Polynoncus pedestris ( Harold, 1872 )

Costa-Silva, Vinícius, Strümpher, Werner P., Thyssen, Patricia J. & Vaz-de-Mello, Fernando Z., 2024, Taxonomic revision of the South American genus Polynoncus Burmeister, 1876 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Trogidae), Journal of Natural History 58 (1 - 4), pp. 14-166 : 122-125

Polynoncus pedestris ( Harold, 1872)

( Figures 5e , 54–55 )

Trox denticulatus Blanchard, 1847: 189 (original description)

Trox pedestris Harold, 1872: 128 , 191 (new name for Trox denticulatus Blanchard, 1847 and redescription); Burmeister 1876: 256 (redescription); Preudhomme de Borre 1886: 75 (checklist); Bruch 1911: 193 (checklist); Arrow 1912: 59 (catalogue); Blackwelder 1944: 219 (checklist); Vaurie 1962: 135 (redescription)

Trox (Polynoncus) pedestris : Scholtz 1982: 16 (catalogue)

Polynoncus pedestris : Scholtz 1986a: 362 (catalogue and subsequent designation of type species of Polynoncus ); Scholtz 1990: 1449 (redescription); Gómez 2008: 516 (key to Argentinean species); Zidek 2013: 14 (checklist); Zidek 2017: 106 (checklist); Smith 2017: 100 (comments); Costa-Silva and Diéguez 2020: 272 (records from Argentina)

Type specimens examined. LECTOTYPE, HERE DESIGNATED. (♀ MNHN – Figure 54 ) First label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘MUSEUM PARIS / PATAGONIE / (PATAGONES) / D’ORBIGNY 1834’. Second label [round, handwritten]: ‘6029 / 34’. Third label [white, unknown handwriting]: ‘ ♀ ’. Fourth label [white, E. Haaf’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox / pedestris Har. / det. Dr E.Haaf 1953’. Fifth label [white with black frame, Riccardo Pittino’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox (Omorgus) / pedestris Har. / Det. Pittino 1985’. Sixth label [red with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ LECTOTYPE / Trox pedestris ♀ / Harold 1872 / des. V. Costa-Silva 2022’. Seventh label [white with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ Polynoncus ♀ / pedestris / ( Harold, 1872) / Det. V. Costa-Silva, 2022’ ( Figure 54c ). Type locality: ‘Patagones’. The type specimens were collected by A. d’Orbigny during his travels to South America between 1826 and 1833. The numbers found on each type (6029 [lectotype] and 6028 [paralectotype]) refer to specimens collected in ‘salinas d’Andrés Paz’, seven leagues [~ 38 km] above the Village of Patagones (= Viedma), Río Negro ( Argentina). According to Papavero (1971), d’Orbigny left Carmen de Patagones on 19 March 1829, following the bank of the Río Negro River until the salinas of Andrés Paz (Río Negro), repeating this route on 25 March and 22 April.

PARALECTOTYPE (♀ MNHN) . First label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘MUSEUM PARIS / PATAGONIE / (PATAGONES) / D’ORBIGNY 1834’. Second label [round, Alcides d’Orbigny’s handwriting]: ‘6028 / 34’. Third label [white, unknown handwriting]: ‘ ♀ ’. Fourth label [white, E. Haaf’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox / pedestris Har. / det. Dr E.Haaf 1953’. Fifth label [yellow with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ PARALECTOTYPE / Trox pedestris ♀ / Harold 1872 / des. V. Costa-Silva 2022’. Sixth label [white with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ Polynoncus ♀ / pedestris / (Harlod, 1872) / Det. V. Costa-Silva, 2022’.

Differential diagnosis. Polynoncus pedestris can be easily diagnosed by the glabrous surface of elytra, with the velutinous area and yellow setae restricted to the elytral rounded tubercles; legs entirely glabrous with yellow setae, not covered by suede; meso- and metatarsus elongate and thin (each tarsomere with sides parallel and broad on the apex).

Geographic distribution. Polynoncus pedestris is widely distributed in Argentina, matching with earlier records presented by Scholtz (1990), Smith (2017) and Costa-Silva and Diéguez (2020). Additionally, we present the first record of P. pedestris from Paraguay ( Figure 55 ).

During this study we examined one specimen housed in BMNH from ‘Bolivia’ (with an old label), without further data. This specimen was also examined and identified by Scholtz in 1988, but was not included in his monograph published in 1990 ( Scholtz 1990). This record should be treated as uncertain until new data are acquired for this species in the Bolivian territory.

Examined non-type material (54 specimens). ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires, Tandil , no date or collector (1 MACN). Chaco, General Guemes, Pozo la Gringa , January 1996, S.G. Bolle leg. (1♂ JZPC). Córdoba, Alpa Corral , 859 m, 32.686°S, 64.713°W, 2 February 2009, F. C. Ocampo leg. (1 IADIZA) ; Calamuchita, Villa Yacanto, no date, A. Stevenin leg. (2 MACN) ; Hotel El Sauce , October 1970, M. Viana leg. (3 CVMD) ; Punilla, Valle Hermoso , February 1943, M. Viana leg. (1 MACN) ; San Javier, Villa Dolores , December 1932, [Bruch’s collection], no collector (1 MACN) ; Vilelas, no date [Bruch’s collection], Horstartinoff leg. (1 MACN) ; without specific locality, date or collector (1♂ BMNH) ; without specific locality or date, P.G. Lorentz leg. (1 MNHN). Entre Rios, Pueblo Liebig , February 1996, Mateo Zelich leg. (1♂ and 1♀ CVMD) ; without specific locality, date or collector (1 MACN). La Pampa, Río Colorado, between Río Negro and La Pampa , 20 February 2001, Daniel Rojas Lanus leg. (4 CVMD) ; Santa Rosa, Faculdad de Agronomia , 16 February 1993, Bárbara Corró Molas leg. (1 IADIZA). La Rioja, Chilecito , no date, P. Strobel leg. (1 MNHN). Mendoza, Desaguadero , 8–19 January 1996, D. Escobar leg. (1 CVMD) ; Desaguadero , 9 January 2000, S. Esparza leg. (1 CVMD) ; Santa Rosa, Reserva Biosfera de Ñacuñán , 11–13 December 2002, ultraviolet light trap, V.M. Diéguez leg. (2 CVMD) ; Santa Rosa, Reserva Biosfera de Ñacuñán , 11–13 December 2002, ultraviolet light trap, V.M. Diéguez leg. (2 IADIZA) ; Santa Rosa, Reserva Biosfera de Ñacuñán , 18 December 2002, ultraviolet light trap, R. Gomez leg. (2 CVMD). San Luis, Belgrano, Fundo El Molle , 20–28 January 2013, pitfall trap with pig dung as bait, G. Arriágada leg. (1♂ CEMT) ; Belgrano , Fundo El Molle, 622 m, February 2010, José Gomez leg. (2 CVMD) ; Desaguadero , 15 January 2000, J. Jensen leg. (2 CVMD). Santiago del Estero, Fernandéz , 12 December 1939, C.M.A.M. leg. (1 MLPA) ; Icaño, Lago Muyo , 22 April 1957, R. Golbach leg. (4 IFML) ; Pozo Hondo , December 1946, no collector (1 IFML). Tucumán, without specific locality, date or collector (3 MLPA) ; without specific locality, date or collector (1 MACN) ; without specific locality, date or collector [ Bruch’s collection] (1 MLPA) ; without specific locality, 1901, (2 MACN) ; without specific locality, date or collector (1 MACN) ; without specific locality, date or collector (2 MACN). Without specific locality, date or collector (1 BMNH). PARAGUAY: Caazapá, San José Cristal , 25 January 1997, Jorge Jensen leg. (1 CVMD).

Figures

Figure 5. Differential morphology in Polynoncus spp.:lateral margin of pronotum a, bulbous [P.vazdemelloi] and b, rounded [P.gemmingeri]; pronotal ridges and basal tubercles of pronotum c, fused [P.furcillifer] and d, separated (black line) [P.parafurcatus]; surface of elytra e, with tubercles [P.pedestris] and f, without tubercles [P. diffluens]; g, pronotal ridge and antero-lateral tubercle connected by (white arrow) [P. patagonicus]; h, humeral callus prominent (white arrow) in P. chilensis and i, humeral callus not prominent (white arrow) in P. mirabilis. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 54. Lectotype of Trox pedestris Harold, 1872 (now Polynoncus pedestris), here designated: habitus in a, dorsal and b, lateral view; c, labels. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 55. Distribution map of Polynoncus pedestris (red circles) and P. peruanus (green triangles) in South America. The records with a black dot in the centre indicate the type locality of the respective species.