Cyclocephala casanova Ratcliffe and Cave

Ratcliffe, Brett C. & Cave, Ronald D., 2009, New Species of CyclocephalaDejean, 1821 from Guatemala (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Cyclocephalini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 63 (3), pp. 325-332 : 326-328

Cyclocephala casanova Ratcliffe and Cave , new species

( Figs. 1, 3–4)

Type Material. Holotype male, labeled ‘‘GUAT, Baja Verapaz, 6 km E of Purulhá , 5100 9, May 26–31, 1989, E. Giesbert, coll.’’ and with our red holotype label . Holotype deposited at the University of Nebraska State Museum .

Holotype. Male. Length 17.5 mm; width across humeri 8.9 mm. Color testaceous except for dark reddish brown clypeus, pygidium, legs, and venter and with black on frons, occiput, extreme base of elytra, elytral suture, and a large heart-shaped spot behind scutellum along suture ( Fig. 1). Head: Frons with surface moderately punctate, punctures moderate and minute in size, with 3 short, pale setae mesad of left eye. Clypeus with surface densely punctate, punctures dense, moderate in size, some on each side with long, pale setae; apex weakly parabolic, narrowly reflexed. Interocular width equals 4.0 transverse eye diameters. Antenna with 10 antennomeres, club subequal in length to antennomeres 2–7. Pronotum: Surface finely shagreened, sparsely punctate; punctures moderate in size on central third, becoming slightly larger and denser on lateral thirds; a few punctures with long, pale setae in anterior angles and in a small patch either side of midline near anterior margin. Base with marginal bead. Elytra: Surface finely shagreened, punctate; punctures dense, large, shallow, some in indistinct rows, and with randomly arranged punctures in intervals. Apical region with short, sparse, pale setae. Pygidium: Surface completely, coarsely roughened, glabrous. In lateral view, surface evenly convex. Legs: Protibia tridentate, basal tooth slightly removed from others, small. Protarsus enlarged: tarsomeres 2–4 each slightly larger than preceding tarsomere; 5th large, nearly straight (not curved), with elongate, narrow, concave depression on median side; median claw large, strongly curved, with large, rounded process at base, apex narrowly cleft. Metatarsus slightly longer than metatibia. Venter: Prosternal process columnar, setose, apex obliquely flattened into transversely suboval disc with anterior half elevated into a raised ‘‘button.’’ Parameres: Figures 3–4.

Etymology. The name is a noun in apposition: Cyclocephala , the casanova, in reference to an unscrupulous lover signified by the distinctly heart-shaped macula displayed on the elytra behind the scutellum.

Distribution. The single specimen of Cyclocephala casanova is known only from the vicinity of Purulhá to the northeast of Guatemala City. This is a well-collected area, and so the absence of additional specimens is puzzling.

Temporal Distribution. May (1).

Diagnosis. The heart-shaped black spot on the elytra behind the scutellum, in combination with a basally margined pronotum, the presence of setae in the anterior angles and in a small patch either side of the middle of the pronotum, coarsely roughened pygidium, and form of the parameres distinguish this species from all others. In Endrödi (1985), C. casanova will key only so far as couplet 158, where the choices no longer apply. Elytral markings vary in some species of Cyclocephala , and so undue emphasis should be avoided when relying on the heart-shaped macula. The parameres resemble those of C. atricolor Chapin , but that species is black, smaller (10–12 mm), and known only from Cuba.