Nemognatha (Pauronemognatha) rufoscutellaris Pic, 1910

Bologna, Marco A. & Riccieri, Alessandra, 2023, Taxonomic and faunistic study of four almost unknown Brazilian Meloidae (Coleoptera), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20230041) 67 (3), pp. 1-7 : 4-5

Nemognatha (Pauronemognatha) rufoscutellaris Pic, 1910

Nemognatha rufoscutellaris Pic, 1910: 115 ; Denier, 1935b: 28. Nemognatha subparallela Pic, 1927: 29 . Figure 3 a-h Material examined. 20 exx., “Faz.(= Fazenda) Sta. (= Santa) Carlota,

Cajuru, SP, BR ” with different dates (1 ex. 1986; 1 ex. 17.II.1988; 1 ex.

23.II.1988; 1 ex. 3.III.1988; 1 ex. 6.II.1989; 1 ex. 1990; 1 ex. 12.III.1990; 1 ex.

5.III.1990; 1 ex. 6.III.1990; 1 ex. 19.III.1990; 1 ex. 5.IV.1990; 1 ex. 8.IV.1990;

1 ex. 17.X.1990; 2 exx. 23.X.1990 (1 with exuvia); 1 ex. 23.X.1991;

1 ex. 1997; 1 ex. 8.III.1998; 2 exx. without date). 1 ex., “ Serra do Japì , Jundalai, SP, BR ” , 1 ex. 3.XI.1995. 2 exx., “ Est. (= Estação) Ecol. (= Ecológica) dos Caetatus, Gália, SP, BR ,

22°22.51’- 49°40.26’”,with different dates (1 ex. 2.II.2007; 1 ex. 19.XI.2007). 4 exx., “Reserva Ecologica Pedregulho, SP; BR ”, with different dates

(1 ex. 25.X. 1991; 1 ex. 21.X.1991; 2 exx. 3.XI.1991). 3 exx., “Est.(= Estação) Ecol.(= Ecológica) de Jatai, L.(=Luiz) Antonio, SP,

BR ”,with different dates (1 ex. 9.X.1991; 1 ex. 25.X.1991; 1 ex. 29.X.1991). 1 ex., “Faz.(= Fazenda) Feder.(= Federal) (illegible), SP, BR ”, (illegible)

(without date).

22 exx., “Faz.(= Fazenda) Ecol.(= Ecológica) Santa Cecilia, Patrocinio Paulista, SP, BR ”, with different dates (1 ex. 4.IV.2001; 1 ex. 29.III.2002; 1 ex. 1.XI.2002; 1 ex. 27.XI.2002; 1 ex. 22.III.2003; 1 ex. 1.III.2003; 5 exx. 21.X.2003; 1 ex. 27.X.2003; 4 exx. 22/ 23.X.2003; 2 exx. 26.X.2003; 1 ex. 27.X.2003; 1 ex. 31.X.2003; 1 ex 10.II.2004; 1 ex. 25.X.2004) .

Taxonomy. This species is black with elytra dark black-violet metallic, head, pronotum, procoxae and abdomen usually orange ( Fig. 3a /b/c). The colour variation of the examined specimens is large and could support the hypothesis of co-specificity with other Brazilian taxa. First, the head colour could be totally orange ( Fig. 3e ) or with a black frontal area, present in almost 14% of the individuals, usually rectangular, extended from the suture to the middle of interocular space or totally covering the frons until the posterior margin of eye ( Fig. 3d ). The antennomeres are black, but in two specimens antennomeres I-II are orange as the base of III. Elytra in a few individuals are blue-violet or green-violet. The abdomen is orange, especially in males, but in about 38% of individuals is black or rarely dark reddish.

As in both other Nemognatha object of this study, the head is very short and galeae are quite short, reaching at most the anterior ventral angle of the eye. The modified ventral areas, which allow to refer for the first time this species to the subgenus Pauronemognatha , are depicted in Fig. 3f , and male genitalia in Fig. 3g /h.

Remarks. Both N. rufoscutellaris and N. subparallela Pic, 1927 have been described generically from Brazil and afterwards recorded also from Bolivia and Argentina. According to the description, they look very similar to each other, except for the head colour, black in the first and orange/red in the second species. We agree with Denier (1935b) who considered N. subparallela as a chromatic variation of N. rufoscutellaris with the head orange/red, rather than black. For instance, Martinez (1992) considered these two taxa as distinct, based on the unpublished opinion of R. B. Selander. Another species, N. pallidicollis Beauregard, 1890 , which was compared by Pic (1910a) to N. rufoscutellaris , could be referred to the intraspecific variation of this complex, but we did not examine it. If the synonymy between the two species will be confirmed, the name N. pallidicollis should have the priority.

For information about the bee host see above.

Figures

Figure 3 Nemognatha rufoscutellaris a.body dorsally;b.pronotum; c.body laterally; d. head variant black;e. head variant orange; f.ventrites ventrally;g.male genitalia laterally; h. male genitalia ventrally.