Liogenys pseudospiniventris 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 : 93-96

Liogenys pseudospiniventris Cherman sp. n. Figs 86, 90

Type-specimen.

Holotype male, pinned, with genitalia mounted. Original labels: [white, outlined, printed] "Morro da Garça /MG-Brasil/ 18- 20.X.1964/ Exp. Dep. Zool.", [white, handwritten] " Liogenys / spiniventris /Mos/ [printed] det. G. Frey, 1970", [red printed] “HOLOTYPE” (NHMB). Female Paratype (1) bearing the labels: [red printed] “PARATYPE”, [green printed] "Brasilien/Prov. S. Paulo/ Campinas/ Alwine Braatz V." (ZMHB). Holotype deposited at NHMB, Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel. Female paratype deposited at ZMHB, Museum für Naturkunde der Leibniz Gemeinschaft Institut, Berlin.

Diagnosis.

Body brownish; elongate; elytra testaceous, pronotum purplish red, sparsely punctured; clypeal emargination sharp and wide; outer sides of anterior teeth sub-parallel, slightly divergent; clypeal lateral margin with a rounded tooth-like projection, acute angle between outer side of anterior teeth and clypeal lateral projection; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; mesotibia quadrate in cross section; male metafemur medially produced on posterior margin; male metatibia slightly bent outwards, with inner margin medially produced towards apex; male ventrites IV and V strongly produced medially, the former is spine-like apically; pygidium flat, as wide as it is long, bristled throughout; male genitalia with basal region narrower than the parameres together at its maximum width, parameres strongly narrowed subapically (Fig. 86G).

Holotype.

Male. Length: 11.9 mm; width: 6.0 mm. Testaceous, pronotum purplish red. Head: distance between eyes nearly twice the width of one eye; frons equal in length to clypeus; clypeal emargination sharp, shallow and wide; outer sides of anterior teeth sub-parallel, slightly divergent; outer margin of anterior teeth more than twice shorter than the eye; clypeal lateral margin convex, with a rounded tooth-like projection; distance between clypeal lateral projection and anterior margin of eye slightly shorter than one eye; distance between clypeal lateral projection and anterior tooth shorter than basal width of anterior tooth; angle between outer side of anterior teeth and clypeal lateral projection slightly acute; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width slightly wider than the apex; fovea shallow, 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 weakly sulcated posteriorly, glabrous, punctures moderately coarse and sparse; pronotal posterior corners sharp, obtuse-angled; proepisternum with short and a few long bristles; mesepisternum scaly; sides of metasternum bristled; distance between meso- and metacoxae up to twice longer than the metacoxa; scutellum ogival, finely punctured at the sides. Elytra: shiny, glabrous, uniformly testaceous, distinctly lighter in color than pronotum; elytra more than three times longer than the pronotum; elytral suture darker than elytron and distinctly elevated; all four elytral ridges barely noticeable. Legs: procoxa bristled on infra-carinal and outer surface; smooth at 12 × magnification; three protibial teeth, the middle the longest, the three teeth equally spaced; protibial inner apical spur present; mesofemural disc setose, scarcely bristled; mesotibia quadrate in cross section, disc finely sculptured; two mesotibial transverse carinae, the apical complete; metacoxal disc bristled; basal apophysis of metacoxa produced beyond the outer margin of trochanter; metafemur medially produced on posterior margin; metatibia slightly bent outwards, inner margin of metatibia carinated and medially produced towards apex, apical inner surface setose; metatibial disc finely sculptured; two metatibial transverse carinae present posteriorly and posterior discontinuous longitudinal carina; metatibial spurs equal in length, shorter than the diameter of the tibial apex; pro- and mesotarsomeres I to IV enlarged, mesotarsomeres less than three times wider than the metatarsi; basal metatarsomere longer than tarsomere II and as wide as; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth longer and narrower than the inferior; distance between teeth shorter than the inferior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites bristled abundantly on disc and sides; ventrites IV and V strongly produced medially, the former is spine-like apically; propygidium visible and bristled; pygidium flat; sub-quadrate, as wide as it is long; pygidial width not exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc with erect bristles throughout; pygidial apex quadrate. Parameres: basal region narrower than the width of the parameres together at its maximum width, parameral split at 2/3; inner margins of parameres convergent; strongly narrowed subapically, apical edges rounded (Fig. 86G). In lateral view parameres concave (Fig. 86H).

Female paratype. Length: 13.9 mm; width: 7.2 mm. As the holotype except in the size bigger, frons more swollen, clypeus lateral margin weakly produced, metafemur and metatibia not produced on inner margin and ventrites not produced medially.

Etymology.

Adjective in the nominative singular. Prefix from Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs, "false, lying"); compound noun from Latin spīna ( “thorn”) + ventris genitive from venter (abdomen). Species named in reference to the ventral feature alike with L. spiniventris . These species share the ventrites IV and V medially furnished with projections.

Type-locality.

BRAZIL, Minas Gerais: Morro da Garça [44°36'09"W, 18°32'49"S], 18-20 Oct 1964.

Geographical distribution.

BRAZIL (MG, SP).

Remarks.

Liogenys pseudospiniventris Cherman, sp. n. resembles L. spiniventris (Fig. 73) in the size, shape and color of the body and elytra, shape of clypeus and mainly in the presence of medial projections of ventrites. The new species differs from L. spiniventris mainly in the pygidial disc bristled throughout; male ventrite IV projection spine-like apically and in the shape of the parameres, strongly narrowed subapically. Liogenys pseudospiniventris Cherman, sp. n. female paratype is not from the same collection as the holotype and also differs in the type-locality. However, many features common to male and female were observed and allowed the matching, as the color of elytra and pronotum; frons swollen, shape of the clypeus, pronotal disc weakly sulcated posteriorly, density and distribution of punctures; pronotal posterior corners sharp; mesotibia quadrate in cross section and pygidial disc bristled throughout.