Polynoncus ecuadorensis (Vaurie, 1962)

(Figures 24–25)

Trox ecuadorensis Vaurie, 1962: 133 (original description)

Trox (Polynoncus) ecuadorensis: Scholtz 1982: 16 (catalogue)

Polynoncus ecuadorensis: Scholtz 1986a: 362 (systematics); Scholtz 1990: 1448 (redescription); Kawai 2007: 96 (record from Peru); Zidek 2013: 9 (checklist); Ratcliffe et al. 2015: 189 (checklist from Peru); Zidek 2017: 100 (checklist)

Type specimens examined (through detailed photographs). HOLOTYPE (♂ ZMUC – Figure 24) First label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘ Quito, Ecuador. / Vorbeck | 10.IX.1925 ’. Second label [red, Patricia Vaurie’s handwriting]: ‘TYPE ♂ / Trox / ecuadorensis / Vaurie’. Third label [white, printed]: ‘zmuc / 00022596’ (Figure 24d). Type locality: ‘ Quito, Ecuador’. This specimen was collected by Danish pharmacist and brewer Henrik Emil Vorbeck (1870–1943).

PARATYPES (2 ♀ MNHN) . First label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘MUSÉUM PARIS / ÉQUATEUR / QUITO / R. BENOIST 1930’. Second label [white, Emil Haaf’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox / sallei Har. / det.Dr.E.Haaf 1953’. Third label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘ ♀ ’. Fourth label [white, aged, Patricia Vaurie’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox ecua- / dorensis / Vaurie / PARATYPE’. Fifth label [white, Patricia Vaurie’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox ecuadorensis / Vaurie’. Sixth label [white with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ Polynoncus ♀ / ecuadorensis / (Vaurie 1962) / Det . V . Costa-Silva, 2022’ (1 ♀ MNHN) . First label [white, typeset]: ‘Machachi, / Ecuador. / 9–10,000 feet. / Ed. Whymper’. Second label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘ ♀ ’. Third label [white, aged, typeset]: ‘Ex- Musaeo / H.W.BATES / 1892 [vertical]’. Fourth label [white, aged, Patricia Vaurie’s handwriting]: ‘ Trox ecua- / dorensis / Vaurie / PARATYPE’. Fifth label [white with black frame, Vinícius Costa-Silva’s handwriting]: ‘ Polynoncus ♀ / ecuadorensis / (Vaurie 1962) / Det . V . Costa-Silva, 2022’ (1 ♀ MNHN) .

Differential diagnosis. This species is most similar to P. tenebrosus but can be distinguished from the latter by the presence of distinct humeral callus, which is less developed in P. tenebrosus (almost obsolete); scutellum is elongate (almost oval in P. tenebrosus); antennae with yellow setae, which are dark in P. tenebrosus . Shares with P. diffluens and P. crypticus the elytral tubercles poorly developed, but can be distinguished from these based on the presence of erect black setae in the surface of elytral tubercles in P. ecuadorensis . For details of description, see Vaurie (1962).

Geographic distribution. This rare species is only known from Ecuador (Figure 25) and a single record from Peru (Kawai 2007). Polynoncus ecuadorensis is reported from the high elevations in the Andes (1000–3000 m above sea level; see Vaurie 1962).

Examined non-type material (11 specimens). ECUADOR: Imbabura, Chachimbiro, 18 November 1984, F . Bravo leg . (1♀ CEMT) . Napo, without specific locality, date or collector (1♀ MNHN) . Pichincha, Quito, 16 January 1988, Sanchez leg . (1♀ CEMT); Quito, 2800 m, 12 October 1989, E . Kessles [?] leg. (1♀ CEMT) ; Quito, Calderón, 25 March 1997, V . Carvajal leg . (1♂ CEMT); Quito, Cumbayá, 2300 m, 28 December 1995, M . Torres leg . (1 CEMT); Quito, San Gregorio, 16 January 1988, P . Mendozo leg . (1 CVMD); San Rafael, 2517 m, 16 January 1988, S . Gutierrez leg . (1♀ CEMT); Tumbaco, 2650 m, 15 May 1989, J . Vallejo leg . (1♂ CEMT); Tumbaco, 29 December 1985, F . Brabo leg . (1♀ CEMT) . Tungurahua, Env . d’Ambato [San Juan de Ambato], 1930, Irenée Blanc leg . (1♂ MNHN) .