Pseudogeniates Ohaus, 1910

Moore, Matthew R., Jameson, Mary L., Garner, Beulah H., Audibert, Cedric, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Seidel, Matthias, 2017, Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) and annotated catalog of the species and subspecies, ZooKeys 666, pp. 1-349 : 1

Pseudogeniates Ohaus, 1910 Fig. 99

Type species.

Pseudogeniates richterianus Ohaus, 1910.

Species.

3 species; length 12-19 mm.

The genus Pseudogeniates is endemic to Argentina, and species are associated with arid habitats in the Chaco, Pampa, Espinal, and Monte ecoregions ( Jameson and Ocampo 2012). The genus includes three species that are poorly represented in collections. Ohaus (1910a) puzzled over the first specimens that he studied in the genus, and originally thought that they represented teratological abnormalities due to the unusual form of the clypeus and mouthparts that resemble species in the Geniatini and Anoplognathini (both Rutelinae ). As the genus name implies, members resemble species in the genus Geniates ( Geniatini ), but they are easily diagnosed by the feathery fringe of setae on the ventral edge of the elytra, the mesosternal peg that is lacking, claws on all legs that are simple (lacking inner tubercle), the incomplete frontoclypeal suture, the maxillae that lack teeth, and the mandibular apex that has only one, recurved tooth ( Jameson and Ocampo 2012).

Species in the genus are reviewed and an identification key is available ( Jameson and Ocampo 2012). Natural history is poorly known, and the immature stages have not been described. Adults have been collected at lights from December to February at elevations ranging from 500-750 m.

Figures

Figure 99. Pseudogeniates cordobaensis, sp. n. male paratype from MLJC. A Dorsal habitus B Male genitalia, dorsal view C Male parameres, ventral view.