Arriguttia Martinez , 1960

Moore, Matthew R., Cave, Ronald D. & Branham, Marc A., 2018, Synopsis of the cyclocephaline scarab beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae), ZooKeys 745, pp. 1-99 : 41-43

Arriguttia Martinez, 1960

Type species.

Cyclocephala brevissima Arrow, 1911, by monotypy.

Valid taxa.

Two species.

Arriguttia contains two South American species known only from the Brazilian Amazon, Guyana, and French Guiana ( Arrow 1911, 1937b, Blackwelder 1944, Martínez 1960a, 1968a, Endrődi 1966, 1985a, Ponchel 2006, 2011, 2015) (Fig. 53). Very little is known about the biology of Arriguttia species. Arriguttia brevissima (Arrow) feeds within the inflorescences of Victoria sp. in Brazil ( Martínez 1968a). In French Guiana, A. brevissima was found in the spathes of an unidentified terrestrial aroid ( Araceae ) ( Ponchel 2006, 2015). In Brazilian cerrado habitat, A. brevissima are floral visitors of Annona coriacea Mart. and are likely late-season, secondary pollinators of this species ( Costa et al. 2017). Specimens of A. brevissima have been collected at lights at night ( Martínez 1968a). The immature stages are undescribed and unknown.

Arriguttia was compared to Surutu in the original description of the genus ( Martínez 1960a). This is possibly confusing for identification purposes. Arriguttia shares many more characters with Cyclocephala and Augoderia than with Surutu . Arriguttia species can be recognized by the following combination of characters: 1) dorsal coloration varying from all black or with variable dark, reddish coloration on the elytra; 2) body convex and anteroposteriorly compressed, creating a relatively round gestalt; 3) clypeus quadrate in dorsal view, with sides nearly parallel, and the apex distinctly reflexed upwards (most obvious in lateral view); 4) frontoclypeal suture complete medially; 5) males with anterolateral margin of the mandibles weakly toothed; 6) mandibular molar area with rows of circular micropunctures; 7) apical margin of mentum weakly emarginated; 8) galea of the maxilla on inner surface with 3 fused basal teeth, a free median tooth, and 2 fused apical teeth (3-1-2 arrangement); 9) pronotum with broadly incomplete beaded basal margin; 10) males and females with 3 protibial teeth, basal tooth reduced, removed from the more apical 2 teeth, and oriented anteriorly; 11) protibial spur straight to weakly deflexed; 12) males with inner protarsal claw enlarged and narrowly cleft at apex; 13) mesocoxae widely separated; 14) meso- and metatibiae with distal, transverse carinae; 15) metacoxae with lateral edge perpendicular to ventral surface; 16) anterior edge of hindwing distal to apical hinge lacking setae and with produced, membranous border; 17) vein RA with 2 rows of pegs extending distally nearly to margin of apical hinge.

The relationships of Arriguttia to other cyclocephaline genera have not been clearly discussed in the literature. Martínez (1968a) stated that Arriguttia should be "placed next to" Surutu , but he did not offer any character justifications for this hypothesis. Endrődi (1966) considered Arriguttia to be a “primitive” cyclocephaline based on his poorly justified character analysis. Arriguttia shares hindwing characters (two rows of pegs on vein RA and a membrane on the leading edge of the hindwing distal to the apical hinge) with Augoderia , Aspidolea , and Cyclocephala . The form of the maxilla (3-1-2 teeth arrangement), the mandibular form (males with anterolateral margin weakly toothed and the molar area with rows of circular micropunctures), the incomplete bead on the basal margin of the pronotum, and the shape and arrangement of the protibial teeth are shared among Arriguttia , Augoderia , and some Cyclocephala (especially species like C. sexpunctata Laporte and species formerly placed in Stigmalia Casey). Future analyses should focus on comparing characters in these Cyclocephala species-groups and genera to Arriguttia , rather than Surutu .