Gymnetis chalcipes Gory & Percheron, 1833

Iorio, Osvaldo Di, 2014, A review of the natural history of adult Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries, Zootaxa 3790 (2), pp. 281-318 : 287

Gymnetis chalcipes Gory & Percheron, 1833

Figs. 5–12 , 16 (natural history)

Gymnetina (Gymnetoides) chalcipes chalcipes (Gory & Percheron, 1833) : Monné 1970: 61 (natural history).

Paragymnetis chalcipes (Gory & Percheron, 1833) : Silva et al. 1968: 555 (distribution, natural history).

Paragymnetis litigiosa , not Gory & Percheron, 1833: Di Iorio 2003: 179 (distribution, natural history): misidentification.

Literature food records. BRAZIL: Río Grande do Sul: locality not stated, on flowers of cultivated fig tree, observation of A. Bertels ( Silva et al. 1968); ARGENTINA : Buenos Aires: Punta Lara, 20-II- (1927), 4 exx., identified by Bruch, feeding on sap of a branch of Salix babylonica (Salicaceae) , broken by larval galleries of Mallodon spinibarbis (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Coleoptera : Cerambycidae : Prioninae ) ( Maldonado Bruzzone 1927); Florencio Varela, 16-III-1996, Di Iorio leg., 2 exx. (ODIC), feeding on ripened fruits of Diospyros kaki (Ebenaceae) on the plant ( Di Iorio 2003); URUGUAY: (locality not stated), adults on flowers of Eryngium sp. ( Apiaceae ) ( Monné 1970).

New food records. ARGENTINA : Buenos Aires: José C. Paz, II-1996, C. Servian leg., 1 ex. (FPBA), feeding on a ripened fig, Ficus carica (Moraceae) ; Partido Vicente López, Florida, 2011, feeding on ripened fruits of Diospyros kaki fallen to the ground (Lucas Damer, personal observation); Reserva Ecológica de Vicente López, XII-2012 to I-2013, L. Damer & Di Iorio leg., 17 exx. (ODIC) ( Table 1 ), feeding on sap from adult and larval galleries of Megaplatypus mutatus (Chapuis, 1825) ( Coleoptera : Platypodidae ) in boles of Salix babylonica (Salicaceae) ( Figs. 5–12 , 16 ); Capital Federal: Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, 9-XI-2011, L. Damer leg., 1 ex. (LDBA), on male flowers of Phytolacca dioica (Phytolaccaceae) fallen to the ground, several exx. (not collected), feeding on fruits fallen to the ground.

Bait traps. ARGENTINA : Entre Ríos: Ibicuy, I-2012, C. Ufor leg., 4 exx. (CUJCP), 2 exx. (ODIC), feeding in banana bait-traps; Buenos Aires: Hurlingham, 22-I-1997, Di Iorio leg., 1 ex. (ODIC), in banana bait trap; Capital Federal: Agronomía, 6-I-2012, A. Fortino leg., 1 ex. (AFBA), banana bait trap; Ciudad Universitaria, 2011–2012, 175 exx. (ODIC), XII-2012, 1 ex. (ODIC), feeding in banana bait-traps ( Table 1 ).

Overwintering. ARGENTINA : Buenos Aires: Otamendi, 30-VII-2008, Di Iorio leg., 1 ex. (ODIC), under bark of Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Myrtaceae) .

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 8. Gymnetis chalcipes feeding on sap from adult and larval galleries of Megaplatypus mutatus (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) on the bole of Salix humboldtiana (Reserva Ecológica de Vicente López, Buenos Aires, Argentina): Fig. 5, larval galleries, 21 December 2012; Fig. 6, adult gallery together with Compsocerus violaceus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), 17 December 2012; Fig. 7, larval gallery, 29 December 2012; Fig. 8, larval gallery together with Compsocerus violaceous and Opsiphanes invirae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Brassolinae), 30 December 2012.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Gymnetis chalcipes and G. pudibunda (18 December 2012) feeding on sap from a larval gallery of Megaplatypus mutatus (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) in the bole of Salix humboldtiana (Reserva Ecológica de Vicente López, Buenos Aires, Argentina): Figs. 10 – 11, after a landing on the bole, a second G. chalcipes approaches the sap flow.

FIGURES 13 – 16. Gymnetis pudibunda feeding on sap from adult and larval galleries of Megaplatypus mutatus (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) on the bole of Salix humboldtiana (Reserva Ecológica de Vicente López, Buenos Aires, Argentina): Fig. 13, adult gallery (see the air bubbles located in the entrance of the gallery), together with Compsocerus violaceous (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) (photograph by Lucas Damer, 17 December 2012); Fig. 14, larval gallery, 21 December 2012; Fig. 15, adult gallery together with ants (photograph by Rocío Gonzalez, 7 January 2012); Fig. 16, adult gallery together with G. chalcipes and C. violaceus, 2 January 2013.