Eremophygus lasiocalinus Ohaus, 1915

Mondaca, José, 2022, Revision of the high Andean genus Eremophygus Ohaus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini), Insecta Mundi 2022 (905), pp. 1-11 : 7-9

Eremophygus lasiocalinus Ohaus, 1915

( Fig. 4A–4L )

Eremophygus lasiocalinus Ohaus 1915: 76–77 .

Type locality. “ Bolivia, La Paz and Sorata”.

Type material. Lectotype male at ZMHB, labeled: a) “ La Paz – Sorata ” (typeset on white label), b) “ Type ” (typeset on red label), c) “ Eremophygus / lasiocalinus Ohs. ” (handwritten on red label), d) “ LECTOTYPE ♂ / Eremophygus / lasiocalinus Ohaus, 1915 / Det. J. Mondaca E. 2021” (typeset on red label).

New synonym. Heterocallichloris bicolor Gutiérrez 1951: 114–115 [original combination]. Type locality: “ Bolivia, Alto La Paz ”.

Platycoelia bicolor (Gutiérrez) [new combination by Machatschke 1965: 60].

Eremophygus bicolor (Gutiérrez) [new combination by Smith and Jameson 2001: 105].

Type material. Holotype male at UCCC, labeled: a) “HOLOTIPO ♂ ” (typeset on red label), b) “ Bolivia 14-XII-48 / Alto La Paz / 4100 ms. Kuschel” (typeset on white label), c) “ Heterocallichloris / bicolor. Gutier. / R. Gutiérrez-Det. 49” (typeset and handwritten on white label), d) “ Eremophygus / bicolor (Gutiérrez) / Det. A.B.T. Smith 1999”.

New synonym. Eremophygus pachyloides Ohaus 1925: 76 . Type locality: “ Bolivia, Songo”.

Type material. Lectotype female at ZMHB, labeled: a) “ ♀.” (typeset on white label), b) “Songo / Bolivia ” (typeset on white label), c) “ Eremophygus / pachyloides Ohs. ” (handwritten on red label), d) “Staugr.” (typeset on white label), e) “Type” (typeset on red label), f) “ LECTOTYPE ♀ / Eremophygus / pachyloides Ohaus, 1925 / Det. J. Mondaca E. 2021” (typeset on red label).

Diagnosis (n = 8). Body length: 11–14 mm. Male. Body bicolored with head, pronotum, and scutellar shield dark brown with green reflections and with dense, long, tawny setae. Elytra reddish brown or shiny castaneus, with dorsal surface densely, finely punctate and rugose, with some sparse setae ( Fig. 4A, 4G ). Clypeus rounded, with anterior margin moderately reflexed vertically. Mentum semicircular, slightly convex and moderately setose, with anterior portion projected anteriorly ( Fig. 4L ). Pronotum setose, with long, fine, and moderately dense, pale yellow setae; punctures similar in size, mostly absent along midline. Aedeagus with apex bilobulate, divided at middle (dorsal view) ( Fig. 4K ).

Female (n = 1). Slightly longer and wider than male (14 mm), with integument dark reddish brown. Body ovate and convex, mostly glabrous, with few dorsal setae ( Fig. 4D, 4E ). Clypeus semicircular, with anterior and lateral margins less elevated vertically. Mentum semicircular ( Fig. 4L ). Antennae with 9 antennomeres ( Fig. 1A ). 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. Bolivia, Departamento de La Paz ( Fig. 3 ).

Material examined. BOLIVIA (8). Departamento de La Paz (8). Alto La Paz, 14-XII-1948, Kuschel (1 UCCC) ; 15-XII-1955, Alvarenga leg. (5 CMNC) ; La Paz – Sorata (1 ZMHB) ; Songo [Zongo] (1 ZMHB) .

Temporal data. Based on label data, this species is active in December.

Remarks. Due to the bicolored body, this species has been confused with Microogenius puna Mondaca , a species recently described from the altiplano of Chile and Peru (see Mondaca 2019). Eremophygus lasiocalinus is a species endemic to Bolivia that differs from M. puna by having all pretarsal claws simple, not toothed, and antennae composed by 9 antennomeres in both sexes, unlike the protarsal claws of M. puna , which are toothed in males and simple in females, in addition to the antennae composed of 10 antennomeres in males and 9 antennomeres in females. These sexual differences are typical of the genus Microogenius which was the reason why Gutiérrez (1952) assigned Eremophygus calvus (now female of M. arrowi ) to the genus Eremophygus .

Some observations and comments made by Moore et al. (2017) regarding E. lasiocalinus are not correct, since they are based on the morphology of Microogenius puna Mondaca (e.g., E. lasiocalinus has the protarsal claw enlarged and deeply split; the meso- and metatarsal claws may be deeply split or simple; text taken from Moore et al. (2017) and corresponds to the characters of Microogenius puna ).

Natural history. This species is diurnal and emerges during the rainy season in the high Andean habitats of Bolivia. The immature stages of this species are unknown. Collection records indicate its presence at 4100 m. Most of the known specimens of this species were collected between 1948–1955 in El Alto (a metropolitan area of La Paz), which is the second most populated city in Bolivia. It is likely that the natural environments that existed more than 70 years ago in what is now El Alto no longer exist due to the explosive growth of the city.

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 4. Eremophygus lasiocalinus Ohaus. A–C) Male holotype of Eremophygus bicolor (Gutiérrez) (=E. lasiocalinus). A) Habitus, dorsal view. B) Habitus, lateral view. C) Labels. D–F) Female lectotype of Eremophygus pachyloides Ohaus (=female E. lasiocalinus). D) Habitus, dorsal view. E) Habitus, lateral view. F) Lectotype labels, egg, and mouthparts. G–L) Male lectotype of Eremophygus lasiocalinus Ohaus. G) Habitus, dorsal view. H) Habitus, lateral view. I) Labels. J–K) Aedeagus. J) Lateral view. K) Dorsal view. L) Mentum.