Liogenys freyi 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 : 86-88

Liogenys freyi Cherman sp. n. Figs 83, 91

Type-specimen.

Holotype male, pinned, with genitalia mounted. Original labels: [white printed] “5”, [White handwritten] " Liogenys /? parvus Bl./ [printed] G. J. Arrow det.", [green printed] "MUSEUM PARIS/CHACO DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO/BORDS DU RIO SALADO/ENV. D’ICAÑO /E. R. WAGNER 1910", [red printed] “HOLOTYPE” (MNHN). Paratypes (8) bearing the label [red printed] “PARATYPE”: Female paratype labeled: [green printed] "CHACO DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO/LA PALISA/BORDS DU RIO SALADO/25 KIL. N. O. D’ICAÑO /E. R. WAGNER 1903". Female paratype labeled. [green printed] "MUSEUM PARIS/CHACO DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO/ BORDS DU RIO SALADO/ENV. D’ICAÑO /E. R. WAGNER 1904". Female paratype labeled. [green printed] "MUSEUM PARIS/CHACO DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO/LA PALISA DEL BRACHO/25 KIL. N. N. O. D’ICAÑO /LAGUNA MAMAITA/E. R. WAGNER 1904". Female paratype labeled. [green printed] "MUSEUM PARIS/PROV. DE SANTIAGO/DEL ESTERO/BORDS DU RIO SALADO/ENV. D’ICAÑO. MISTOL PASO/E. R. WAGNER 1909" (MNHN). Two males and one female paratype labeled: [white printed] "S. del Estero/ Col. Wagner". Males with genitalia mounted (MLPA). Male paratype labeled: [white handwritten] "Salta/ C. Olleros/ II.958. P. Dor", "[esferic orange label]", [pink printed] “Property/USNM”, [white printed] " Liogenys / [handwritten] parvus Bl/[printed] det. G. Frey, 1968", [yellow printed] "Museum Frey/Tutzing" Genitalia mounted (NHMB). Holotype and four paratypes deposited at MNHN, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Male paratype deposited at NHMB, Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel. Three paratypes deposited at MLPA, Museo de La Plata, La Plata.

Diagnosis.

Body light brown; elongate; elytra yellowish, pronotum reddish; clypeus quadridentate due to the tooth-like projection of the lateral margin; clypeal emargination deep, rounded and narrow; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; clypeus bristled anteriorly; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; pronotal anterior margin strongly depressed throughout; pronotal posterior corners rounded; pronotum and scutellum with inconspicuous bristles (50 × magnification); mesotibia cylindrical in cross section; metacoxa scaly and smooth; male metafemur slightly produced medially on posterior margin; pygidium flat, sub-trapezoidal; pygidial disc bristled throughout, with both short and long erect bristles, punctured only on the sides; parameres, basal region very short; parameres narrowed subapically, apex spatula-like, slightly curved outwards, up to the level of the parameral basal margin (Fig. 83F).

Holotype.

Male. Length: 9.4 mm; width: 4.7 mm. Yellowish. Head: distance between eyes slightly more than twice the width of one eye; frons equal in length to clypeus; clypeus bristled anteriorly, emargination deep, rounded and narrow; outer sides of anterior teeth parallel; outer margin of anterior teeth as long as the eye; clypeal lateral margin convex and strongly produced forming a tooth-like projection; distance between lateral and anterior tooth longer than the basal width of anterior tooth, distance between lateral tooth and anterior margin of eye as long as one eye, right angle between anterior and lateral teeth; canthus exceeding the outer margin of the eye; distal maxillary palpomere, maximum width twice width of apex; fovea deep 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 and longer than the flagellum. Thorax: anterior margin of pronotum straight and strongly depressed throughout (Fig. 83D); maximum length of pronotum exceeding the length of tarsomeres I, II and III together; disc with inconspicuous bristles, punctures coarse and sparse, reticulated; pronotal posterior corners rounded; proepisternum bristled and scaly; mesepisternum scaly, as are the sides of metasternum, also with few long bristles on the anterior margin; distance between meso- and metacoxae up twice the length of the metacoxa; scutellum ogival, inconspicuous bristles, moderate coarsely punctured. Elytra: shiny, glabrous, yellowish, lighter in color than pronotum; elytra three times longer than the pronotum; elytral suture unicolored with the elytron and not elevated; the two pairs of inner ridges and the outer one more distinct than the third. Legs: procoxa bristled and scaly on infra-carinal and outer surface, punctures 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, long bristles on the anterior margin; mesotibia cylindrical in cross section; disc coarsely sculptured, two mesotibial transverse carinae, the apical one complete; metacoxa smooth and scaly; basal apophysis of metacoxa produced beyond the outer margin of trochanter; male metafemur slightly produced medially on posterior margin; inner margin of metatibia carinated towards apex, apical inner surface setose; metatibial disc coarsely sculptured; two metatibial transverse carinae present posteriorly; metatibial apical spurs of different lengths, the longest one equal to the diameter of the tibial apex; protarsomere II long; pro- and mesotarsomeres I to IV enlarged, protarsomeres slightly wider than the mesotarsomeres; twice as wide as metatarsi; basal metatarsomere shorter and slightly wider than tarsomere II; claw bifid, symmetrical, superior tooth twice longer than the inferior and equally wide; distance between teeth longer than the inferior tooth. Abdomen: ventrites and propygidium both sparsely bristled on disc; pygidium flat, sub-trapezoidal, as wide as it is long; pygidial width not exceeding distance between spiracles of propygidium; pygidial disc bristled throughout, with both short and long erect bristles; disc smooth and punctured on sides, pygidial apex quadrate. Parameres: basal region very short; parameral split at 1/3; slightly wider than the parameres together at its transverse midline; inner margins straight; narrowed subapically; apex spatula-like, slightly curved outwards, up to the level of the basal outer margin (Fig. 83F). In lateral view parameres straight coplanar with basal region (Fig. 83G).

Female paratype (MNHN). Length: 10.4 mm; width: 5.2 mm. As the holotype except in the metafemur not medially produced on posterior margin; metacoxa longer and pygidium narrower. Variation. Female paratypes as the former. Male paratypes (NHMB and MLPA) length: 9.4 mm; width: 4.7 mm. As the holotype.

Etymology.

This species is dedicated to Georg Frey, as a reward for his enormous contribution to the knowledge of Liogenys in his taxonomic revision.

Type-locality.

ARGENTINA, Santiago del Estero: Bords du Rio Salado, Env. [environs] D’Icaño, Chaco de Santiago del Estero [Today nearby Añatuya, SE] [28°25'00.7"S, 63°00'56.7"W], E. R. Wagner, 1910.

Geographical distribution.

ARGENTINA (SA, SE).

Remarks.

Liogenys freyi Cherman, sp. n. resembles L. parva in the size and shape of the body, as well as in the quadridentate clypeus, as are L. femella Cherman, sp. n., L. rotundicollis Cherman, sp. n., and L. piauiensis Cherman, sp. n. Liogenys freyi Cherman, sp. n. differs mainly in the elytra lighter in color, clypeal emargination narrower; pronotum and scutellum with inconspicuous bristles; postero-external corner of metacoxa rounded and metacoxal disc smooth but scaly, as are the pro-, meso- and metasternum; pygidium flat, disc bristled throughout, with short and long erect bristles and the shape of parameres is also distinctive.

All these four L. parva -similar new species mentioned above, were erstwhile identified as L. parva by many taxonomists, constituting a species complex. The present work allowed their proper delimitation.

Liogenys freyi Cherman, sp. n. was actually first described by Frey (1969), but as a redescription of L. parva Blanchard (see L. parva remarks for more details). Unfortunately, we did not find the specimens used by Frey (1969) to redescribe the supposedly L. parva . Nevertheless, L. freyi Cherman, sp. n. paratype (NHMB) labeled from Salta, Argentina bears all the Frey's, original labels, including its identification as L. parva , and this specimen matches entirely with Frey's, description, so there are great chances of those type specimens mentioned by Frey (1969) also being L. freyi Cherman, sp. n.. In that case, when found, the locality of Formosa, Argentina will be considered a new record for this new species. Frey did not explain why he supposedly redescribed L. parva based on his own type series instead of Blanchard's, type series.

Liogenys freyi Cherman, sp. n. occurs in northern Argentina (Salta, Santiago del Estero and probably Formosa) (Fig. 91). We studied the other species from Argentina, mainly the northern ones and none of them seemed to be similar to L. freyi Cherman, sp. n. at all, excluding the possibility of a future case of synonymy.