Ancognatha atacazo ( Kirsch, 1885 )

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 : 669-670

Ancognatha atacazo ( Kirsch, 1885) ( Figs. 2a , 3–5 )

Cyclocephala atacazo Kirsch 1885: 223 (original combination). Lectotype female at SMTD ( Moore et al. 2018).

Redescription. Length 17.1–24.5 mm; width 9.4–12.6 mm. Color black, occasional specimen on elytra with reddish yellow at base and on sides ( Fig. 3 ). Head: Frons and clypeus minutely shagreened with small, moderately dense punctures. Frontoclypeal line elevated into low carina, carina interrupted at middle (giving impression of 2 adjacent, low tubercles); frons immediately behind carina with shallow, semi-oval depression. Clypeus broadly elliptical in male, nearly semi-circularly rounded in female; apex narrowly, weakly reflexed. Interocular width equals 2.8–3.0 transverse eye diameters. Mentum with apex distinctly but not deeply emarginate ( Fig. 2a ). Pronotum: Surface similar to that of frons. Elytra: Surface minutely shagreened, moderately densely punctate, punctures minute; striae 1–3 weakly impressed, barely evident. Epipleuron (ventral view) in female slightly expanded at juncture of 1 st and 2 nd sternite. Pygidium: Surface shagreened with small, moderately dense punctures and short setae; setae tawny, reduced on central third. In lateral view, male with surface evenly rounded, female with surface nearly flat. Legs: Protibia tridentate, teeth subequally spaced. Venter: Prosternal process long, stout, apex bulbous, nearly circular. Parameres: Fig. 4 .

Distribution. Ancognatha atacazo was previously known only from Ecuador ( Endrödi 1966, 1985) but was subsequently reported from Costa Rica ( Ratcliffe 2003) and Colombia (Pardo- Locarno et al. 2006).

The locality of Sebundoi, Ecuador for the four specimens from the BCRC collection and collected in 1977 at an elevation of 2,600–3,000 m was not found in gazetteers. The collector, L. Pe ~ na, wrote two provinces for this locality: Carchi and Napo. Breure and Borrero (2008) indicated that there is a locality in Putumayo ( Colombia) called Sibunday that has been often referred to as an Ecuadorian locality spelled Sebundoi. Sibunday, at 2,104 m in elevation, is close in distance to Napo and Carchi provinces and was possibly mistakenly placed in those northern Ecuadorian provinces in the case of these four specimens .

Locality Records ( Fig. 5 ). 103 specimens from BCRC, DCCC, NMPC, MECN, MEPN, QCAZ, USNM, Endrödi (1966) .

AZUAY (1): Gualaceo (34 km SE). CARCHI (21): Cantón Bol´ıvar R´ıo Apaqui, Hacienda La Breta ~ na (Cantón Huaca, Parroquia Mariscal Sucre), Tulcán (La Alegr´ıa) . CHIMBORAZO (1): Guano . COTOPAXI (24): Saguambi , Sigchos, Triunfo Bajo, via Liptos – Sigchos . IMBABURA (1): km 4 via M. Acosta – Ibarra . LOJA (3): Rocafuerte, Saraguro (11 km S) . MORONA SANTIAGO (1): Parque Nacional Sangay (Parroquia Zu ~ nac) . NAPO (11): Cosanga, Estación Biológica Yanayacu, Oyacachi, Papallacta, Salcedo – Tena road, Sierrazul . PICHINCHA (10): Atacazo, Los Laureles , Perucho, Quito, R´ıo Alambi (Sector Guarumos) . SUCUMBÍOS (5): Santa Bárbara , via Santa Bárbara – La Bonita (km 23) . TUNGURAHUA (3): Ba ~ nos , Chimborazo (7 km NW). ZAMORA CHINCHIPE (1): Reserva Tapichalaca. PROVINCE UNKNOWN (21): Sebundoi .

Temporal Distribution. January (9), February (1), March (26), April (4), May (1), June (1), July (2), August (4), September (40), October (11), November (6).

Diagnosis. Ancognatha atacazo can be distinguished from A. castanea and A. scarabaeoides , the other two black or brown species in the study area, by its broadly rounded clypeus; frontoclypeal ridge interrupted in the middle giving the impression of two low, adjacent tubercles; setose pygidium; prosternal process bulbous apically, nearly circular; and form of the parameres ( Fig. 4 ).

Natural History. Adults are attracted to lights. They have been collected at elevations of 1,800–3,800 m on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The highest collecting elevation (3,800 m) was reported by Endrödi (1966) in his description of the lectotype.

Figures

Fig. 2. Ancognatha species, mentum, ventral view. a) A. atacazo, b) A. vulgaris.

Figs. 3–5. Ancognatha atacazo. 3) Habitus; 4) Parameres; 5) Distribution in Ecuador.