Eremophygus philippii Ohaus, 1910

Mondaca, José, 2022, Revision of the high Andean genus Eremophygus Ohaus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini), Insecta Mundi 2022 (905), pp. 1-11 : 9-10

Eremophygus philippii Ohaus, 1910

( Fig. 5A–5I )

Eremophygus philippii Ohaus 1910: 22 .

Type locality. “ Chile ”.

Type material. Lectotype male at ZMHB, labeled: a) “ PERU ” (typeset on white label), b) “ Typus !” (typeset on red label), c) “ Eremophygus / philippi Ohs.” (typeset on red label), d) “ LECTOTYPE ♂ / Eremophygus / philippii Ohaus, 1910 / Det. J. Mondaca E. 2021” (typeset on red label).

New synonym. Eremophygus leo Gutiérrez 1951: 106 . Type locality: “ Argentina, Jujuy ”.

Type material. Holotype male at UCCC, labeled: a) “HOLOTIPO ♂ ” (typeset and handwritten on red label), b) “ Argentina / Jujuy XII-42 / J.M. Bosq. leg.” (handwritten on white label), c) “ Eremophygus ♂ / leo. Gutierrez / R. Gutiérrez-Det. 49” (typeset and handwritten on white label), d) “6105” (handwritten on white label).

Diagnosis. (n = 12). Body length: 8.9–10.0 mm. Male (n = 4). Body unicolored, with head, pronotum, and scutellar shield dark brown; elytra, venter, and legs pale yellow to brown ( Fig. 5A, 5G ). Clypeus broadly rounded, with margins slightly reflexed vertically ( Fig. 1C ). Mentum oval, apex narrow anteriorly, surface flat, moderately punctate and setose ( Fig. 5F ). Maxilla with galea smooth and setose, without basal tooth ( Fig. 1D ). Pronotum wide with anterior angles expanded laterally; surface densely, finely punctate and setose; setae long, moderate to dense ( Fig. 5A, 5G ). Scutellar shield subtriangular, surface finely, densely punctate, moderately setose. Elytral surface densely, finely punctate and rugose with some sparse setae. Aedeagus with apex bilobulate, not divided at middle (dorsal view) ( Fig. 5D ).

Female. (n = 4). Slightly longer and wider than the male, integument brown. Body ovate and convex, mostly glabrous, with few dorsal setae. Clypeus semicircular with anterior and lateral margins slightly elevated vertically. Mentum semicircular in shape with apex narrow anteriorly. Antennae with 9 antennomeres. Protibia wide with lateral teeth large and rounded distally; protarsal claws small, not toothed; inner protarsal claws smaller than the outer; tarsomeres short and thick.

Distribution. Argentina (Provincia de Jujuy) and Chile (Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta regions) ( Fig. 3 ). There are literature records from “ Peru ” ( Ohaus 1952; Ratcliffe et al. 2015) but this record originated from uncertain and vague data label and needs to be further verified with additional specimens.

Material examined. Argentina (1). Provincia de Jujuy (1). Jujuy, XII-1942, J.M. Bosq leg. (1 UCCC). Chile (14). Región de Arica y Parinacota, Provincia de Parinacota (1). Volcán Tacora, I-1990, col. S. Ruiz (1 MNNC). Región de Tarapacá, Provincia de Tamarugal (13). Salar de Coposa , 6-XI/ 16-XII-1993, col. V. Tello (2 JMEC), 10-XI/ 16- XII-1993, pitfall-trap (2 MNNC) ; Salar de Huasco, 6-XI/ 16-XII-1993, col. V. Tello (2 JMEC, 6 VMDC, 2 MNNC), 24-III-2003, col. J. Mondaca E. (1 JMEC). Región de Antofagasta, Provincia El Loa (1). Quebrada de Pariri , E. de Chiu-Chiu, 3300 m, 18-III-2021, 22°8′25″S, 68°15′51″O, col. A. Ramírez C. (1 CARC) .

Temporal data. January (1), March (2), November-December (14), December (1).

Remarks. As a result of the study of the male holotype of E. philippii , it is established that this species is conspecific with the male holotype of E. leo .

Even though E. philippii was described from “Chile”, the male holotype carries a label that says “ PERU ”. I am assuming that “Chile” is correct since this was stated in the original description ( Ohaus 1910), and there have been several specimens collected in northern Chile since then (while none have been collected in Peru). This altiplanic species was cited from Peru by Ohaus (1952) (and later by Ratcliffe et al. (2015), based on the same record) in the work Beiträge zur Fauna Perus, who states: “The only known specimen of this species was found on a trip in the highlands between 3000–4000 m ”. However, there is uncertainty about the original collecting locality of this specimen with regards to current territorial boundries of Peru and Chile. It is possible that this species inhabits both Peru and Bolivia, countries that together with Argentina and Chile share a wide Andean territory known as “Altiplano”, but this needs to be verified using voucher specimens with precise collecting data.

The majority of specimens found in northern Chile were collected with Barber traps installed in the altiplanic steppe composed of shrubby vegetation and grasslands located in the Huasco and Coposa salt flats (Region de Tarapacá).

Figures

Figure 1. Detailed morphology of the genus Eremophygus Ohaus, 1910. A–B) Antenna. A) Female. B) Male. C) Head in dorsal view. D) Left maxilla, lateral view. E) Mentum, ventral view. F) Protarsus of male, lateral view.

Figure 3. Geographical distribution of Eremophygus Ohaus species in the Andean region.

Figure 5. Eremophygus philippii Ohaus. A–F) Male lectotype of Eremophygus philippii Ohaus. A) Habitus, dorsal view. B) Habitus, lateral view. C) Labels. D–E) Aedeagus. D) Dorsal view. E) Lateral view. F) Mentum, ventral view. G–I) Male holotype of Eremophygus leo Gutiérrez (= E. philippi). G) Habitus, dorsal view. H) Habitus, lateral view. I) Labels.