Megaceras sarecagem Ratcliffe and Saltin, 2021

Ratcliffe, Brett C. & Saltin, Jochen-P., 2021, A New Species of Megaceras Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini) from Peru, The Coleopterists Bulletin 75 (4), pp. 768-771 : 769-771

Megaceras sarecagem Ratcliffe and Saltin , new species zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9998FA09-777B-40A3-88CE-A154DF59C6E1 ( Figs. 1 –3)

TypeMaterial. Holotype,labeled“DYNASTINAE/ Megaceras morpheus /Burmeister, 1847? ♂ / Peru, Oxapampa, 11-IV-1984,/leg.: Rainer Marx,/erh. 1985 (IB-Ffm)/det. JPS 2020/JPSCOLLNO: Dyn/630/ W5e// Peru /Oxapampa/Febr.- Apr. 1984 /leg. Rainer Marx ” and our red holotype label. Three paratypes have the same data except collection numbers “631”, “632”, and “633”, each with our yellow paratype label. The holotype is deposited at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE, USA. Two paratypes are deposited in the Jochen Saltin Collection , Dornum , Middelsbur , Germany, and one paratype is in the Brett Ratcliffe Collection , Lincoln, NE, USA.

Description of the Holotype. Male ( Figs. 1–2 ). Length 36.7 mm; width across humeri 18.2 mm. Dorsum black, weakly shiny; venter dark reddish brown. Head: Frons with large, recurved, acuminate horn, horn extending to just above pronotal horn; posterior margin of horn below apex (opposite apex of pronotal horn) with small, tooth-like swelling; sides of horn nearly flat with small, sparse punctures. Clypeal apex broadly rounded, apex minutely notched at center. Interocular width equals 4.0 trans- verse eye diameters.Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club slightly shorter than antennomeres 2–7. Mandible with large, narrowly rounded basal lobe and acute apical tooth. Pronotum: Disc with erect, stout prominence with 2 short, slightly converging horns on apex projecting forward; anterior face de- clivous. Surface mostly smooth except for coarsely rugose lateral margins and posterior angles, rugae connected to rugose areola apposita. Lateral margins broadly arcuate, narrowly explanate, widest at middle. Base with slender marginal bead. Elytra: Surface nearly smooth and sparsely, minutely gran- ulate. Sutural stria strongly impressed. Lateral margin with strong bead. Pygidium: Surface shiny with small, sparse punctures; base and angles with large, moderately dense, setigerous punctures; setae long, reddish brown. In lateral view strongly convex. Legs: Protibia tridentate, teeth subequally spaced. Meso- and metatibiae each with 2 transversely oblique carinae. Metatibial apex with 1 large, subtriangular tooth. Venter: Prosternal process long, laminate, subtriangular. Metaventrite nearly com- pletely, setigerously punctate; punctures dense, be- coming sparser towards midline; setae short, reddish brown. Parameres: Form acutely triangular, wide at base, apex slightly rounded (Fig. 3).

Paratypes. The three male paratypes differ from the holotype in the following respects: length 33.3– 41.1 mm, width 15.6–19.1 mm. One specimen has slightly smaller horns on the head and pronotum. Two specimens have only sparse rugosity on the lateral pronotal margins. Otherwise, the paratypes do not substantially differ from the holotype.

770 locality for Megaceras sarecagem , new species.

Megaceras sarecagem , M. morpheus , and

Megaceras briansaltini Ratcliffe belong to that Figs. 3–5. Caudal view of the parameres. 3) group of species that have a rounded clypeus with Megaceras sarecagem , new species; 4) M. morpheus ; a blunt or slightly notched apex as opposed to those 5) M. briansaltini . species with two distinct teeth. Males can be reliably identified by the form of the male parameres where the apical third is constricted inwardly or not. The Etymology. The specific epithet is a palindrome parameres of M. morpheus and M. briansaltini have (a word read backwards) of the genus Megaceras , the angle on the lateral margin of the parameres hence sarecagem . Article 31.2.3 of the Code (ICZN produced, whether slightly or distinctly, but 1999) states that “If a species-group name … is not a M. sarecagem has totally different parameres that Latin or latinized word [Arts. 11.2, 26], it is to be treat- are sharply triangular and do not have an angle on ed as indeclinable for the purposes of this Article, and the lateral margin (compare Figs. 3–5). need not agree in gender with the generic name with Natural History. Nothing is known of the life which it is combined (the original spelling is to be history of M. sarecagem . Adult Megaceras species retained, with ending unchanged; see Article 34.2.1)”. are nocturnally active, and they seek shelter to hide Distribution. Megaceras sarecagem is known during the day. They are usually attracted to lights only from Oxapampa (10.574°S, 75.405°W) in at night, occasionally in high numbers if there is a Oxapampa Province in the Pasco Region of Peru on large emergence. The type locality of M. sarecathe eastern slope of the Andes ( Fig. 6 ). gem is approximately 1,800 m in elevation, and Temporal Distribution. April (4). Oxapampa is in the region known as Selva Alta or Diagnosis. Megaceras sarecagem will key to cou- high jungle. plet 24 in Endrödi (1985) that ends with Megaceras morpheus Burmeister ; both species are indistinguish- REFERENCES CITED able externally. Seven Megaceras species have been described since Endrödi (1985), but none of those Dechambre, R.-P. 1975a. Diagnose préliminaire de nou- species have the narrow, nearly acute, triangular velles espèces de Megaceras Hope et Golofa

(Col. Dynastidae). Bulletin de la Société Ento- parameres (Fig. 3) of M. sarecagem. The only other mologique de France (N. S.) 80: 131–133. species of Megaceras with triangular parameres is Dechambre, R.-P. 1975 b. Note sur diverse Megaceras Megaceras jason (Fabricius), but that is a consider- et Golofa (Col. Dynastidae). Annales de la ably larger species (36–60 mm) with a distinctly Société Entomologique de France (N. S.) 11: bifurcate frontal horn and broader parameres. 619–630.

Dechambre, R.-P. 1981. Nouvelles espèces de Dynastidae de la Région Néotropicale (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea). Revue Française d’Entomologie (N. S.) 3: 123–128.

Dechambre, R.-P. 1998. Les Megaceras du groupe philoctetes (Olivier, 1789) (Coleoptera, Dynastidae). Coléoptères 4: 127–136.

Endrödi, S. 1976. Monographie der Dynastinae 5. Tribus: Oryctini (die Arten von Amerika) (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae). Folia Entomologica Hungarica (series nova) 29: 9–174.

Endrödi, S. 1985. The Dynastinae of the World. Dr. W. Junk Publisher, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 800 pp., 46 plates.

ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature). 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 4th Edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, 306 pp.

Ratcliffe, B. C. 2007. A remarkable new species of Megaceras from Peru (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae). The “Dim Effect”: Nature mimicking art. The Coleopterists Bulletin 61: 463–467.

Ratcliffe, B. C., and R. D. Cave. 2006. The dynastine scarab beetles of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum 21: 1–424.

Ratcliffe, B. C., R. D. Cave, and E. Cano. 2013. The dynastine scarab beetles of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum 27: 1–666.

Wheeler, Q. D., and N. I. Platnick. 2000. The phylogenetic species concept (sensu Wheeler and Platnick) [pp. 55–69]. In: Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory: A Debate (Q. D. Wheeler and R. Meier, editors). Columbia University Press, New York, NY, USA, 230 pp.

(Received 18 June 2021; accepted 24 October 2021. Publication date 31 December 2021.)

Figures

Figs. 1–2. Holotype of Megaceras sarecagem, new species. 1) Dorsal view; 2) Lateral view.

Fig. 6. Location of Oxapampa in Peru, the type