Ancognatha jamesoni Murray, 1857

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 : 676-679

Ancognatha jamesoni Murray, 1857 ( Figs. 1b , 19–22 )

Ancognatha jamesoni Murray 1857: 230 (original combination). Lectotype female ( Fig. 19 ) at BMNH, here designated, labeled as in Fig. 20 . One female paralectotype at BMNH, here designated, labeled: “ Cyclocephala / ns Quito [handwritten] // Bowring. / 63.47* [printed] // Syn- / type [typed on round label with blue border] // jamesonii Murray [handwritten] // This specimen / almost certainly / a syntype [handwritten] / M. E. Bacchus det 1969 [printed]” and with BCR yellow paralectotype label. One female paralectotype at BMNH, here designated, labeled: “Quito [handwritten on pink paper] // Pascoe / Coll. / 93-60 [printed] // Syn- / type [typed on round label with blue border] // This specimen / almost certainly / a syntype [handwritten] / M. E. Bacchus det 1969 [printed]” and with BCR yellow paralectotype label. An additional female specimen that is not part of the type series is labeled: “ Ecuador / Quito [handwritten] // 24315 [handwritten] // Fry Coll. / 1905-100 [printed] // Syn- / type [typed on round label with blue border] // This specimen / almost certainly / a syntype [handwritten] / M. E. Bacchus det 1969 [printed]”.

Ancognatha crassimanus Murray 1857: 232 (synonym). Holotype male ( Fig. 23 ) at BMNH, examined, labeled as in Fig. 24 .

Redescription. Length 25.5–32.1 mm (males) and 25.0–26.7 (females); width 11.5–12.1 mm (males) and 11.3–12.0 (females). Color testaceous with piceous or black markings ( Fig. 19 ) as follows: Frons partially or completely piceous or black; pronotum with variably small to moderate size markings on sides and/or with large, dark macula on disc; scutellum testaceous to piceous; elytra of male testaceous with black lateral margins and black vitta behind humeral and apical umbones; elytra of female similar but discal area moderately to extensively black. Tarsi black and apices of femora and tibiae piceous to black. Head: Frons and clypeus of male finely scabrous, female similar but with dense punctures also visible. Clypeus of male greatly elongate, distinctly longer than frons, moderately reflexed, lateral margin weakly concave ( Fig. 1b ). Interocular width equals 3.3 (male) or 3.0 (female) transverse eye diameters. Mandibles of male elongate, slender, projecting well beyond clypeal apex ( Fig. 1b ); mandibles of female similar but shorter, projecting to apex of clypeus. Pronotum: Surface finely shagreened and/or with small, moderate to dense punctures in both sexes. Elytra: Disc with punctate striae; punctures small, shallow, double rows indistinct. First broad interval with wide, irregular field of punctures. Epipleuron of female (in ventral view) simple. Pygidium: Surface glabrous, vaguely roughened, and with small, sparse punctures. In lateral view, surface of male regularly convex, of female nearly flat. Legs: Protibia tridentate, teeth subequally spaced. Venter: Prosternal process long, columnar, apex obliquely flattened into rectangular or transversely oval disc with elevated “button”, posterior margin of process with long, dense, tawny setae. Parameres: Fig. 21 .

Distribution. Ancognatha jamesoni is known from Ecuador ( Endrödi 1966, 1985).

Locality Records ( Fig. 22 ). 68 specimens from BCRC, BMNH, CMNC, CNCI, DCCC, MAHC, QCAZ, SLTC, USNM .

AZUAY (1): Molleturo. BOLÍVAR (25): Cashca–

~

Totoras,Totoras. CANAR (2):El Tambo. CARCHI (2): Cantón Espejo – Parroquia Libertad, El Calvario. COTOPAXI (4): Salcedo–Tena road km 50, Sigchos, No Data. NAPO (9): Baeza, Oyacachi, Salcedo–Tena road (km 139). PICHINCHA (23): Aloag, La Cocha, La Palma, Los Laureles, Palma Texaco, Pasochoa, Puerto Quito, Puerto Quito-Chiriboga road, Quito, San Juan. SUCUMBÍOS (1): Las Minas. PROVINCE UNKNOWN (1): El Tambo.

Temporal Distribution. February (23), March (4), April (3), May (2), June (1), July (1), August (1), September (2), October (1), November (9), December (5).

Diagnosis. Ancognatha jamesoni can be separated from other Ancognatha species in Ecuador by the following characters: clypeus in male greatly elongate, distinctly longer than frons, strongly acuminate ( Fig. 1b ); mandibles in male elongate, slender, clearly projecting beyond clypeal apex ( Fig. 1b ); mandibles in female similar but shorter, projecting to just beyond apex of clypeus. Ancognatha humeralis , A. horrida , and A. ustulata also have elongate mandibles projecting to or slightly beyond the clypeal apex. Ancognatha jamesoni most closely resembles A. horrida but can be distinguished by the shorter clypeus and mandibles, male protarsomere 5 with moderate to large, subtriangular tooth or ridge at base on ventral side (tooth/ridge absent in A. horrida ); large claw of male protarsus flared on ventral side at about the middle (large protarsal claw of A. horrida not flared ventrally); female epipleuron, in ventral view, simple, whereas the epipleuron of A. horrida is broad from its base and then abruptly constricted at the level of sternites 1–2; and the form of the parameres ( Fig. 21 ). In caudal view, the flared base of the parameres of A. jamesoni is distinctly wider than the subapical, angulate expansion, although not nearly as wide as illustrated in Endrödi (1985), while in A. horrida the flared base is only slightly wider.

Nomenclature. Murray (1857) described both A. jamesoni and A. crassimanus in the same paper without realizing that the specimens he designated as A. jamesoni were all females and the single A. crassimanus was a male. Endrödi (1966) placed A. crassimanus in junior synonymy with A. jamesoni .

Murray (1857), in describing the only male specimen of A. crassimanus ( Fig. 23 ) then in his possession, indicated that the pygidium “has a number of longitudinal grooves or striae.” Ancognatha species do not normally have this kind of sculpturing, and so we conclude that these grooves are an aberration of the normal surface texture. What is important, however, is that it identifies exactly the specimen that we are considering the type. An additional male specimen at the BMNH was labeled as almost certainly a syntype, but it cannot be since Murray said he had only one specimen.

Natural History. Ancognatha jamesoni larvae are used as food by the Quichua people in Ecuador ( Onore 1997, 2005). Adults have been collected at elevations of 1,000 –3,750 m on both sides of the Andes.

Figures

Fig. 1. Ancognatha species, clypeus and mandibles, dorsal view. a) A. horrida, b) A. jamesoni c) A. lutea, d) A. scarabaeoides.

Figs. 19–22. Ancognatha jamesoni. 19) Lectotype, female, habitus; 20) Lectotype labels; 21) Parameres; 22) Distribution in Ecuador.

Figs. 23–24. Ancognatha crassimanus, holotype, male. 23) Habitus; 24) Labels.