Leucopholis Dejean, 1833

Calcetas, Orlando A. & Adorada, Jessamyn R., 2017, Taxonomic review of the genus Leucopholis Dejean, 1833 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Leucopholini) in the Philippines, Zootaxa 4232 (1), pp. 85-103 : 87-88

Leucopholis Dejean, 1833

( Figs. 1–5)

Leucopholis Dejean, 1833: 160

Type species. Melolontha rorida Weber, 1801 by subsequent designation ( Bezděk 2006).

Description. Body ovoid to pear shaped; gray, yellow, brown, and sometimes piceous or blackish brown to reddish brown. Body scales minute to large; circular to ovoid, spindle shaped, obcordate shaped, or lanceolate shaped; sparsely distributed; not overlapping. Mentum vase-shaped; anterior margin pitch black; adjacent to anterior margin with sparse, thin or thick setal brushes or bristles. Pronotum with anterior and posterior margins smooth; anterolateral margin carinate, crenulate, and mesally sinuate. Prosternal process anteriorly ovoid to spindle-shaped, flattened, glabrous, with or without median depression ( Fig. 1); laterally peg-like or wedge-shaped and inclined at approximately 45 0 ( Fig. 2). Metaventral process distinctly long and often extending in front of the mesocoxae, apically free and mesally attached to the mesoventral process ( Fig. 3). Metaventrite sparsely setose and scaled on both sides; mesally glabrous, with or without sparse scales. Metepisternum densely covered with scales and sparsely covered with setae near anterior margin. Dorsal metatibial spur nearly parallel, curved and apically round in males while straight and broadly spatulate in females. Ventral metatibial spur tapering, sub-apically curved and tapered apically in males; nearly parallel, sub-apically curved and spatulate apically in females. Tarsal claws tridentate. Scutellum with distinct patches of scales below anterior angles. Elytra without stria. Apical knob of elytra evenly covered with scales.

Remarks. Labrum generally narrower compared to Lepidiota . Metafemur of females with a row of sparselyspaced setae midway to posterior margin except for L. guevarai . Male metafemur setae absent, however, in rare cases only a single seta is present. Abdomen mostly covered with recumbent, ovoid-lanceolate, basally rounded, and sometimes truncate scales. Length of parameres and phallobase is variable among species. Apical processes of parameres widely separated dorsally in Leucopholis irrorata , L. pulverulenta , and L. reflexa while narrowly separated in L. guevarai . Dorsal anterior margin of the lateral processes of the parameres distinct. Apical processes adjacent to the paramere with V-shaped sclerites in Leucopholis irrorata and L. pulverulenta ; V-shaped sclerites absent in L. reflexa , L. bakeri , and L. guevarai . Posterior metatibial spicules with fewer in males compared to females, spicules never or rarely overlapping. For some genera of Leucopholini where antennal club and metatibial spurs are not sexually dimorphic, this last character is helpful in determining sexes ( Figs. 4–5).

1 2 mm Io 3 4 5