Astroscara Schürhoff, 1937

Ratcliffe, Brett C., 2014, A Review of the Neotropical GeneraAstroscaraSchürhoff, 1937, ChiriquibiaBates, 1889, HadrostictaKraatz, 1892, JansoniaSchürhoff, 1937, MacrocraniusSchürhoff, 1935, andTiaroceraBurmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 68 (3), pp. 363-376 : 364

Astroscara Schürhoff, 1937

Astroscara Schürhoff 1937: 56 . Type species: Gymnetis flavoradiata Moser 1918: 170 , by original designation.

Schürhoff (1937) provided no narrative for his new genus, but, judging from the construction of his generic key, he presumably established Astroscara based upon the combination of the shapes of the clypeus and mesometasternal process and the dorsal and ventral color and pattern of the body.

Description. Form elongate, subparallel, slen- der, slightly dorsoventrally flattened. Length 12–18 mm. Color velutinous black with radiating lines of ochre dorsally and shiny black ventrally. Head: Shape transverely subquadrate. Head without armature, clypeal apex broadly arcuate, distinctly reflexed. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club distinctly longer than antennomeres 2–7. Pronotum: Shape subtrapezoidal, widest near base, gradually convergent to anterior angles, basomedian lobe strongly produced posteriorly, lobe covering all but tip of scutellum. Sides with slender, short, marginal bead only at center. Elytra: Widest at base, posthumeral emargination distinct. Bead present on lateral margins. Pygidium: Surface with transverse, vermiform strigae, setigerous; setae short, dense, black. Venter: Mesometasternal process, in lateral view, only weakly protuberant, subparallel to ventral axis of body, apex narrowly rounded ( Fig. 2 ). Abdominal ventrites 1–5 sparsely punctate in central third, lateral thirds with dense, moderately large, ocellate punctures. Legs: Protibia slender, weakly tridentate. Parameres ( Figs. 4–5 ): Form subrectangular in caudal view, form short, apices broadly rounded with subapical tooth on lateral edge.

Figures

Figs. 1–5. Astroscara flavoradiata. 1) Habitus; 2–3) Lateral and ventral views, respectively, of form of mesometasternal process; 4–5) Parameres.