Cyclocephala amazona ( Linnaeus, 1767 )

Hielkema, Auke J. & Hielkema, Meindert A., 2019, An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the Guianas, Insecta Mundi 732 (732), pp. 1-306 : 162

Cyclocephala amazona ( Linnaeus, 1767)

Scarabaeus amazonus Linnaeus 1767: 551

Note. Two presently recognized subspecies of Cyclocephala amazona have been described, one of which occurs in the research area. The other one is C. amazona boliviensis Höhne, 1923 (recorded from Brazil, Bolivia)

Subspecies Cyclocephala amazona amazona ( Linnaeus, 1767)

Scarabaeus amazonus Linnaeus 1767: 551 ( Suriname)

= Melolontha signata Fabricius 1781: 39 ( Jamaica)

= Melolontha pallens Fabricius 1798: 132 ( French Guiana)

= Cyclocephala detecta H. W. Bates 1888: 300 ( Mexico, Nicaragua)

Distribution. Guyana: Endrödi 1966a: 147, 1985a: 66, 132 (as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160; Moore et al. 2018b: 142. Suriname: Linnaeus 1767: 551 (as Scarabaeus amazonus ); Uyttenboogaart 1902: 116 (as C. signata Drury ); Endrödi 1966a: 147 (designation NEOTYPE Scarabaeus amazonus ), 1985a: 66, 132 (as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160; Moore et al. 2018b: 142; MHCN; NZCS; RMNH. French Guiana: Fabricius 1798: 132 (as Melolontha pallens ); Endrödi 1966a: 147, 1985a: 66, 132 (as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160; Duranton 2011: 11 (as C. amazonica ); Ponchel 2011: 60; Dupuis 2016b: 109; Moore et al. 2018b: 142; MHCN; NZCS. “Guianas”: Arrow 1937b: 8, 14 (as C. amazona ; as C. pallens ); Blackwelder 1944: 251, 252 (as C. amazona ; as C. pallens ). Brazil (NA): Endrödi 1966a: 147 (NA), 1985a: 66, 132 (as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160; Moore et al. 2018b: 142. Venezuela: Arrow 1937b: 16 (as C. signata ); Blackwelder 1944: 252 (as C. pallens ; as C. signata ); Endrödi 1966a: 147, 1985a: 66, 132 (as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160; Moore et al. 2018b: 142. Other: Fabricius 1781: 39 (Jamaica - as Melolontha signata ); H. W. Bates 1888: 300 (Mexico, Nicaragua - as C. detecta ); Arrow 1937b: 10, 16 (Honduras, Mexico, Panama - as C. detecta ; Colombia, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago - as C. signata ); Blackwelder 1944: 251, 252 (Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama - as C. detecta ; Belize, Colombia, Cuba, Grenada, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago - as C. signata ); Endrödi 1966a: 147 (Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru - as C. amazona amazona ; Antilles - as C. amazona signata ), 1985a: 66, 132 (Central America, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru - as C. amazonica amazonica ); Dechambre 1979c: 160 (Barbados, Bolivia, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Grenada, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago); Lachaume 1992: 13 (Central America–Paraguay, West Indies); Ratcliffe 2003: 83 (Costa Rica–Paraguay/Chile); Moore et al. 2018b: 142 (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies).

Note 1. Uyttenboogaart (1902: 116) incorrectly named Drury as the author of the Cyclocephala signata he recorded for Suriname. In Uyttenboogaart’s time, two species could be called C. signata . These were Melolontha signata Fabricius, 1781 (p. 39), which is now a synonym of C. amazona , and M. signata Olivier, 1789 (p. 28), which is now a synonym of C. notata (Illiger, 1806) (p. 235). According to Uyttenboogaart (1902), the species he found was very common and flew into lighted rooms at night. This species is the present C. amazona , as confirmed by our examination of the original specimens of Uyttenboogaart in RMNH. Cyclocephala notata is a species from the Antilles and does not occur in the Guianas.

Note 2. Moore et al. (2018b: 107) conclude that the neotype of Scarabaeus amazonus designated in Endrödi (1966a: 147) is invalid because it violates several requirements of Article 75 of the ICZN (1964: 81).

Note 3. According to Ratcliffe (2003: 83, 165), Ratcliffe and Cave (2006: 132, 167) and Ratcliffe et al. (2013: 201, 595), the purported specimens of Cyclocephala amazona from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua in Endrödi (1966a: 147) and Dechambre (1979c: 160) are in fact C. multiplex Casey, 1915 .

Note 4. Cyclocephala multiplex is described in Casey (1915: 139) based on five specimens from Honduras. In Arrow (1937b: 10) and Blackwelder (1944: 251), this species is considered a synonym of C. detecta , which was described in H. W. Bates (1888: 300) based on two specimens from Mexico and an unspecified number of specimens from Nicaragua. Cyclocephala detecta is synonymized with C. amazona in Endrödi (1964: 466) , and both C. detecta and C. multiplex are mentioned as synonyms of C. amazona amazona in Endrödi (1966a: 147) and of C. amazonica in Endrödi (1985a: 66) . Ratcliffe (2003: 165) reinstates C. multiplex as a valid species and mentions that all supposed specimens of C. amazona from north of Costa Rica were in fact C. multiplex . By doing so he ignores C. detecta , which, based on its type locality, is almost certainly a senior synonym of C. multiplex rather than a junior synonym of C. amazona . This is also mentioned in Moore et al. (2018b: 217). The type series of C. detecta should be compared with those of C. multiplex to confirm this supposition.