Symmela paschoali Pacheco, Wipfler, Monne and Ahrens 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pacheco, Thaynara L.
name: Wipfler, Benedict
name: Monné, Marcela L.
name: Ahrens, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Symmela
Symmela paschoali

description: Symmela paschoali Pacheco, Wipfler, Monné and Ahrens sp. nov.
(Figures 23, 29 (d), 31(g))
Type material examined
Holotype. ♂ ‘ Asuncion Paraguay Acc. No. 2966/ L.W. Saylor Collection / Det. L.W. Saylor / CASENT 8438099/ 150 Neotropical Sericini spec.’ (CAS). Paratypes: 1 ♂ ‘ Taperina Brazil Acc. No. 2966/ L.W. Saylor Collection/ CASENT 8438100’ (ZFMK), 1 ♂ ‘ Santarem June 1919. S.M. Klages. Acc. 6324/ L.W. Saylor Collection/ CASENT 8438101’ (CAS).
Description
Length: 6.4 mm. Elytral length: 3.9 mm. Width: 3.4 mm. Head black, dull and shiny, with erect, sparse setae. Labroclypeus as wide as frons, subtrapezoidal; surface flat; plain, without an anterior concavity on each side; anterior margin weakly emarginated medially, not elevated, with a rim of dense, short setae behind anterior margin; lateral margin not incised anteriorly; punctation of surface posteriorly dense; suture between labrum and clypeus invisible. Smooth area in front of eye distinctly separated from frons by a suture. Frons anteriorly flat, punctation irregular, dense. Ocular canthus without terminal setae, ratio of length of ocular canthus/eye diameter: 1/3. Eyes evenly spherical, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.5. Antenna with eight antennomeres. Antennal club with three antennomeres, blackish, straight; width of antennal lamella equal to width of antennomeres of funiculus; apical lamella subequal to basal and median ones; length ratio of third vs fourth antennomere: 1/2; fourth antennomere without lateral projection; length ratio of fifth vs fourth antennomere: 1/3. Labrum anteriorly bluntly angled on each side, concave at middle. Setae on mentum moderately dense.
Head and pronotum without copper iridescent shine. Pronotum bicoloured, dull, blackish brown; widest before base, width subequal to width of elytral base at humerus; anterior marginal line not interrupted medially, posterior marginal line absent; lateral margin not serrated, generally weakly convex, behind anterior angles convex, posteriorly weakly convex; setae of lateral margin sparse; basal margin evenly curved; transverse impression beside basal margin absent; anterior angles produced, sharply pointed; antero-lateral and postero-lateral angles not flattened dorso-ventrally; posterior angles blunt; surface without median longitudinal impression, transversal furrows or setae; punctation on disc dense, simple and fine, without well-defined impunctate areas. Scutellum without punctures.
Elytra unicoloured, blackish brown; surface opaque and iridescent, without setae and microsculpture; striae and intervals distinct; punctation between striae sparse, diameter of punctures compared to those of striae smaller; intervals flat; posterior edge convex; apical margin chitinous, without microtrichomes.
Abdomen: sternites flat in sagittal plane; lateral carina absent; first visible ventrite with row of setae on posterior edge; second visible ventrite with row of setae in medial region; basal ventrites medially of same length as laterally; ultimate and penultimate apical ventrites simple and flat; apical ventrite short (as long as preceding ventrite); penultimate apical ventrite row of setae denser and with longer setae, at middle interrupted by a flat impunctate discoid area; beside row of setae, almost glabrous. Pygidium strongly convex.
Legs reddish brown and yellow. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.38. Metacoxa entirely plain, without elevated lateral longitudinal carina; without longer lateral bristles, with setae on basal surface, posterior margin glabrous. Metafemur with posterior margin straight. Metatibia widest at apex; ratio of width/length: 1/3.10; dorsal margin not carinated, smooth; interior surface more or less glabrous; median longitudinal punctation present on interior surface; interior margin of apex sharply and deeply truncate towards ventral margin; punctation on entire lateral face present; beside dorsal margin without a row of robust setae along entire length; basal group of spines comprising at least two robust spines at same level of metatibial length; distal groups of spines disposed at two-thirds of metatibia length; ventral margin not serrated. Dorsal surface of tarsi glabrous, with dense punctures. Length ratio of dorsal tibial spur/first metatarsomere: 1/2. Metatarsi at apex weakly widened; first tarsomere straight, its length subequal to second and third tarsomeres combined; laterally not carinate; ventral margin serrated; ventral margin glabrous; medial face glabrous. Protibia with two distinct teeth; spur straight. First protarsomere straight, its length subequal to second and third combined; width ratio of first protarsomere vs second protarsomere: 1.5/1; second protarsomere enlarged; third and fourth protarsomere elongate and narrow (distinctly longer than wide); fifth protarsomere circular in cross section, a little shorter than third and fourth protarsomere combined. Protarsal claws asymmetrical, shape of inner protarsal claw bifid, apex of basal tooth of inner protarsal claw convex.
Aedeagus: Figure 23 (c–e).
Female unknown.
Variation
Length: 6.4–6.9 mm. Elytral length: 3.8–3.9 mm. Width: 3.3–3.4 mm. Body colour rather variable, from entirely yellowish to dark reddish brown.
Diagnosis
Symmela paschoali sp. nov. is in external and genital morphology similar to S. brasiliensis. However, the new species is much darker, the first protarsomere more strongly enlarged, and the parameres of S. paschoali are distinctly longer.
Etymology
This species is named after Paschoal C. Grossi, a Brazillian entomologist who has been making great contributions on Neotropical scarab taxonomy (noun in genitive case).
Remarks
This species does not present a common distribution, with two very disjunctive records (Figure 29 (d)). This fact leads us to suspect that (1) the species has a wide distribution with large sampling gaps, or (2) there is an error in the locality labels of at least one specimen.
description: Published as part of Pacheco, Thaynara L., Wipfler, Benedict, Monné, Marcela L. & Ahrens, Dirk, 2022, The genus Symmela Erichson, 1835 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini): taxonomy and phylogenetic analysis, pp. 607-705 in Journal of Natural History 56 (9 - 12) on pages 677-679, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2084649, http://zenodo.org/record/7012522