Gordonius rhinocerillus, Skelley & Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2009

Skelley, Paul E., Dellacasa, Marco & Dellacasa, Giovanni, 2009, Gordonius rhinocerillus, a new genus and species of Colombian Aphodiini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (67), pp. 1-4 : 2-4

Gordonius rhinocerillus , new species

Figure 1-9

Type locality. 20 km W Silvia, 6000’, Cauca, Colombia.

Holotype depository. Canadian National Collection of Insects , Ottawa ( Canada).

Description. Length 5.5-6.0 mm. Body yellowish brown; head, most of pronotum, broad discal spot of elytra brown; legs, antennal club reddish brown. Head with clypeal surface evenly, finely, sparsely punctured; clypeus very thinly margined, edge slightly reflexed, glabrous; genae rounded, short fringe of setae; frontal suture weakly raised laterally, obsolete at middle; front evenly, finely, sparsely punctured. Pronotum finely, superficially alutaceous; large punctures 6-7 times larger than small punctures, irregularly scattered on sides, lacking medially; small, very fine punctures sparsely distributed throughout; lateral margins feebly arcuate, thickly bordered, edge glabrous; hind angles obtusely rounded; base faintly bisinuate, distinctly bordered. Scutellum flat, sparsely punctured. Elytra subparallel-sided; striae deeply punctured, feebly crenulate; intervals very finely, sparsely punctured. Metatibiae with superior apical spur shorter than first tarsomere; latter as long as following 3 combined. Male head with clypeus broadly depressed medially with anteromedial horn; pronotum relatively more transverse and less coarsely punctured; aedeagus in Fig. 3-4. Female head with clypeus regularly, moderately convex, lacking tubercle; pronotum somewhat narrowed anteriorly, more coarsely punctured.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Bionomics. The type specimens were collected in July.

Type material. The male holotype, female allotype, and 5 male paratypes all have the same data: “ Colombia: Cauca, 6000’, 20 km W Silvia, 17.07.1970, J. M. Campbell leg.” The holotype and allotype are deposited in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa, Canada. The paratypes are deposited as follows: Canadian National Collection of Insects , Ottawa, Canada (2) ; Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville , FL, USA (1) ; Dellacasa Collection, Genova, Italy (1).

Etymology. The horn on males of this species is similar to that of a rhinoceros. Thus, we are naming it “little rhinoceros.”