Ancognatha ustulata ( Burmeister, 1847 )

Paucar-Cabrera, Aura & Ratcliffe, Brett C., 2018, The Ancognatha Erichson (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Cyclocephalini) of Ecuador, with Description of a New Species, The Coleopterists Bulletin 72 (4), pp. 665-687 : 683

Ancognatha ustulata ( Burmeister, 1847) ( Figs. 15b , 35–37 )

Cyclocephala ustulata Burmeister 1847: 39 (original combination). Lectotype male at MLUH ( Moore et al. 2018).

Ancognatha ustulatoides Höhne 1922: 373 (synonym?). See Nomenclature. Lectotype male at ZMHB ( Moore et al. 2018).

Redescription. Length 17.3–24.5 mm; width 8.2–11.3 mm. Color testaceous with brown, piceous, or black markings ( Fig. 35 ) as follows: Frons black or not; pronotum with large macula covering most of disc; scutellum partially or completely black; elytra with sutural, lateral, and usually basal margins piceous or black; humeral and often apical umbones black; disc variably covered with elongate, small to large, black macula. Tarsomeres testaceous or piceous, femora and tibiae piceous on bases and apices. Metasternum and abdominal sternites usually piceous or black. Head: Frons densely punctate, punctures moderate in size. Clypeus parabolic to narrowly parabolic, apex weakly reflexed. Interocular width equals 3.0 transverse eye diameters. Mandibles elongate, slender, slightly projecting beyond clypeus apex in both sexes. Pronotum: Surface finely punctate; punctures small, moderately dense. Elytra: Surface punctate-striate, punctures moderate in size, dense. Epipleuron of female (in ventral view) black, broad from base to level of abdominal sternites 1–2 where slightly flared and then constricted ( Fig. 15b ). Pygidium: Surface relatively smooth, with small, sparse punctures. In lateral view, surface weakly convex in both sexes. Legs: Protibia tridentate, teeth subequally spaced from each other. Protarsus of male enlarged, median large claw narrowly split at apex. Venter: Prosternal process moderately long, columnar, apex densely setose, flat, and with large, raised, round “button” covering most of apex; setae long, tawny. Parameres: Fig. 36 .

Distribution. Ancognatha ustulata is known from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela ( Endrödi 1966, 1985; Figueroa and Ratcliffe 2016).

Locality Records ( Fig. 37 ). 5 specimens from CISEC, USNM, Endrödi (1966) .

MANABÍ (1). Portoviejo. LOJA (2): Parque Nacional Podocarpus. NO DATA (2) .

Temporal Distribution. October (2), November (1).

Nomenclature. Both Arrow (1937) and Endrödi (1985), without explanation, revised A. ustulatoides to infrasubspecific status with A. ustulata . Ancognatha ustulatoides is similar to A. ustulata but differs in having a setose pygidium. This is normally a species-level difference, and more research is needed to clarify the status of A. ustulatoides . We have no specimens of A. ustulatoides from Ecuador.

Diagnosis. Ancognatha ustulata , although smaller, resembles A. horrida in color and pattern. The male of A. ustulata has a broader parabolic clypeus than the male of A. horrida whose clypeus is more elongate and attenuate. The parameres of both species are very similar ( Figs. 10 , 36 ). The female of A. ustulata has the epipleuron distinctly flared at the level of abdominal sternites 1–2 ( Fig. 15b ), whereas in A. horrida the epipleuron is only slightly flared.

Natural History. Ancognatha ustulata has been collected at elevations of 10–2,400 m. The larval stage was described by Neita-Moreno and Morón (2008).

Figures

Fig. 15. Epipleura of a) Ancognatha hyltonscottae and b) Ancognatha ustulata.

Figs. 35–37. Ancognatha ustulata. 35) Habitus; 36) Parameres; 37) Distribution in Ecuador.

Figs. 9–11. Ancognatha horrida. 9) Habitus; 10) Parameres; 11) Distribution in Ecuador.