Liogenys femella 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 : 79-82

Liogenys femella Cherman sp. n. Figs 80, 93

Type-specimen.

Holotype female, pinned. Original label: [white, outlined black] "[handwritten] PIRAPORA/[printed]Minas Gerais BRASIL/[handwritten]1954", [red printed] “HOLOTYPE” (MNRJ). Female paratype (1) with the same data of the holotype plus the label [red printed] “PARATYPE” (MNRJ). Holotype and paratype deposited at MNRJ, Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.

Diagnosis.

Body brown; elongate; elytra light brown, pronotum reddish brown; clypeus quadridentate due to the tooth-like projection of the lateral margin; clypeal emargination deep and angled; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; anterior margin of pronotum depressed throughout; pronotal posterior corners rounded; mesotibia sub- quadrate in cross section; inner margin of metatibia not carinated on apex and inner surface glabrous; pygidium slightly convex, sub-trapezoidal; glabrous, bristled only at the apical margin. No males known until now for this species

Holotype.

Female. Length: 8.6 mm; width: 4.7 mm. Brownish. Head: distance between eyes nearly twice the width of one eye; frons equal in length to clypeus; clypeal emargination deep, sharp and wide; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth shorter than the eye; clypeal lateral margin convex and strongly produced forming a tooth-like projection; distance between lateral and anterior tooth equal to basal width of anterior tooth, distance between lateral tooth and anterior margin of eye longer than one eye, right angle between anterior and lateral teeth; canthus not exceeding the outer margin of the eye; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width less than twice the width of apex; fovea shallow extending up to the transverse midline of the palpomere; labium transversely carinated, as wide as it is long; antenna 10-articulated, lamellae lighter in color than the flagellum and equal in length. Thorax: anterior margin of pronotum straight and depressed throughout (Fig. 80D); maximum length of pronotum exceeding the length of tarsomeres I, II and III together, disc glabrous, punctures coarse and sparse; pronotal posterior corners rounded; proepisternum with long bristles; mesepisternum sparsely scaly; sides of metasternum with short bristles and few long ones on the anterior margin; distance between meso- and metacoxae up to twice the length of the metacoxa; scutellum ogival, coarsely punctured and scarcely bristled. Elytra: shiny, glabrous, light brown, lighter in color than pronotum; elytra more than three times longer than the pronotum; elytral suture slightly darker than elytron and elevated; two pairs of inner ridges more noticeable than the two outer pairs. Legs: procoxa bristled on infra-carinal and outer surface, smooth at 12 × magnification; 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 sub-quadrate in cross section; disc finely sculptured; two mesotibial transverse carinae, the apical one incomplete; metacoxa with short bristles at the sides, basal apophysis of metacoxa produced beyond the outer margin of trochanter; inner margin of metatibia carinated excepting the apex; apical inner surface glabrous; metatibial disc coarsely sculptured; two metatibial transverse carinae present posteriorly, the basal one reduced; metatibial apical spurs of different lengths, the longest exceeding the diameter of the tibial apex; protarsomere II long; pro- and mesotarsomeres I to IV cylindrical; basal metatarsomere shorter and slightly wider than tarsomere II; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth longer and narrower than the inferior; distance between teeth shorter than the inferior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites scarcely bristled on disc; propygidium slightly visible, glabrous; pygidium slightly convex, sub-trapezoidal, as wide as it is long; pygidial width exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc glabrous, bristled only at the margin of the apex; pygidial apex rounded. Males remain unknown. Variation: Female paratype. Length: 8.6 mm; width: 4.7 mm. As the holotype except in the apical transverse carina complete in metatibia.

Etymology.

Noun in the nominative singular. From Latin femella ( “girl”). The species name is due to the female type material, as some features mentioned in the description might be present only in females.

Type-locality.

BRAZIL, Minas Gerais: Pirapora [44°56'30"W; 17°20'42"S], 1954.

Geographical distribution.

BRAZIL (MG).

Remarks.

Liogenys femella Cherman, sp. n. resembles L. parva in the size and body shape, and in the quadridentate clypeus. They differ in the scutellum, more punctured and bristled in L. femella .