Parapucaya amazonica Prell, 1934

López-García, Margarita M., Gasca-Álvarez, Héctor J. & Amat-García, Germán, 2015, The scarab beetle tribe Pentodontini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) of Colombia: taxonomy, natural history, and distribution, Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 451-492 : 469-471

Parapucaya amazonica Prell, 1934

( Figs. 63 – 68 )

Parapucaya amazonica Prell, 1934: 162 .

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 63 . Length 13.2–14.0 mm (♂), 13.0–15.0 mm (♀). Width 13.5–14.2 mm (♂), 6.0– 8.0 mm (♀). Color: Frons black; clypeus, pronotum, scutellum , pygidium and legs light brown; elytra yellow ( Fig. 63 ). Head: Frons nearly smooth, with small and sparse punctures, rarely with deep punctures. Eye canthus with a few yellow setae. Frontoclypeal suture strongly impressed and sinuate at middle ( Fig. 64 ). Clypeus with small punctures, denser and larger on area adjacent to frontoclypeal suture; clypeus apex truncate with lateral and anterior margins upturned. Interocular distance equals 2.5 to 2.8 times the transverse ocular diameter. Antennal club subequal to antennomeres 2–7. Mandibles slender, apex acute and curved upwards. Pronotum: Surface nearly smooth, with small, sparse punctures, slightly larger and denser on lateral margins, the larger punctures smaller than those on frons. Apical margin with 2 transverse tubercles, only slightly raised ( Fig. 65 ), sometimes difficult to observe. Apex with marginal bead not produced posteriorly; basal marginal bead only on posterior angles. Scutellum: Surface with small, sparse punctures. Elytra: Surface with rows of small, ocellate punctures; sutural stria present on apical third. Lateral margin not thickened in females. Pygidium: Surface with small punctures, denser on base and lateral angles. Lateral surface strongly convex in males and slightly convex in females. Legs: Protibia tridentate, basal tooth distinctly removed from the others. Males with protarsus enlarged, larger claw with apex incised. Metatibia with apex crenulate, with 8 thick spinules. Venter: Prosternal process moderately long, projecting to level of procoxae; apex transversely oval, convex on the anterior part and nearly flat on the posterior part; clothed by long, yellow setae. Parameres: Short and wide, slightly narrowed in the apical third, broad at the apex and with 2 small acute projections on each side ( Figs. 66–67 ). Spiculum gastrale: Not examined.

Diagnosis. This species is similar to P. nodicollis by its color and the presence of small tubercles on anterior margin of pronotum. However, P. amazonica is a slightly larger species that has the frontoclypeal suture deep and sinuate at middle; the apical margin of the pronotum with bead, not produced posteriorly; and the pronotal tubercles faint, transverse, scarcely visible. Males can be also differentiated by the shape of the parameres.

Locality records. ( Fig. 68 ) 51 specimens, 11♂, 40♀. Specimens were seen from HJG, ICN, LEUC, MEFLG, MLS, UNAB, UPN, USNM. Antioquia (8): Ciudad Bolívar (1). Medellín (6). Fredonia (1). Boyacá (2): Puerto Boyacá, Vda. Puerto Romero, Inspección de Policía (2). Caldas (28): Aguadas, Vda. El Diamante (20). Manizales, Vda. Alto Lisboa (2). Manizales (5). Samaná, Vda. La Miel, Alred. camp. Tasajos (1). Cundinamarca (2): Bogotá, Univer. Nacional (1). Silvania (2). Risaralda (4): Pereira (3). Quinchía (1). Tolima (6): Espinal (1). Guamo (1). Líbano, Campoalegre (1). Mariquita (1); Cataratas de Medina (1). Prado (1). Valle del Cauca (1): “Mares” (1).

Temporal distribution. January (1), February (3), March (9), April (18), May (5), June (5), September (1), October (3), November (1). No data (5).

Distribution. Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil ( Endrödi 1969; Ratcliffe & Cave 2006). In Colombia, the species was found in seven departments, but additionally, it had been reported by Restrepo-Giraldo et al. (2003) in Cauca, and by Neita et al. (2006) in Chocó.

Natural history. Most individuals were collected with light traps. About 40% of specimens were found in shade coffee crops from the central Colombian Andes. The species occurs between 320 – 1,950 m.

Figures

FIGURES 63 – 68. Parapucaya amazonica. 63) habitus in dorsal view, 64) head in frontal view, 65) habitus in lateral view, 66) parameres in frontal view, 67) parameres in lateral view, 68) locality records in Colombia.