Pucaya castanea Ohaus, 1910

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 : 472-474

Pucaya castanea Ohaus, 1910

( Figs. 76 – 83 )

Pucaya castanea Ohaus, 1910: 675 . Pucaya columbiana Beck, 1942: 47 .

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 76 . Length 23.0– 32.5 mm (♂), 27.0–29.0 mm (♀). Width 11.0–15.0 mm (♂), 11.0– 12.5 mm (♀). Color dark to light reddish brown ( Fig. 76 ). Head: Frons nearly flat; surface strongly rugopunctate and grooved in males, in females base nearly smooth only with sparse, small punctures. Eye canthus with about 2 erect setae. Frontoclypeal suture absent. Frons with 2 erect horns, in males ( Fig. 79 ), and 2 large tubercles, in females ( Fig. 78 ); adjacently each eye. Clypeus strongly rugose and grooved ( Figs. 77–78 ). Clypeus trapezoidal, apex truncate with lateral and anterior margins upturned ( Fig. 77 ). Interocular distance equals 3.6–4.0 (♂) and 4.6– 4.8 (♀) times the transverse ocular diameter. Antennal club subequal to antennomeres 2–7. Mandibles small and slender, hidden below clypeus. Pronotum: Surface nearly smooth, with minute, sparse punctures. Apex with a large central depression and 2 lateral tumescences, more prominent in males ( Fig. 79 ). Apex with marginal bead not produced posteriorly; basal marginal bead as a thin line. Scutellum: Surface with a few minute punctures. Elytra: Surface nearly smooth, only with sparse, minute punctures; elytral suture absent. Pygidium: With small punctures, denser on base and lateral angles. Lateral surface convex in males, nearly flat in females. Legs: Protibia tridentate, basal tooth distinctly removed from the others ( Fig. 78 ). Male protarsus enlarged, larger claw with apex incised. Metatibia with apex slightly crenulate, with 9 short, thick spinules. Venter: Prosternal process moderately short, not projecting beyond procoxa; apex transversely oval, convex on the anterior part and nearly flat on the posterior part, which is wider than anterior; anterior and posterior part separated by a sulcus; clothed by long, yellow setae. Parameres: Slightly asymmetric, short, slightly narrowed in the apical third, broad at the apex ( Figs. 80–81 ). Spiculum gastrale: Base short, shorter than lateral branches ( Fig. 82 ).

Diagnosis. Pucaya castanea is the largest species in the genus, with a mean length of 28.1 mm for males (range 26.0– 32.5 mm) and 27.6 mm for females (range 27.0–29.0 mm). The antennal club is shorter than antennomeres 2–7, which is longer in P. p ul c hr a. The surface of the elytra and pronotum is nearly smooth, with minute and sparse punctures only, whereas P. pulchra has punctures on the pronotum and elytra, that are variable in size and density. Furthermore, the apex of the metatibia has 9 short spinules in P. castanea whereas in P. pulchra it has 14 to 17 spinules, rarely 12.

Locality records. ( Fig. 83 ) 24 specimens, 13♂, 11♀. Specimens were seen from CEUN, CIUQ, CTI, ICN, LEUC, UNSM. Antioquia (3): Medellín (1). San Luís (1). San Rafael (1). Boyacá (1): Chitaraque, Vda. Potrero Grande (1). Caldas (5): Manizales, RFP Río Blanco (1); Ecoparque Los Alcázares (1); Vda. Hoyo Frío, Reserva Planalto CENICAFÉ (1); Vda. Maltería, Granja Tesorito (1). Palestina, Vda. Santágueda, Granja Montelindo, Univer. Caldas (1). Nariño (6): Barbacoas, Correg. Altaquer, Vda. El Barro, RN Río Ñambí (5). Espino (1). Quindío (3): Armenia (2). Circasia, Vda. El Piamonte, (1). Risaralda (1): Santuario, PNN Tatamá (1). Santander (2): Bucaramanga (1). Suaita, San José de Suaita, Fundación San Cipriano (1). Tolima (2): Fresno, Fca. Mirella (1). Herveo (1). Valle del Cauca (1): Darién, Calima, vía Buga (1).

Temporal distribution. March (1), April (1), May (2), June (1), July (4), August (2), September (5), October (4), November (1). No data (3).

Distribution. Panama, Ecuador ( Endrödi 1969), and Colombia ( Restrepo-Giraldo et al. 2003). In Colombia, P. castanea was found widely distributed in the Andean and Choco regions. This species had been previously found in Chocó department ( Neita-Moreno 2011).

Natural history. Adults can be collected with light traps and eventually found on rotten fruit. The species was found in forests and coffee crops, between 1,050–2,250 m.

Figures

FIGURES 76 – 83. Pucaya castanea. 76) habitus in dorsal view, 77) head in dorsal view, male, 78) head in dorsal view, female, 79) head and pronotum in lateral view, 80) parameres in frontal view, 81) parameres, lateral view, 82) spiculum gastrale, 83) locality records in Colombia.