Neoscelis Schoch, 1897

Nogueira, Guillermo, Morón, Miguel-Angel, Fierros-López, Hugo-Eduardo & Navarrete-Heredia, José-Luis, 2004, The Immature Stages of Neoscelis Dohrni (Westwood) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Goliathini) with Notes on Adult Behavior, The Coleopterists Bulletin 58 (2), pp. 171-183 : 174

Larvae of Neoscelis Schoch, 1897

The larval description of Neoscelis dohrni (Westwood) that follows is the first for the genus. Larvae of Neoscelis appear to be most similar morphologically to those of African species of Chlorocala Kirby (¼ Smaragdesthes Kraatz ). The known larva of Neoscelis have the ocelli weakly defined, haptomeral region with 17 heli in a transverse row, last antennal segment with 3 dorsal sensory spots, tarsungulus bearing 9–11 setae, and each palidium consisting of a row of 10–11 pali. Larvae of Chlorocala have the last antennal segment with 9 sensory spots, tarsungulus bearing 14–15 setae, and each palidium consisting of a row of 12–13 pali.

The genus Neoscelis consist of two species that are found from south of Sonora to central Guerrero in western Mexico (Morón and Ratcliffe 1984; Morón et al. 1997). Adults of Neoscelis dohrni are active during August to November, flying in oak forests and deciduous tropical forests, as well as in old orchads or unused crop lands located between 1,000 to 1,700 m altitude, where they have been collected with rotting fruit traps and directly on host plants: Nicotiana glauca Graham (Solanaceae) and Quercus resinosa Liebmann , Q. magnoliaefolia Née (Fagaceae) , Verbesina greenmanii Urban (Asteraceae) , Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Linne´)Sw., and Acacia pennatula (Schl.and Cham.) Stand. (Leguminosae) . Other species of Cetoniinae feeding in the same host were Cotinis mutabilis (Gory and Percheron) , Hologymnetis cinerea (Gory and Percheron) , Euphoria biguttata Gory and Percheron , E. leucographa Gory and Percheron and, rarely Ischnoscelis hoepfneri (Gory and Percheron) . The larvae of N. dohrni feed in rich organic soil.