Neocorvicoana Ratcliffe and

Ratcliffe, Brett C. & Micó, Estefania, 2001, A Review Of The Neotropical Genus Neocorvicoana Ratcliffe And Micó, New Genus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 55 (3), pp. 279-296 : 282-283

Neocorvicoana Ratcliffe and Mico´, new genus

Type species. Cetonia reticulata Kirby 1818:410 , here designated.

Heteropodia Schürhoff 1933:94 . Nomen nudum and primary junior homonym.

Corvicoana Strand 1934:277 . Replacement name for Heteropodia . Nomen nudum.

Heteropodetis Schürhoff 1937:70 . Replacement name for Heteropodia . Nomen nudum.

Description. Scarabaeidae , Cetoniinae , Gymnetini . Form: Rhomboidal, robust, sides tapering towards apex, dorsum weakly convex. Length from apex of pronotum to apex of elytra 9–15 mm; width across humeri 6–9 mm. Color: Ground color shiny black with color varying from velutinous ochre, orange, or cream­white to metallic light green, blue, or orange to enamel­like tan, ochre, orange, or light green; all with black punctures, punctures on base of pronotum and elytra often surrounded by dark reddish brown spots. Setae moderate to long on frons, pronotum, and usually elytra; color tawny, piceous or black. Venter shining black with creamy white, ochre, or metallic green, blue, or orange maculae on sternites and tibiae. Head: Shape subrectangular, longer than wide. Frons densely setose. Clypeus weakly depressed either side of slightly convex disc, apex emarginate medially, lobes either side of emargination round. Antenna with 10 segments, club subequal to or slightly longer than segments 2–7. Pronotum: Trapezoidal, widest near base, gradually convergent to apical angles, center­base produced into posteriorly projecting lobe, lobe variably covering all but tip of scutellum. Elytra: Widest at base, posthumeral emargination distinct, sutural costa elevated in posterior half, apices with or without sutural spines. Pygidium: Surface variably punctate and/or with transverse, vermiform strigulae; surface with short setae, flat to weakly convex in lateral view. Legs: Foretibia tridentate in both sexes. Females with tarsi, especially posterior tarsi, thickened and greatly shortened. Meso­ and metatibia each with strong, median carina on lateral edge ending in tooth­like process. Venter: Vertical, prosternal process just before anterior coxae well developed. Mesometasternal process short, flat, apically rounded, in same plane as longitudinal axis of body. Parameres: Form symmetrical, diagnostic at the species level.

Etymology. The compound name is formed by combining the Greek root neos, meaning new, with the previously used (but invalid) generic name, Corvicoana ; here referring to the ‘‘new’’ Corvicoana . The name is considered feminine in gender.

Diagnosis. Species of Neocorvicoana are distinctive because of the following combination of characteristics: frons, pronotum, and elytra with setae; apex of clypeus simple, not reflexed or with marginal bead; foretibia with 3 external teeth in both sexes; tarsomeres in females shortened and compact; mesometasternal process in same plane as venter and short, not or only barely extending past mesocoxae; abdominal sternites simple, not sulcate.

Neocorvicoana is similar to Hoplopygothrix (Schürhoff) except that it’s species have three foretibial teeth in both sexes whereas there are usually only two in species of Hoplopygothrix (the middle one is absent or vestigial). In addition, the apex of the clypeus is simple in Neocorvicoana (with a distinct bead in Hoplopygothrix ); the abdominal sternites in Neocorvicoana are unmodified in males (deeply sulcate in males of Hoplopygothrix ); and the tarsomeres are short and compacted in females of Neocorvicoana (simple in females of Hoplopygothrix ).

Hoplopyga species are also similar, but they have a distinct, reflexed apex on the clypeus whereas the apex is simple in Neocorvicoana species. In addition, species of Hoplopyga do not have the characteristic dorsal setae present in both Neocorvicoana and Hoplopygothrix .

Macrocranius similis Schürhoff , the only species in its genus, is also similar to species of Neocorvicoana , especially in the surface sculpturing of the pronotum and elytra. However, M. similis lacks dorsal setae, has no teeth on the foretibia of the males (female with three teeth), possesses a ventrally glabrous mesometasternal process, does not have compacted tarsomeres in the females, and the male parameres are more slender, proportionately longer,and have an apical tooth that is directed laterally.

Gymnetis species are different from those of Neocorvicoana because, in Gymnetis , there are no dorsal setae, the foretibia are not tridentate in both sexes, the tarsi in females are not short and compact, the mesometasternal process is strongly developed and angularly deflexed downward, and the body form is more elongate and flattened.

Biology. Typically, most adult cetoniines are diurnal and feed on the pollen of flowers, rotting fruits, or on sap. However, nothing is known of the biology of Neocorvicoana species. There is nothing on the labels of any of the 355 specimens examined to indicate on what or how they were collected. The extremely foreshortened and compacted tarsi in the females suggest an adaptation to myrmecophily, perhaps allowing for females to lay eggs in the nests of ants. A number of other cetoniines, particularly in the Cremastocheilini (e.g., Coenochilus Schaum, Cyclidius MacLeay, Callinomes Westwood ), have thickened or foreshortened tarsomeres as an adaptation for living with ants or termites ( Arrow 1925, Ratcliffe pers. obs.). In fact, other scarabaeoids, as well as beetles in many other families that live in the nests of ants and termites, show this adpatation. Unfortunately, we have no observational data to support the idea that Neocorvicoana species are associated with ants, but we propose the idea for other researchers to explore. Additional modern collecting, and especially observations of live beetles, are clearly needed.