Liogenys elegans Nonfried, 1891

Cherman, Mariana Alejandra, Mise, Kleber Makoto, Moron †, Miguel Angel, Vaz-de-Mello, Fernando Z. & Almeida, Lucia Massutti de, 2017, A taxonomic revision of Liogenys occurring in Brazil with an interactive key and remarks on New World Diplotaxini (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae), ZooKeys 699, pp. 1-120 : 29-33

Liogenys elegans Nonfried, 1891 Figs 63, 91

Liogenis [sic] elegans Nonfried, 1891: 262 (orig. desc.).

Liogenys elegans Nonfried, 1891; Dalla Torre 1913: 318 (check.); Blackwelder 1944: 227 (check.); Frey 1969: 40 (key); Evans 2003: 208 (check.); Evans and Smith 2005: 173 (check.); Evans and Smith 2009: 177 (check.).

Liogenys brasiliensis Moser, 1919: 12 (orig. desc.); Moser 1921b: 140 (syn.)

Liogenys forsteri Frey, 1975: 260 (orig. desc.); Evans 2003: 209 (check.); Evans and Smith 2005: 173 (check.); Evans and Smith 2009: 177 (check.) Syn. n.

Type material.

Liogenys elegans female syntype (ZMHB): [white printed] "Coll. Nonfried/Brasilia", [white handwritten] “26.”, [white handwritten] " Liogenys / elegans ", [red printed] “Typus”, [white printed] " Liogenys / elegans /Nonfr.", [red printed] "SYNTYPUS/ Liogenys / elegans Nonfried, 1891/labelled by MNHUB 2014". This type is here designated the lectotype: [white, outlined in red, printed] "LECTOTYPE/ Liogenys elegans /Nonfried, 1891/des. M. A. Cherman 2014".

Liogenys brasiliensis male syntype (ZMHB): [white printed] "R. Grande/do Sul", [white handwritten] " Liogenys / brasiliensis / Mos/Typen m#.", [white handwritten] "= elegans / Nonfr.", [red printed] “Typus”, [white printed] " Liogenys / brasiliensis /Mos.", [red printed] "SYNTYPUS/ Liogenys / brasiliensis Moser, 1919/labelled by MNHUB 2014". Genitalia mounted. This type is here designated the lectotype [white, outlined in red, printed] "LECTOTYPE/ Liogenys brasiliensis /Moser, 1919/des. M. A. Cherman 2014". Female syntype (ZMHB): [white printed] “Brasília / [handwritten] R. Grande do Sul", [white handwritten] " Liogenys / brasiliensis / Mos/Typen f# ", [red printed] “Typus”, [white printed] " Liogenys / brasiliensis /Mos.", [red printed] "SYNTYPUS/ Liogenys / brasiliensis Moser, 1919/labelled by MNHUB 2014. This type is here designated the paralectotype [white, outlined in red, printed] "PARALECTOTYPE/ Liogenys brasiliensis /Moser, 1919/ des. M. A. Cherman 2014".

Liogenys forsteri two male paratypes (NHMB): [white printed] "Huerta Grande/ Cordoba, Argent. / 1.II.1955/ leg. H. Foerster", [red printed] "Paratype/ [handwritten] Liogenys / forsteri / G. Frey 1974 ".

Non-type material.

PARAGUAY. IT: Hohenau, IX/1929, Jacob col., 1 ex.; 22/X/1945, Jacob col., 1 ex. (SDEI); without locality, date and collector, 1 ex. (MLPA). BRAZIL. "Santa Cruz", without date and collector, 1 ex. (NHMB); PR: Araucaria, without date, Dr. Czaki, 2 ex.; 10/XI, without collector, 1 ex. (AMNH); Banhado [Quatro Barras], XII/1972, P.J. Riehs col., 1 ex. (DZUP); Campo do Te nente, 10/X/1973, O. Mielke col., 3 ex. (DZUP); Caviúna [Rolandia], IX/1947, A. Maller col., 2 ex. (AMNH); Cerro Azul, 9/XII/1972, without collector, 1 ex. (DZUP); Curitiba, 6/XI/1969, 900 m, without collector, 1 ex.; 12/XI/1965, F. Giacomel col., 1 ex.; 17/XI/1970, without collector, 1 ex. (DZUP); XII/1911, without collector, 2 ex.(ZMHB); Guarauna, XII/1940, without collector, 1 ex. (DZUP); Marumbi, XI/1965, Laroca and Otero cols., 2 ex. (DZUP); Rio Negro, XI/1923, Wiltz col., 1 ex. (MNRJ); SC: Avencal, XII/1958, 800 m, without collector, 1 ex. (DZUP), Corupa, X/1948, A. Maller col., 1 ex. (AMNH), XII/1959, 60 m, without collector, 1 ex. (DZUP); without date, Reitter col., 1 ex. (NHMB); XII/1952, A. Maller col., 1 ex.; I/1932, Metz col., 2 ex. (MNRJ); Joinville, III/1958, Dirings col., 4 ex. (MZSP); Lages, without date, without collector, 1 ex. (ZMHB); Mafra, without date, Reitter col., 1 ex. (NHMB); XII/1937, A. Maller col., 1 ex. (MNRJ); Pinhal, XII/1951, A. Maller col., 1 ex. (MNRJ); Rancho Queimado, 8-11/X/1994, Bonaldo col., 4 ex.; 11/X/1996, Garcia col., 2 ex. (MCNZ); Rio Vermelho, IX/1945, A. Maller col., 1 ex. (AMNH); São Joaquim, 25/I/1983, P. Moure and Giacomel cols., 1 ex. (DZUP); RS: without date and collector, 5 ex. (ZMHB); Barão do Triunfo, 28/I/1996, Francschini col., 1 ex. (MCNZ); Cambará do Sul, 19/XII/1994, Moura col. 1 ex. (MCNZ); Canela,18/XI/1990, Hoffman col., 1 ex. (MCNZ); without locality, date and collector, 5 ex. (ZMHB). ARGENTINA. MI: Puerto Iguazu, 24/X/1997, without collector, 2 ex. (CEMT); IX/1947, Duret col., 2 ex. (CMNC); Panambi, XII/1958, A. Martinez col., 1 ex. (CMNC); CO: Huerta Grande, 7/I/1955, Foerster col., 1 ex. (NHMB).

Diagnosis.

Body, pronotum and elytra brownish to dark brown, very shiny; elongate; clypeal emargination shallow, rounded and very wide; outer sides of anterior teeth follow the lateral margin of clypeus; clypeal lateral margin straight; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; pronotal, lateral margins barely convex; pronotal posterior corners sharp, almost right-angled; mesotibia sub-quadrate in cross section; pygidium wide, convex in males, pygidial midline sulcated in females; pygidial disc wrinkled, coarsely punctured; almost glabrous, bristled only on apex; parameres widened ventrally at the transverse midline and narrowed towards the fusiform apex; inner margins convergent (Fig. 63F).

Redescription.

Length: 12.7-13.5 mm; width: 6.8-7.1 mm. Brownish to dark brown. Head: distance between eyes nearly twice the width of one eye; frons equal in length than clypeus; clypeal emargination shallow, rounded and very wide, apparently truncated; outer sides of anterior teeth follow the lateral margin of clypeus; clypeal lateral margin straight; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width less than twice width of apex; fovea deep and elongate, extending past the transverse midline of the palpomere; labium transversely carinated, as wide as it is long; antenna 10-articulated, lamellae lighter in color and longer than flagellum. Thorax: anterior margin of pronotum slightly produced medially; maximum length of pronotum exceeding the length of tarsomeres I, II and III together; disc glabrous, punctures coarse and sparse; pronotal lateral margins barely convex; pronotal posterior corners sharp, almost right-angled, proepisternum with short bristles; mesepisternum scaly; sides of metasternum scaly and bristled, few long bristles on the anterior margin; distance between meso- and metacoxae up to twice longer than the metacoxa; scutellum rounded or sub-rounded, coarsely punctured. Elytra: very shiny, glabrous, dark reddish brown, darker at the base; elytra more than three times longer than the pronotum; elytral suture and elytron unicolored, distinctly elevated; all four elytral ridges barely noticeable. Legs: procoxa scaly on infra-carinal and outer surface; punctures visible at 12 × magnification; three protibial teeth, middle and apical equal in size, distance between basal and middle teeth longer than between middle and apical; protibial inner apical spur present; mesofemural disc setose, with a row of long bristles on anterior and posterior margins; mesotibia sub-quadrate in cross section; disc finely sculptured, two mesotibial transverse carinae, the apical one complete; basal apophysis of metacoxa produced beyond the outer margin of trochanter; metatibia with posterior discontinuous longitudinal carina; metatibial apical spurs equal in length, length equal to the diameter of the tibial apex; inner margin of male metatibia carinated towards apex, apical inner surface setose; disc coarsely sculptured; two metatibial transverse carinae present posteriorly; basal metatarsomere shorter and wider than tarsomere II; in males protarsomere II long; pro- and mesotarsomeres I to IV enlarged, protarsomeres slightly wider the mesotarsomeres, less than twice as wide as metatarsi; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth longer and narrower than the inferior; distance between teeth as long as the inferior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites with sparse short bristles on disc and sides; propygidium slightly visible, glabrous; pygidium convex, sub-trapezoidal, wide; pygidial width not exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium, pygidial disc glabrous, shiny, bristled only on apex, wrinkled, coarsely punctured; pygidial apex in males sub-quadrate. Parameres: basal region as wide as the parameres together at its maximum width; parameral split at 2/3; inner margins convergent; parameres widened ventrally at the transverse midline and narrowed towards the fusiform apex (Fig. 63F). In lateral view concave; apex curved downwards partially (Fig. 63G).

Type-locality.

Liogenys elegans : BRAZIL; Liogenys brasiliensis : BRAZIL. Rio Grande do Sul (syn); Liogenys forsteri : ARGENTINA. Huerta Grande, Córdoba (syn.).

Geographical distribution.

PARAGUAY (IT); BRAZIL (PR, SC, RS); ARGENTINA (MI, CO).

Remarks.

Liogenys elegans is the sister lineage of a clade conformed by the species: L. tibialis , L. punctaticollis , L. testaceipennis and L. spiniventris ( Cherman et al. 2016). Liogenys elegans shares with the species of the clade the body size elongate; the pronotal posterior corners sharp, almost right-angled; pygidial disc coarsely punctured and bristled only on apex; in females ventrites II to IV furnished with protuberances medially which are barely noticeable and visible only in lateral view. Liogenys elegans differs in the clypeal emargination being apparently truncated, shallow and wide; clypeus always straight laterally, pronotal convexity of lateral margins barely noticeable (like in L. unicolor ); pygidium wide and male genitalia distinctive. The primary types of L. elegans (ZMHB) and L. forsteri (NHMB) were compared and we concluded than they are conspecific, so herein is designated L. forsteri a junior subjective synonym of L. elegans .