Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens (Luederwaldt 1935)

Nunes, Rafael V. & Vaz-De-Mello, Fernando Z., 2016, New brachypterous species of Dichotomius (Selenocopris) Burmeister (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with the definition of species groups and taxonomic notes in the subgenus, Zootaxa 4139 (1) : -

Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens (Luederwaldt 1935)

( Fig. 3 )

Pinotus ingens Luederwaldt 1935: 341 (original description);

Pinotus ingens, Blackwelder 1944: 207 (checklist);

Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens, Pereira & D’Andretta 1955: 248 (male description); Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens , Vaz-de-Mello 2000: 195 (checklist);

Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens, Daniel et al. 2014: 6 (ecologic/biogeographic study, species list).

Holotype: female: BRASIL: Mato Grosso. Chapada dos Guimarães. 1902. Robert (leg.) [ NHML] ( Fig. 3 E).

Non-type specimens studied. no data [1 ♀, CEMT]; BRASIL: Mato Grosso. Rosário Oeste. Maller leg. Coll. Martínez. Sept 1961 [1 Ƌ, CMNC, doubtful locality?]; Cuiabá. Fazenda Mutuca. Mata 4. 2-II-2009 [1 Ƌ, CEMT]; same but 15°18’08”S; 55°57’54”W. Pitfall pulmão bovino. III-2011. LGOANunes [1 Ƌ, CEMT]; same but 15°18’25”S; 55°58’07”W. Cerrado chaquenho. Pitfall baço bovino. II-2011. LGOANunes [1 Ƌ 1 ♀, CEMT]; same but 15°18’08”S; 55°57’54”W. Pitfall pulmão bovino. III-2011. LGOANunes [1 Ƌ 4 ♀, CEMT]; Chapada dos Guimarães. entre Portão do Inferno e cidade. Coleta Manual. WOSouza. 2002 [2 Ƌ 2 ♀, CEMT]; Cuiabá. Módulo ComCerrado 15º 18' S; 55º54' W. Pitfall. MSAlbuquerque [13 Ƌ 10 ♀ CEMT]; same locality but pitfall human feces. 1-XII-2012. Daniel, G.M. [5 Ƌ 1 ♀ CEMT]. Mato Grosso do Sul. Dourados. Jardim Europa. 25-VI-2007. VHoras leg. [1 ♀, CEMT, doubtful locality].

Diagnosis. D. ingens (Luederwaldt) is separated of the other brachypterous species in this group by having ocellate punctures on pygidium (near the basis) ( Fig. 2 D).

Males. Length: 21.0 mm. Maximum width (pronotum): 12.5 mm. Black, shinny. Head: dorsal surface smooth with ocellate puncture present arround the internal border of eyes. Clypeogenal junction with obtuse angle. Margin of clypeal teeth bearing a row of short scattered setae. Ventral clypeal process strongly bifurcated. Cephalic horn smooth, with rounded apex. Clypeo-genal suture distinct and producing a posterior knob. Antennal club with light red tumescence. Pronotum: wider than long and wider than elytra. Anterior portion of pronotal disc with two lobes. Ocellate puncture lacking on pronotal disc but circudating pronotal borders, including anterior angles and anterior excavation. Anterior angles acute. Hypomeron: anterior portion with lateral band of ocellate setose punctures. Posterior portion almost glabrous with few sparse ocellate setose punctures. Prosternum: with ocellate setose punctures: setae do not reach one quarter the length of hypomeron setae. Mesosternum: strongly narrowed and glabrous medially. Mesepisternum: covered by ocellate setose punctures. Posterior portion of upper margin ending in an acute angle and reaching the pseudoepipleuron ( Fig. 1 ). Metasternum: mesometasternal suture indistinct. Anterior lobe strong narrowed medially, bearing ocellate setose punctures and long and sparse setae present along the margins. Metasternal disc bearing a longitudinal sulcus that produces a feeble posterior concavity. Elytra: shinny, lacking humeral callus, bearing ill blue reflections near the basis. Striae with ocellate punctures spaced by twice their diameter. Hind wings: length: 11mm. Bearing folding articulation. Basal sclerites glabrous. Subcostal vein intersecting costal axis at its basal quarter. Medial vein extending to the folding articulation. Distinct setae present on basal third of costal axis and at folding articulation. Cubital vein present, anal vein absent. Small developed membranous portion apical to folding articulation with incomplete or weakly-marked venation. Legs: anterior tibial spur strongly bent downward at the apical quarter. Anterior tibiae bearing four teeth. Length of the 5th metatarsomere twice the length of the 4th metatarsomere. Abdomen: sternites 1 to 6 glabrous and having ocellate punctures along the upper margin. Pygidium: wider than long. Bearing ocellate punctures near the basis. Paramera: (As in Figs. 3 C–D) having rounded/circular excavations near the basis (dorsal view) and longitudinal excavation toward the apex (lateral and dorsal view). Longitudinal excavation taking more then half the length of paramera. Apex divergent, curved outward (dorsal view).dorsally symmetrical.

Morphological variation. Length varies from 18.0–21.0 mm on males and from 18.5–19.0 mm on females. Pronotum width varies from 12.0– 12.5 mm on males and from 11.0– 11.5 mm on females. The pronotal anterior declivity, the lobes of the anterior portion of pronotal disc and cephalic horn is subject to strong variation on males. Both on males and females, elytra basis might have blue or brown reflections. Females differ from males on the following characters: Head: dorsal surface striated except near the clypeal anterior emargination (teeth). Clypeofrontal horn produced in weak transversal carina, very ill bifurcated. Pronotum: anterior declivity, excavation and pronotal disc lobes smaller less developed. Ocellate punctures on the excavation anterior to the declivity more conspicuous than in males. Abdomen: 6th abdominal sternite with a central pair of tubercles ( Fig. 1 A).

Distribution. Municipalities of Cuiabá and Chapada dos Guimarães comprising the region of Chapada dos Guimarães, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. We have analysed a specimen with dubious locality (probably wrong labels), from Dourados municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul State (900 km far from the localities of other analysed specimens) ( Fig. 8 ). We presume that Dourados is far enough from Chapada to avoid the dispersal of a flightless species: like other species in the ingens complex, the distribution of D. ingens is very narrow. Besides, despite we have done successive dung beetle samples on both regions, we only found D. ingens at Chapada and adjacent localities, and even the Rosário Oeste record needs confirmation.

Remarks. close to D. paresi and D. fissiceps mainly due the conformation of males paramera, head and pronotum ( Figs. 3 A–B, 6A–B). The distribution of D. ingens is separated from D. paresi by a hill/mountain formation (Serra das Araras). Both species are found in the similar ecological context: active at the hottest hours of the day at open habitats (campos and cerrado s. str. formations) and strongly attracted by carrion (include those of invertebrates). Some collected adults fed on rotten fruits and organic garbage. This species is necessarily associated to sandy soils surrounding Chapada dos Guimarães Plateau, a very specific habitat prrotected by the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park ( Daniel et al. 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 1. (A) Ventral habitus of a female of Dichotomius (Selenocopris) periotoi n. sp. The white arrow at the head indicates the position of the ventral clypeal process and the white at the abdomen indicates the modification at the medial portion of the 6 th sternite; (B) lateral view of the same specimen. The white arrow indicating the position of the mesepisternum.; (C) detail of the mesepisternum of the same specimen. The white arrow indicates the posterior portion of the upper margin of the mesepisternum ending in an acute angle, which is typical of Selenocopris; (D) elytral striae and interstriae of D. (S.) fissus (Gillet); (E) elytral striae and interstriae of D. (S.) fissiceps (Felsche) (quadraticeps group); (F) head and clypeal teeth of D. (S.) bicuspis (Germar); (G) head and clypeal teeth of D. (S.) fissiceps (quadraticeps group); (H) 6 th abdominal sternite of the female of D. (S.) spadiceus (Luederwaldt); (I) 6 th abdominal sternite of the female of D. (S.) punctulatipennis (Luederwaldt) (bicuspis group); (J) 6 th abdominal sternite of the male of D. (S.) ascanius (Harold); (K) 6 th abdominal sternite of the female of D. (S.) ascanius (Luederwaldt); (L) 6 th abdominal sternite of the female of D. (S.) quadraticeps (Felsche).

FIGURE 2. (A) Pygidium of D. (S.) punctulatipennis (bicuspis group). The white arrow indicates the excavation at the pygidium apex; (B) swollen pygidium of D. (S.) bicuspis; (C) pygidium of D. (S.) periotoi; (D) pygidium of D. (S.) ingens. The white arrow indicates the ocellate punctures near the basis of the pygidium; (E) macropterous hind wing of D. (S.) fissceps and brachypterous hind wing of D. (S.) ingens. The black arrows in the macropterous wing (larger one) indicates the anal and cubital vein. This wing is damaged at two points, one along the coastal vein and other on the posterior portion. Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURE 3. Dichotomius (Selenocopris) ingens (Luederwaldt): (A) male dorsal habitus; (B) female dorsal habitus; (C) dorsal view of male paramera; (D) lateral view of male paramera; (E) holotype labels (NHML). Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURE 8. Distribution of the brachypterous species of Selenocopris.