Phanaeus chiapanecus Moctezuma & Halffter 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Moctezuma, Victor
name: Halffter, Gonzalo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Phanaeus
Phanaeus chiapanecus

description: Phanaeus chiapanecus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 55933BD6-8A56-49CB-B1B4-3AB7C1A235BE
Figs 1B, 2A, 3, 15, 18C, 19C
Diagnosis
Phanaeus chiapanecus sp. nov. is a large and robust species which frequently attains 18.5–20 mm in length. This new species is diagnosed by the following character combination: Major male dark metallic blue-green or green dorsally (Fig. 3); keel absent in the middle of anterior pronotal margin (Fig. 2A); posterolateral angles of pronotum widened, elongate, slightly projected posteriorly (Fig. 3A); elytral striae thick, impressed basally as distinct fossae, with deeply impressed punctation; interstriae black, with completely or partially roughened surface (Fig. 3); endophallite copulatrix as Fig. 1B. Major female with pronotal process lacking concavities; pronotal tubercles nearly aligned, with middle tubercle more developed than lateral tubercles; posterior pronotal midline completely effaced (Fig. 3B).
Etymology
The specific epithet of the new species refers to Chiapas, where the type series was collected.
Type material (80 ♂♂, 144 ♀♀)
Holotype MEXICO • ♂; Chiapas, “ Loc. Vicente Guerrero, Mun. San Fernando. 20/05/2018. Selva Baja Caducifolia. Col. A. Díaz. Pit-Fall calamar. 16°51′10″N. 93°13′2″W. 984 msnm”; TAMU.
Paratypes MEXICO – Chiapas • 7 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀; “ Mpio. San Fernando, 16°50′50.676″ N, 93°12’46.655″ W, 6-vi-06. 930 m. ”; TAMU • 34 ♂♂, 62 ♀♀; “V. Guerrero, Sn. Fernando. 06-VI-2006. U. Caballero, Girón M y Miss-Barrera Col.”; GHC • 3 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; TAMU • 19 ♂♂, 23 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; UVGC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ Sumidero Cyn Park. 1 august 1989. D.B. Thomas ”; TAMU • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 2 ♀♀; “ San Pedro. Arellano-Gámez Col. ”; GHC • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 10 ♀♀; “V. Guerrero. Arellano-Gámez Col.”; GHC • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 9 ♀♀; “ Vicente Guerrero, La Antena. Molina A. Col. ”; GHC • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; “V. Guerrero, La Antena. Arellano-Gámez Col.”; GHC • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; VMC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ Km. 40. Carr. Tuxtla-San Cristóbal (El Escopetazo). 2-VIII-70. V.M. Sánchez. col. Bosque-pino encino arcilloso. Cebo-pescado”; GHC • 1 ♂, 5 ♀♀; “V. Guerrero, S. Fernando. UC, MG, Irma”; GHC • 2 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀; no label data; GHC.
Type locality
Mexico, Chiapas, San Fernando, Vicente Guerrero.
Description
Major male (holotype)
Length 18.8 mm.
HEAD. Clypeus bidentate, black on anterior margin, dark metallic blue-green posteriorly, with roughened sculpture. Genae dark metallic blue-green, with roughened sculpture. Front black, with dark metallic blue-green on portions adjacent to cephalic horn. Cephalic horn black, curved posteriorly over pronotum (Figs 2A, 3A).
PRONOTUM. Uniformly dark blue, becoming black on lateral margins of posterolateral angles and on posterior margin of disc. Keel absent in the middle of anterior pronotal margin. Disc triangular, flat, with two distinctly developed tubercles on anterior portion. Pronotal triangle with lightly granulate sculpture, scabriculous, impunctate. Sides with smooth sculpture, scabriculous, with superficially impressed punctures. Lateral lines of pronotal triangle straight. Posterolateral angles widened, elongate, slightly projected posteriorly, slightly upturned apically. Lateral fossae distinctly impressed. Basal fossae obtusely oval, deeply impressed. Posterior margin distinctly punctate (Figs 2A, 3A).
ELYTRA. Striae thick, dark blue-green, scabriculous, impressed basally as distinct fossae, with deeply impressed punctation. Interstriae black, with completely or partially roughened surface, scabriculous, with superficially impressed punctation. Sutural margin without apical tooth (Fig. 3A).
PROTIBIAE. Quadridentate with apical spine.
TERGITE VIII. Dark green, scabriculous; with rough, distinctly impressed punctures. Basal margin with setae variable in size.
GENITALIA. Right and left lobes of endophallite copulatrix similar in size. Right lobe obtusely triangular in shape; with acute, upturned apical portion. Left lobe bent posteriorly, with superior portion obtusely rectangular. Central ridge more developed than central column (Fig. 1B).
Minor male
Like the major male, except for the reduction of the secondary sexual characters (i.e., cephalic horn, pronotal triangle and tubercles, and pronotal posterolateral angles).
Female
Similar to the male, except for the head showing a cephalic trituberculate carina with carinate middle tubercle, slightly more projected frontally, less raised than conical lateral tubercles; frons almost impunctate; pronotal sculpture completely smooth with scarce, superficially impressed punctures; pronotal disc black on central portion, metallic dark blue-green on sides and posterior portion; pronotal process trituberculate lacking concavities; pronotal tubercles nearly aligned, with middle tubercle more developed than lateral tubercles; posterior pronotal midline completely effaced (Fig. 3B).
Variation
Mean length 16.9 mm (12.4–20.6 mm). The typical colour morphs are dark metallic blue (Fig. 3A) or dark metallic green (Fig. 3B), but a rare specimen shows metallic yellow-green sheen on head, pronotum and elytra. The elytral interstriae are dark metallic blue, or rarely dark metallic green.
Distribution
Mexico, Central highlands of Chiapas (Fig. 15).
Remarks
This species was referred to as P. pyrois by Arellano et al. (2008) and GBIF Secretariat (2019b), and as P. endymion by Morón et al. (1986), Edmonds (1994), Arellano et al. (2013), Lizardo et al. (2017), Moctezuma & Halffter (2017) and Sánchez-Hernández et al. (2020). Nevertheless, the distribution areas of the aforementioned species do not overlap with the distribution of P. chiapanecus sp. nov., which is distinctly differentiated by its morphology.
description: Published as part of Moctezuma, Victor & Halffter, Gonzalo, 2021, Taxonomic revision of the Phanaeus endymion species group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), with the descriptions of five new species, pp. 1-71 in European Journal of Taxonomy 747 on pages 8-12, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2021.747.1333, http://zenodo.org/record/4836744