Aegognathus confusus Arnaud and Bomans, 2006

Cáceres, Juan Sebastián D. & Grossi, Paschoal Coelho, 2023, Taxonomic revision of Aegognathus Leuthner, 1883 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), Journal of Natural History 57 (9 - 12), pp. 557-595 : 576-577

Aegognathus confusus Arnaud and Bomans, 2006

( Figure 4e : paratype, 1J)

Aegognathus confusus Arnaud and Bomans, 2006a: 4 (original combination and descrription)

Examined material

Holotype (1J) and paratypes (3J) labelled, ′ Peru, Pomacocha , 2500 m, i.2005 ̍ ( CPFA) . Paratype (1J) labelled the same as the holotype ( CERPE).

Diagnosis

Dorsal surface of body with different tones of carmine red, with blackish spots along head, pronotum and elytra; ventrally black with some dark red spots. Temporal process of head weak, somewhat continuous with the eyes; mandibles with acuminate apex. Pronotum with moderate punctures and dendritic setae, mainly distributed along lateral and posterior margins. Elytral surface with coarse punctures and small dendritic yellowish setae. Abdominal ventrites with coarse to large punctures and appressed setae, moderately distribute over ventrites I to IV, denser at ventrite V; with a weak longitudinal carina along lateral margins of every ventrite; ventrites II and III wrinkled at sides.

Description – male

Size: Total length. 21 mm. Total width. 7 mm. Colour: In dorsal view with different tones of carmine red, with dark spots along posterior region of head, and over pronotum disc, elytra mainly black along disc with dark red tones at margins. In ventral view black except for some small dark red areas over coxae and legs. Head: Shape transverse, surface shagreened, glabrous; temporal process weak, almost continuous with the eye. In major males, mandibles as long as head and first half of pronotum, bent inwards with acuminate apex; at the middle with a weak upwardly directed tooth. Minor males closely resembling major ones with reduced mandibles, only with some median tooth-like projections instead of stronger teeth. Pronotum: Surface shagreened, moderately punctate along lateral and posterior margins, dense to moderate with small dendritic setae; disc with a longitudinal groove; anterior angles rounded; posterior angles somewhat acuminate. Elytra: Surface with coarse punctures, densely distributed, with small, dendritic, yellowish setae. Epipleuron with contiguous to dense coarse punctures, with smooth, appressed, yellowish setae. Legs: Protibiae externally serrate with four strong teeth that increase in size distally and one internal tooth at apex; one apical spur. Meso and metatibiae with one apical spur; metatibiae with four apical teeth. Venter: Mentum trapezoidal, with moderate, sparse punctures, and small yellowish to white appressed setae. Gena surface somewhat smooth, with a few large punctures, glabrous, with a curved carina over the posterior region. Prosternum with coarse to large punctures, dense to moderately distributed, with small yellowish appressed setae. Mesoventrite with moderate and dense punctures along the median region, becoming larger along lateral regions, with yellowish appressed setae. Metaventrite with large to coarse punctures; somewhat densely distributed, containing yellowish appressed setae; discrimen present as a continuous suture. Abdominal ventrites almost uniformly punctate, punctures coarse to large with appressed setae, moderately densely distributed over ventrites I to IV, denser at ventrite V; with a weak longitudinal carina along lateral margins of every ventrite; ventrites II and III wrinkled at sides.

Description – female

The female of this species is known but we had no opportunity to examine any female specimens.

Distribution

Central Peru, Central Cordillera. Yungas province ( Morrone et al. 2022).

Remarks

This species can be distinguished from congeners by its darker colouration, making it somewhat difficult to distinguish the reddish regions from the blackish ones. The features of A. confusus are similar to those of Aegognathus similis , presenting a sharp resemblance in some specimens, especially in colour patterns, but the former can be distinguished by the absence of a truncate apex of mandibles and the dense and less coarse punctation, in contrast to the contiguous and coarser punctation in A. similis , and by the presence of two wrinkled abdominal ventrites in A confusus . The paratype used for the description presented in this work was donated by Mr. Patrick Arnaud and deposited at CERPE. Unfortunately, when making the dissections we found out that the genitalia were missing, and for this reason, this description lacks the information related to the male aedeagus. As far as we know, no other specimens of this species have been collected, and only the s type series is known at present.

Figures

Figure 4. Dorsal habitus of paratypes (3J) of Aegognathus soulai Arnaud and Bomans, 2004: (a) major male; (b) medium-size male; (c) minor male; and (d) one female from CERPE. Aegognathus confusus Arnaud and Bomans, 2006: (e) paratype male (CERPE). Aegognathus similis Arnaud and Bomans, 2006: (f) male and (g) female (CERPE). Scale bars: 5 mm.