Batesiana Chalumeau, 1983

Skelley, Paul E. & Vaz-de-Mello, Fernando Z., 2022, A Second Species of Batesiana Chalumeau, 1983 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Eupariini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 76 (4), pp. 612-618 : 613

Batesiana Chalumeau, 1983

Batesiana Chalumeau 1983: 143–144 . Stebnicka 2009: 22.

Type Species. Euparia tuberculata Bates, 1887 (by original designation).

Diagnosis. Eupariini , body elongate-oval, robust. Head medially gibbous; ventral clypeal and prothoracic indentations form cavity to hold appendages and prothoracic legs when retracted. Pronotum strongly transverse; lateral margin short, straight, crenate; broadly explanate laterally, lacking fringe of setae; posterior margin lacking marginal line. Elytral humeral angle distinctly dentate, not prolonged anteriorly; intervals irregularly tuberculate laterally, some with minute orifices. Protibia with small teeth in apical quarter. Tarsomeres with dense ventral pads of setae in addition to those on margin. Apical meso- and metatibial spurs short, reduced.

Distribution. Central America and northern South America.

Remarks. Batesiana , Odontolytes Kozhantshikov, 1916 , and Napoa Stebnicka, 1999 form a group of genera readily distinguished from all other New World Eupariini by the basal meso- and metatarsomeres being broadened and distinctly longer than the associated spurs. In addition, the ventral surfaces of these tarsomeres are usually covered with a dense pad of setae (other genera have a marginal fringe of setae only). Batesiana is distinguished from Odontolytes by the tuberculate elytra and from Napoa by the widely explanate lateral pronotal margin.

The genus Odontolytes has 19 described species and several undescribed species that are morphologically diverse (Stebnicka 2009; P. Skelley, personal observation). Some of these species show intermediate character states among some members of Odontolytes , Batesiana , and Napoa . The genera Batesiana and Napoa have a few autapomorphies, most notably the tuberculate elytra that distinguish them from Odontolytes . The validity of these generic limits, along with the potential paraphyly of these genera, needs to be reviewed.However, generic level analysis of this complex is not the purpose of this paper.For now, we maintain the current generic limits.