Tomarus fossor ( Latreille, 1813 )

López-García, Margarita M., Gasca-Álvarez, Héctor J. & Amat-García, Germán, 2015, The scarab beetle tribe Pentodontini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) of Colombia: taxonomy, natural history, and distribution, Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 451-492 : 482-484

Tomarus fossor ( Latreille, 1813)

( Figs. 124–131 )

Scarabaeus fossor Latreille, 1813: 11 .

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 124 . Length 14.0– 14.5 mm (♂), 13.5–15.0 mm (♀). Width 6.5–7.0 mm (♂), 7.5– 8.5 mm (♀). Color dark to light reddish brown, head and base of pronotum darker, head nearly black. Head: Frons flat; surface strongly punctate, punctures nearly rounded, deep, large and dense; vertex nearly smooth. Frontoclypeal region with a transverse carina interrupted at middle, often weakly connected. Clypeus with surface transversely rugose; apex broadly truncate ( Fig. 127 ), with 2 small teeth; teeth reflexed, widely separated (about 2 tooth diameters). Interocular distance equals 2.8–3.0 times the transverse ocular diameter. Antennal club longer than antennomeres 2–7. Mandibles with 3 teeth. Pronotum: Surface with punctures evenly dispersed, deep, large, weakly umbilicale punctures ( Fig. 124 ). Apical tubercle and fovea absent ( Fig. 125 ). Scutellum: Surface with about 15 deep and some minute, sparse punctures. Elytra: Surface with deep, large, ocellate punctures, some smaller between intervals; 3 pairs of double rows of punctures distinct; elytral suture present. Pygidium: Surface completely punctate; punctures large, ocellate, minutely setigerous ( Fig. 126 ). Surface evenly convex in both sexes. Legs: Protibia tridentate, basal tooth distinctly removed from others. Male protarsus simple, not enlarged. Apex of metatibia slightly crenulate with 18 – 20 spinules on the apical margin, only 15 in some males. Apex of first metatarsomere truncate. Venter: Prosternal process short, not extending beyond procoxae; apex spherical and completely cover by long yellow setae. Parameres: Base broad; lateral teeth large, upwards and with apex acute; apical third narrowed, apices straight ( Figs. 128–129 ). Spiculum gastrale: Base slightly shorter than lateral branches, apex truncate ( Fig. 130 ).

Diagnosis. Tomarus fossor is characterized by its small size, red color, and lack of a pronotal fovea and tubercle. This species resembles T. cuniculus by its reddish brown color and small size. However, T. fossor has neither a pronotal tubercle nor fovea, the punctures on the pronotum are deeper, and the basal tooth of the protibia is distinctly removed from the others.

Locality records. ( Fig. 131 ) 32 specimens. 12♂, 20♀. Specimens were seen from CTI, IAvH, ICN, MEFLG, MPUJ, UNAB. Atlántico (7): Juan de Acosta, Reserva Campesina La Montaña (5). Puerto Colombia, Campus Univ. Atlántico (1). Repelón, Reserva Bijibana (1). Bolívar (2): Cartagena (1); Isla Barú (1). Cesar (6): Agustín Codazzi (6). Córdoba (3): Cereté, La Coroza (3). La Guajira (6): Campamento Mushaisa, Intercor Cerrejón Norte. Magdalena (5): Santa Marta, PNN Tayrona (5). Ambiguous data (3). Antioquia (2): Medellín (2). Caldas (1): Manizales (1).

Temporal distribution. March (6), May (4), June (4), July (6), August (2), October (2), December (6). No data (4).

Distribution. El Salvador, Curaçao, Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, and Bolivia ( Endrödi 1969; Ratcliffe & Cave 2006; Carvajal et al. 2011). In Colombia, the species was found in five departments of the Caribbean region, and Endrödi (1969) reported an additional record in Sucre. Two females from Medellín and one male from Manizales (all from MEFLG) were considered as mislabeled. Taking into account the distribution of T. fossor in Panama ( Ratcliffe 2003) and Venezuela ( Escalona & Joly 2006), it is not likely that the species reaches elevations up to 1,000 m. Additionally, the record by Neita-Moreno (2011) for Chocó, which includes a photograph, probably corresponds to T. gyas .

Natural history. This is a lowland species, which was collected from 2 – 269 m elevation. Adults were collected with light and Malaise traps. Some of them were found in dry forest, and others were collected on maize and flowers of sunflower ( Helianthus annuus Linnaeus ) ( Asteraceae ), where it has been previously reported as a pest ( Escalona & Joly 2006).

Figures

FIGURES 124 – 131. Tomarus fossor. 124) habitus in dorsal view, 125) habitus in lateral view, 126) pygidium, 127) head and pronotum in dorsal view, 128) parameres in frontal view, 129) parameres in lateral view, 130) spiculum gastrale, 131) locality records in Colombia.