Liogenys pseudosanctaecrucis Cherman

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 : 88-91

Liogenys pseudosanctaecrucis Cherman sp. n. Figs 84, 93

Type-specimen.

Holotype male, pinned, genitalia mounted. Original labels: [white handwritten]"Me 27 (Det.)/Rio Verde, M. Grosso/10.64 [verse] Liogenys ", [white, outlined, printed] "H. and A. HOWDEN/COLLECTION/ex. A. Martinez coll.", [red printed] “HOLOTYPE” (CMNC). Paratype (2) bearing the labels: [red printed] “PARATYPE”. Female paratype labeled: [white handwritten] "Me 27 (Ma)/ Liogenys sp./Rio Verde, M. Grosso/10.64", [White handwritten]"R. VERDE/MT-BRASIL/X-1964/A. MALLER", [white printed]"DPT° ZOOL/ UF-PARANÁ”, [white printed]" DZUP/401713". Male Paratype bearing the labels: [white printed] "BRASIL: Distrito Federal/Planaltina. Embrapa Cerrados./Cerrado Nativo 15°36'16"S / 47°44'16"W. 03-XI-2006. light./C. Oliveira", [white printed] "CZMT- CEMT/0000018056"(CEMT). Holotype deposited at CMNC, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. Female paratype deposited in DZUP, Coleção Entomologica Pe. Jesus Santiago Moure, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba. Male paratype deposited in CEMT, Setor de Entomologia da Coleção Zoológica, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá.

Diagnosis.

Body brownish, elytra testaceous, pronotum darker; sides parallel; clypeal emargination sub-angled, deep and wide; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; meso- and metatibia quadrate in cross section. In males, pygidial disc scaly throughout, erect-scaled; pygidial apex rounded; parameres deeply grooved across the basal region, inner margins forming an elevated flange, apex widened and rounded (Fig. 84F).

Holotype.

Male. Length: 10.7 mm; width 5.1 mm. Head: distance between eyes twice the width of one eye; frons shorter than clypeus; clypeal emargination deep, sub-angled and wide, outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth equal to the eye; lateral margin slightly convex; canthus not exceeding the outer margin of the eye; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width equal to width of apex; fovea deep, extending past the transverse midline of the palpomere; labium transversely carinated, as wide as it is long; antenna 10-articulated, lamellae longer than flagellum. Thorax: maximum length of pronotum exceeding the length of tarsomeres I, II and III together; disc glabrous, punctures coarse and sparse; pronotal posterior corners sharp, right-angled; proepisternum with long bristles, pro- and mesepisternum scaly, as are the sides of metasternum, also with few long bristles on the anterior margin; distance between meso- and metacoxae up to twice the length of the metacoxa; scutellum ogival, coarsely punctured except on the center. Elytra: shiny, glabrous, uniformly testaceous, pruinose on the posterior margin, lighter in color than the pronotum; elytra more than three times longer than the pronotum; elytral suture slightly darker than elytron and weakly elevated; three pairs of elytral ridges barely noticeable, except of the outer one, distinctly elevated. Legs: procoxa bristled on infra-carinal and outer surface; three protibial teeth, middle and apical equal in size, the three teeth equally spaced; protibial inner apical spur present; mesofemural disc glabrous, with a row of long bristles on the anterior and posterior margins; mesotibia quadrate in cross section; disc finely sculptured; basal apophysis of metacoxa produced beyond the outer margin of trochanter; inner margin of metatibia carinated towards apex, apical inner surface setose; metatibial disc finely sculptured; metatibial short transverse carina present posteriorly; metatibial apical spurs equal in length, slightly shorter than the diameter of the tibial apex; protarsomere II long; pro- and mesotarsomeres I to IV enlarged, protarsomeres slightly wider than the mesotarsomeres and more than twice wider than metatarsi; basal metatarsomere slightly wider and shorter than tarsomere II; claws bifid, symmetrical; superior tooth longer and narrower than inferior tooth, distance between teeth shorter than the inferior tooth. Abdomen: band of scales visible at the lowest magnification beneath the outer margin of elytra; ventrites bristled abundantly on disc and sides; propygidium bristled; pygidium flat, wide; pygidial width exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium, pygidial disc with yellow erect scales throughout and deep umbilical coarse punctures; pygidial apex rounded. Parameres: basal region broadly grooved across the midline; basal region wider than parameres together at its maximum width, parameral split at 2/3; apex widened, edges rounded, inner margins convergent with a flange elevated, mainly in the basal region (Fig. 84F); in lateral view parameres concave; apex curved downwards apically (Fig. 84G).

Female paratype. Length: 10.7 mm; width 5.7 mm. As the holotype except in the body wider and shiny; clypeal emargination narrower; pronotal and elytral punctures slightly coarser, scutellum wider and triangular, pygidium sub-trapezoidal; pygidial apex with sharper edges and bristled instead of scaly, bristles more abundant and longer on apex.

Variation.

Male paratype. Length: 10.7 mm; width 5.2 mm. The paratype does not differ significantly from the holotype, except in the elytral outer ridge less conspicuous and the elytra shiny, not pruinose, on posterior margins.

Etymology.

Noun in the genitive case. Prefix from Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs, "false, lying"). The species name is due to the morphological similarity with L. santaecrucis and also their geographical distribution is nearby.

Type-locality.

BRAZIL, Mato Grosso do Sul: Rio Verde de Mato Grosso [18°55'33.2"S, 54°50'43.6"W], Oct 1964.

Geographical distribution.

BRAZIL (MS, DF).

Remarks.

Liogenys pseudosanctaecrucis Cherman, sp. n. shares with L. santaecrucis almost all of the external features, excepting the male pygidial disc scaly instead of bristled. The parameres differ in the more pronounced and broader groove across the basal region.