Lusitania, Bh-T, bosque entresacado, 06°27′9.58′′N, 74°08′24.09′′W WGS 84, 121 m, cap. manual , 11–14.vii.2018, J. C. Neita-Moreno, A. Lopera, E. Torres , M. I. Castro (1: IAvH-E-205441); Cimitarra, Finca Doradal, Bh-T, 06°26′16.89′′N, 74°07′8.12′′W, 153 m, pitfall excr. hum ., vii.2018, A. Lopera (1: CECC-ALT); San Vicente de Chucuri , 06°50′42′′N, 73°23′06′′W, 1,400 m, trampa pitfall ex. humano, ecotono potrero-bosque , 20.ii.2014, J.A. Noriega (1: CJAN). Sucre : Tolú Viejo , Montes de los Navas, Sector El Cañito, 09°34′39′′N, 75°27′40′′W, 40 m., T .Exc.H., 11–13.v.2009, L. E. Franco (6: IAvH-E-213440, 213441, 213442, 213443, 213444, 213447); Tolú Viejo , Montes de los Navas, Sector El Cañito, bosque seco tropical, 09°34′39′′N, 75°27′40′′W, 40 m, trampa de excremento humano #14 , 12– 14.v.2009, L.E. Franco (1: IAvH-E-213450); same as the preceding except by “trampa de excremento humano #16” (1: IAvH-E-213449); Los Palmitos , 09°26′59′′N, 75°14′59′′W, 200 m, trampa pitfall ex. hum, relicto bosque seco con sabana , 15.x.2018, H. Tovar (7: CJAN) .

Ecological Data. Ataenius crenulatus in Colombia is a strictly coprophilous species, usually collected in low numbers (from one to seven individuals in all localities) from January to December, being more frequently encountered from October to December. This species is usually collected using pitfall traps baited with human or pig dung, light traps, flight interception traps, or captured manually. It inhabits different habitats (i. e., tropical dry forest, gallery forest, secondary forest, palm crops, grassland, grassland with shrubs, and savanna), but the most common ecosystem in which it is collected is the ecotone between forest and grasslands. This broad spectrum of habitats shows that it is a generalist species with a tendency to disturbed areas. These findings agree with ecological comments given by Stebnicka (2006, 2007) as a species collected throughout the year in various biotopes. Diaz et al. (2010) report it as a small-nocturnal-coprophagous burrower species with low abundance, present in wire-fenced pastures in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico (n = 2).

Distributional Remarks. In Colombia, A. crenulatus has an extensive distribution in three biogeographic provinces of the Pacific dominion of the Brazilian subregion, with records primarily in the provinces of Magdalena (Bolívar, Santander, and Sucre) and Guajira (Guajira), and in the foothills and plains of the Orinoquía corresponding to the savannah (Casanare, Guainía, and Meta) (sensu Morrone et al. 2022).

The disjunct distribution of A. crenulatus from Central and South America without any record in Colombia is a frequent pattern for the genus. Several species lack records in Colombia even when present in countries of Central (e. g., Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama) and South America (e. g., Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia). This geographical gap could be attributed to a combination of several aspects: i) a low collection frequency for this subfamily, ii) a clear preference for ecological studies using the subfamily Scarabaeinae , iii) a lack of taxonomists working in Neotropical and particularly in Colombian Aphodiinae , and iv) a subsampling of many regions throughout Colombian geography ( Noriega et al. 2015). We review and list eight potential species of Ataenius that have this biogeographic breach between Central and South America and could be present in Colombia ( Table 1).

In the case of A. crenulatus , its disjunct distribution is apparently related to dry areas below and above the wet Amazon basin ( Fig. 2 ). The current concept of the species is the combination of two different nominal species with type localities below and above the Amazon basin, in Brazil and Mexico, respectively ( Fig. 2 , stars on the map). These two species, A. crenulatus and A. rickardsi , were synonymized by Galante et al. (2003), despite the geographic evidence in the distribution of the species. We were unable to examine specimens from Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina (below the Amazon basin) to confirm or refute the validity of the species synonymy. Further studies with different approaches, including material of the species from various localities, are necessary to conclude if the current disjunct distribution of A. crenulatus is due to a sampling gap, a truly disjunct distribution of one species, or two closely related, vicariant species.

Figures

Fig. 2. Distribution of Ataenius crenulatus.