Bothynus bentoi Duarte, Dupuis and Grossi 2025, sp. n.
Creators: name: Duarte, Paulo R. M.
name: Dupuis, Fabien
name: Grossi, Paschoal C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Bothynus
Bothynus bentoi

description: Bothynus bentoi Duarte, Dupuis and Grossi sp. n.
(Figures 5 (a), 15(c), 19(f), 21(a), 24)
Diagnosis
Bothynus bentoi sp. n. is quite similar to B. fabius in overall appearance, but the new species is distinguished by the following combination of characters: Presence of setae scattered over the entire surface of clypeus (Figure 5 (a)); presence of long setae scattered on tergite 8 (Figure 19 (f)); sternite 8 covered with long setae (Figure 21 (a)). Bothynus fabius instead has a glabrous clypeus (Figure 5 (c)), and both tergite 8 (Figure 19 (d)) and sternite 8 (Figure 21 (d)) are glabrous.
Holotype Female, labelled: ‘ Paraguay, Presidente Hayes, Res Tinfunké, La verde, 29.xi-01.xii.2003, – 23.93ʹ3 S − 60.450 W, B. garcete leg’. (CERPE).
Paratypes Two females: ‘ Argentina, Catamarca, Ciudad, xi.1959, A. Martinez col’. (CERPE). ‘ Argentina, Santiago del Estero, rio calado, Wagner col’. (CERPE).
Holotype description (Figure 15 (c))
Length. 20.2 mm. Width: 12.5 mm. Colour: Nearly entirely black, except for dark reddish tarsi. Head: Clypeus subtriangular, posterior width 3.2 times wider than anterior width; lateral margins sinuous, convergent, constricted at anterior half; anterior teeth small, subtriangular; surface strongly rugopunctate, with moderate setae (Figure 5 (a)). Frontoclypeal carina arched, well marked. Frons densely rugopunctate, densely setose on an area just behind frontoclypeal carina, nearly smooth posteriorly on a transverse area between eyes. Interocular width equals 3.9 transverse eye diameters. Ocular canthus with arched anterior margin. Mouthparts: Mandibles bearing 3 small, subtriangular teeth, rounded apically. Labium subtriangular, densely setose. Antennae: Club subequal in length to antennomeres 2–7 combined. Prothorax: Pronotum transverse; anterior tubercle small; cavity shallow, nearly declivous, transversely covered by dense, transverse, Cshaped, large, coalescent punctures; pronotal sides bearing large, ocellated punctures close to margins, gradually becoming smaller towards posterior disc. Pterothorax: Scutellar plate parabola-shaped, smooth. Elytra deeply striated; punctures small, deep, ocellated; punctures on sutural stria contiguous to scattered by 1 puncture diameter apart; other striae with punctures scattered from 2–3 puncture diameters apart; interstriae bearing irregular, scarce punctures. Legs: Protibial teeth broadly rounded apically; surface longitudinally rugose at basis of teeth. Meso- and metatibia bearing only a medial carina obliquely produced on outer surface; basal carina absents. Abdomen: Tergite 7 with middle area of posterior margin slightly produced on tergite 8; stridulatory apparatus formed by 2 bands of innumerous, transverse, well-marked striae, separated at middle of anterior half, becoming merged and finely marked towards posterior half. Tergite 8 subtriangular, bearing scarce, long (as long as the longitudinal length of sternite 8 at middle), yellowish setae (Figure 19 (f)); surface strongly rugose on sides, becoming finely rugopunctate towards an area close to anterior margin, discal region finely punctate. Sternites 4–7 transversely covered with long, yellowish setae; Sternite 8 bearing a brush of yellowish setae transversely arranged anteriorly half, posterior half glabrous, densely rugopunctate (Figure 21 (a)).
Variation in the paratypes
The paratypes do not vary significantly from the holotype, except in size: Length: 19.9– 20.0 mm; Width: 11.6–12.1 mm.
Male
Unknown.
Distribution
Argentina and Paraguay (Figure 24).
Etymology
The specific epithet ‘ bentoi ’ is in gratitude to Dr Matheus Bento (currently a postdoctoral fellow at INPA), who provided photographs of some of the type specimens during his visits to European museums that were necessary to conclude this revision.
Remarks
Like the paratypes of B. thrix (see Remarks for this species), the type series of B. bentoi sp. n. also presented labels identifying them as B. striatellus. Bothynus bentoi belongs to a species complex comprising B. fabius and B. thrix, which were considered the same species in the collections for a long time.
description: Published as part of Duarte, Paulo R. M., Dupuis, Fabien & Grossi, Paschoal C., 2025, Taxonomic revision of the Bothynus ascanius (Kirby, 1819) (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae: Dynastinae) species group, pp. 663-737 in Journal of Natural History 59 (9 - 12) on pages 676-677, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2025.2456579, http://zenodo.org/record/14971553