Euphoria westermanni ( Gory and Percheron, 1833 )

Orozco, Jesús, 2012, Monographic Revision of the American Genus Euphoria Burmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 11) 66, pp. 1-182 : 56-57

Euphoria westermanni ( Gory and Percheron, 1833)

(Appendix 4: Fig. 24 )

Cetonia westermann Gory and Percheron 1833: 212 . Original combination.

Holotype at MHNG, examined.

Description (n = 45). Length 14.8–16.0 mm; width 8.4–9.5 mm. Color: Dorsal surface entirely or partially tomentous, dark green, reddish brown, or violaceous. Pronotum shiny in females, tomentous in males. Elytra tomentous or shiny, with small, sparse to moderate, irregular, whitish, cretaceous spots. Ventral surface shiny, color as on dorsum. Head: Frons densely punctate, punctures small to moderate, round, deeply impressed, at times coalescent; surface depressed, with 1 central or 2 longitudinal depressions separated by ridge, sparsely to moderately setose; setae short to moderate, yellowish. Clypeal surface moderately densely to densely punctate, punctures moderate in size, round; clypeus short, lateral margins moderately to strongly raised, sides moderately convergent at apex; lateral declivity weakly to moderately developed; apex strongly reflexed, strongly sinuate in frontal view, occasionally giving appearance of 2 small denticles; glabrous to moderately densely setose, setae yellowish to whitish, short to moderate. Vertex with weakly to moderately developed central protuberance. Antennal club as long as or longer than stem in males, as long as or shorter than stem in females. Antennal club in males frequently as long as head in lateral view. Pronotum: Surface sparsely to moderately densely punctate; punctures sparse, round to lunulate, minute to moderate, denser and larger towards sides, more evident in females than in males; glabrous to moderately densely setose, setae minute to moderate, yellowish. Pronotal sides moderately to weakly angulate, females frequently with subparallel sides at base, males generally with convergent sides at base. Base in front of scutellum moderately to strongly emarginate. Scutellum longer than wide, impunctate. Elytra: Surface glabrous, sparsely to moderately densely punctate; punctures lunulate, minute to small in size, costae subobsolete to moderately raised. Posterior half of sutural costa strongly raised in lateral view. Pygidium: Surface subconcentrically striate, striae discontinuous, strongly proximal, moderately to strongly impressed; sparsely to densely setose, setae short to moderate, yellowish. Legs: Protibial teeth well developed, equidistant or apical and medial teeth slightly closer to each other than to basal tooth. Meso- and metatibial carinae weakly to moderately developed. Metatarsi compressed in females, much shorter than metatibiae, slender, about as long as metatibiae in males. Metatibial spurs long and slender in males, as long as or shorter and frequently thicker in females. Venter: Mesometasternal process extended anteriorly well beyond mesocoxae, process glabrous on mesosternal lobe, apex variably rounded. Mesepimeron, metasternum, and metacoxae setose, setae as on legs. Metasternum rugose, setose laterally, glabrous and impunctate at middle. Median sulcus strongly impressed. Abdominal sternites moderately densely setose laterally, glabrous to sparsely setose medially, sides rounded. Male abdomen flat to vaguely concave in lateral view, female abdomen flat to vaguely convex in lateral view Male genitalia: Parameres as in Fig. 24c .

Diagnosis. Euphoria westermanni is separated from other species in the group based on the vertex with a central protuberance, antennal club of the males almost as long as the head in lateral view, pronotal vestiture sexually dimorphic (shiny in females, tomentous in males), and form of the parameres. The sexually dimorphic sides of the pronotum are more clearly pronounced in this species compared to others in the group. The pronotal sides in the females ( Fig. 24e, f ) are angulate, frequently appearing subparallel at the base, while in the males the pronotal sides are more evenly round and generally convergent at the base ( Fig. 24a, d ).

Taxonomic History. Gory and Percheron (1833) described the species based on a male specimen from “ Mexico ”. Burmeister (1842) separated this species from E. lesueuri based on the presence of a tubercle on the vertex, the generally longer antennal club in both sexes, and other characters he thought to be of diagnostic significance but represent intraspecific variation. Bates (1889), apparently from a mixed series of this species and E. lesueuri , concluded Gory and Percheron’ s (1833) and Burmeister’ s (1842) use of the name was not the same. Both species haven been continuously confused in the literature and used interchangeably until now.

Natural History. There are few literature references regarding the habits of the adults (e. g., Morón et al. 1997), but because E. westermanni and E. lesueuri have previously been confused it is impossible to know which species the observations correspond to.

Temporal Distribution. May (1), June (5) ( Fig. 24g ).

Geographic Distribution. Known from Colima, Estado de México, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, and Nayarit, Mexico ( Fig. 24h ). Morón et al. (1997) recorded this species from Oaxaca. I treat this record as suspect given the difficulties in identifying this species before this monograph and the fact that E. lesueuri , frequently confused with this species, is also known from Oaxaca.

Specimens Examined (45). Ty p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype male at MHNG labeled “Schaum/ TYPE// Westermanni/ GP/ Mexico // Coll. Melly ” and my holotype label. Other material: MEXICO (44): COLIMA: Colima (2); ESTADO DE MÉXICO: Ixtapan de La Sal (3), Tejupilco de Hidalgo (1), Temascaltepec (14); JALISCO: Ajijíc (1), Volcán Colima (3); MICHOACÁN: Tuxpan (3), Morelia (1), no data: (1); MORELOS: Cuernavaca (3); NAYARIT: Compostela (3), San Blas (5), Tepic (2), no data (2).

Figures

Fig. 24. Euphoria westermanni. a) Habitus, b) Head, c) Parameres, d) Color variation, e-f) Females, g) Temporal distribution, h) Geographic distribution in Mexico.