Parapucaya nodicollis ( Kirsch, 1873 )

López-García, Margarita M., Gasca-Álvarez, Héctor J. & Amat-García, Germán, 2015, The scarab beetle tribe Pentodontini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) of Colombia: taxonomy, natural history, and distribution, Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 451-492 : 471

Parapucaya nodicollis ( Kirsch, 1873)

( Figs. 69 – 75 )

Cyclocephala nodicollis Kirsch, 1873: 344 .

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 69 . Length 11.0–12.0 mm (♂), 11.0–13.0 mm (♀). Width 5.5–6.0 mm (♂), 5.0–6.0 mm (♀). Color: Frons black; clypeus, pronotum, scutellum , pygidium , and legs brown; elytra yellow ( Fig. 69 ); scutellum black in some males. Head: Frons nearly smooth (males) to strongly punctate (females), with small, sparse punctures. Frontoclypeal suture strongly impressed, interrupted at middle ( Fig. 70 ). Eye canthus with a few yellow setae. Clypeus with large, deep punctures, denser and larger on area adjacent to frontoclypeal suture. Clypeal apex truncate with lateral and anterior margins upturned. Interocular distance equals 2.3 to 2.5 times the transverse ocular diameter. Antennal club subequal in length to antennomeres 2–7. Mandibles slender, apex acute and curved upwards. Pronotum: Surface nearly smooth, with small and sparse punctures, slightly larger and denser on lateral margins, larger punctures smaller than those on frons. Apical margin with 2 small rounded tubercles, prominently raised ( Fig. 69 ). Apex with marginal bead produced posteriorly, sinuate; basal marginal bead absent. Scutellum: Surface with small, sparse punctures. Elytra: Surface with rows of small, ocellate punctures. Lateral margin not thickened in females. Elytral suture present. Pygidium: Surface with small punctures, denser on base and lateral angles. Lateral surface slightly convex. Legs: Protibia tridentate, basal tooth distinctly removed from the others. Males with protarsus enlarged, larger claw with apex incised. Metatibia with apex crenulate, with 8 thick spinules. Venter: Prosternal process moderately short, not projecting beyond procoxae; apex transversely oval, convex on the anterior part and nearly flat on the posterior part, which is wider than anterior; clothed by long, yellow setae. Parameres: Form elongate, slightly narrowed in the apical third, broad and rounded at the apex ( Figs. 72–73 ). Spiculum gastrale: Braches curved and without base ( Fig. 74 ).

Diagnosis. This species is smaller than P. amazonica . Furthermore, it has the frontoclypeal suture slightly interrupted at middle (in dorsal view), apical marginal bead posteriorly produced or sinuate, and pronotal tubercles rounded and evident. Males can also be differentiated by the shape of the parameres, elongated in P. nodicollis and short and broad in P. amazonica .

Locality records. ( Fig. 75 ) 25 specimens, 4♂, 21♀. Specimens were seen from ICN, LEUC, MLS, MPUJ, UPN. Caquetá (1): Florencia (1). Cauca (2): Puerto Bello, Serranía de los Churumbelos (2). Cundinamarca (4): Versalles-Guaduas (1). Yacopí, Guadualito (3). Meta (16): Acacías, Vda. San José (3). Cubarral, Aguas Claras (8). San Martín, RN El Caduceo, km 4.5 vía San Francisco (3). San Juan de Cubarral (1). Villavicencio-Acacías, km 10 (1). Putumayo (2): Puerto Asís (2).

Temporal distribution. March (3), April (1), May (1), June (1), July (3), September (3), October (3), December (10).

Distribution. Colombia, Peru ( Endrödi 1969), and Ecuador ( Carvajal et al. 2011).

Natural history. Parapucaya nodicollis is a lowland species that was found between 250 – 800 m. Three specimens were collected in gallery forest by using light traps.

Taxonomic remarks. Denhezia caucacola is similar to P. nodicollis by general appearance. Additionally, the interrupted frontoclypeal suture and the shape of the parameres are shared between both. There is no strong character to differentiate them, except the absence of pronotal tubercles in D. caucacola , which was also used by Dechambre (2006) as a unique character to define the genus. This character is not reliable because some specimens of Parapucaya have these tubercles very inconspicuous, and the character appears to be transitional. Further revision of these two species, including type material, is needed for defining the variation of the character and a possible synonymy of these two taxa.

Figures

FIGURES 69 – 75. Parapucaya nodicollis. 69) habitus in dorsal view, 70) habitus in frontal view, 71) habitus in lateral view, 72) parameres in frontal view, 73) parameres in lateral view, 74) spiculum gastrale, 75) locality records in Colombia.