Liogenys hirta Gutierrez 1951
Creators: name: Cherman, Mariana A.
name: Basílio, Daniel S.
name: Clarkson, Bruno
name: Mondaca, José
name: Bezděk, Aleš
name: Smith, Andrew B. T.
name: Almeida, Lúcia M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Liogenys
Liogenys hirta

description: Liogenys hirta Gutiérrez, 1951
(Figs 10A–J, 16D)
Liogenys hirtus Gutiérrez 1951: 139 (original description); Krajčík 2012: 145 (catalogue).
Liogenys hirta: Evans 2003: 210 (catalogue); Evans and Smith 2009: 178 (catalogue); Cherman et al. 2016: 766 (systematics); Cherman et al. 2017: 4, 16 (revision).
Liogenys peñai Gutiérrez 1951: 141 (original description).
Liogenys penai: Evans 2003: 213 (catalogue); Evans and Smith 2009: 181 (catalogue); Krajčík 2012: 145 (catalogue); Cherman et al. 2017: 5 (revision). Synon. nov.
Type material examined: Liogenys hirtus ♂ holotype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ CHILE.XI.49 / Estación de / Pelicana / Ramal Rivadavia / Coquimbo / Wagen / knecht’, [light red typeset] ‘ HOLOTIPO ♂ ’, [white handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / hirtus. Gut. sp. nov. / ♂ [typeset] R. Gutierrez-Det. 51’, [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘ Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958 ’.
Liogenys penai ♂ holotype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.46 / Rivadavia / Coquimbo / Peña’, [light red typeset] ‘ HOLOTIPO ♂ ’, [white handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / peñai. Gut. sp. nov. / ♂ [typeset] R. Gutierrez-Det 51’, [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘ Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [light red typeset] ‘ Lyogenis [sic] peñai / Gutierrez 1951 / HOLOTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41912’.
Non-type material examined: ARGENTINA. Salta: La Vina, 24.XI.1988, L. Peña, 2♂ (INPA). CHILE. Atacama: Copiapó, Cuesta El Gato, 4.I.2014, J. Mondaca E., 4♀ (JMEC); DNA barcode vouchers MAC008 and LSBC37 (dry specimen), 1♂ (DZUP); DNA barcode vouchers MAC009 and LSBC38 (dry specimen), 1♀ (DZUP); La Guardia, 15.I.2011, T. Fichet, 1♂ (JMEC). Huasco, Csta. Pajonales, 18.XI.1972, L. E. Peña, 5♂ and 6♀ (MEUC), 1♂ and 1♀ (JMEC); DNA barcode vouchers MAC024 and LSBC44 (dry specimen), 1♀ (DZUP); Vista Alegre, 6.XI.1991, J. E. Barriga, 1♂ (MNNC); S. Freirina, Q. [Quebrada] El Salto, 27.X.1980, L. Peña, 1♂ and 2♀ (LEMQ); Carrizalillo, 7.XI.1991, T. Fichet leg., 1♂ (UCDS). Coquimbo: Elqui, Punta Choros, 11.I.2007, J. Pizarro leg., 2♀ (JMEC); Los Choros, 1.XII.2010, J. Pizarro,); DNA barcode vouchers MAC014 and LSBC43 (dry specimen), 1♀ (DZUP); Diaguitas, without date or collector, 1♂ (MNNC); El Tofo; 27.X.1957, L. E. Peña leg., 2 ♂, (FMNH); N. El Tofo, Quebrada Los Choros, 27.XI.1972, L.E. Peña leg., 1♂ (UCDS); Vicuña (11 km S), 26.X.1992, Rozen, Sharkov, Snyder leg., 2 ♂ and 12♀ (AMNH); Vicuña (8.5 km S); 27–28.X.1992, Rozen, Sharkov, Snyder leg., 1♀ (AMNH); El Tangue, 27.X.1961, L. Peña leg., 1♂ (FMNH); Condoriaco, El Potroso, 1–30.XI.1952, Wagenk leg., 2♂ (FMNH); Limarí, Ovalle, Pichasca, 8–9. XI.2008, L.S.E. leg., (JMEC); DNA barcode vouchers MAC012 and LSBC41 (dry specimen), 1♂ (DZUP); DNA barcode vouchers MAC013 and LSBC42 (dry specimen), 1♀ (DZUP); 4.XI.2006, J. Villablanca leg., 1♀ (JMEC); Sotaqui, 21. V.2010, S. Norambuena leg., 1♂ (JMEC); Combarbalá, 11.XI.1992, Rozen, Sharkov, Snyder leg., 7♂ and 4♀ (AMNH); Manquehua (Cobarbalá), Tapia; 1–30.XI.1959, 1♂ (FMNH); Choapa, Illapel, without date, Ross and Michelbacher leg., 1♀ (NHMB); Cuesta El Espino, 9.XII.2001, Guerrero leg., DNA barcode vouchers MAC025 and LSBC54 (dry specimen), 1♀ (DZUP), P. Vidal G. H. leg., 1♀ (JMEC), 12.XII.2001, Guerrero leg., 1♂ (JMEC).
Diagnosis: Length: 14.1–17.5 mm; width: 7.3–9.7 mm. Body elongate, dark brown to black, pronotum sometimes darker than elytra, semi-opaque or shiny (Fig. 10A), clypeus long; clypeal emargination shallow, subangled, and wide; clypeal lateral edge straight (Fig. 10B); elytra with short and long bristles, the later forming longitudinal rows, the longest bristles near the scutellum (Fig. 10A); mesotibia with two transverse carina, pygidium flat, as long as it is wide, subquadrate, disc bristled throughout, bristles short, decumbent, longer towards apex (Fig. 10D); female mesotibia with apical carina always complete; male mesotibia with the basal carina barely marked and the apical carina complete or incomplete (Fig. 10C), female metatibia with two transverse carinae present posteriorly, apical transversal carina forming a complete ring, without gap medially (Fig. 6E); male metatibia with basal carina sometimes absent and apical carina present only posteriorly, inner edge of metatibia carinate towards the apex, apex more expanded laterally (Fig. 10E, F), protarsomere 2 as wide as it is long; parameres narrower subapically; in length approximately five times the length of the apex, apex harpoon like or spatulate (Fig. 10G–J).
Type locality: CHILE, Coquimbo, Estación Pelícana, ramal a Rivadavia.
Geographicaldistribution: CHILE. Atacama(Freirina,Copiapó); Coquimbo (Elqui, Limarí, Choapa). ARGENTINA. Salta.
Remarks: Liogenys hirta resembles L. grandis in the elytra with long bristles. Populations of northern Chile (Atacama) are predominantly more opaque, black unicoloured, with pronotum more coarsely punctate, and males with some slightly differences in the enlargement size of the protarsomeres and in the shape of the parameres. Specimens from La Vina (Salta, Argentina), on the other hand, are brown and shinier, similar to L. palpalis. Tis population is disjunct from the expected (Fig. 16D) and, therefore, is considered doubtful. However, Luis Peña was usually a careful and reliable collector, and, plus, the differences found in these specimens are not enough to think that it could be a new species. Further studies are recommended to verify this record.
Gutiérrez (1951) mentioned that L. penai was a different species due to having the clypeal teeth sharper, the elytra more rugose around scutellum and the coarser punctures of the metatibiae. Afer comparing the holotypes of both nominal species, we confirm those differences. However, we compared more than 70 specimens from a broad distribution in central and northern Chile, and we conclude that the features mentioned by Gutiérrez (1951) are variations among populations of the same species, which interchange among each other. Hence, we conclude that L. penai is a junior synonym of L. hirta. As L. hirta and L. penai were described in the same work (Gutiérrez 1951), and in this case the Principle of Priority does not apply (Art. 23.1 ICZN 1999), the name L. hirta Gutiérrez, 1951 is here selected as the valid name using the Principle of the First Reviser (Art. 24.2.2, ICZN 1999).
description: Published as part of Cherman, Mariana A., Basílio, Daniel S., Clarkson, Bruno, Mondaca, José, Bezděk, Aleš, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Almeida, Lúcia M., 2025, Taxonomic revision of Chilean Liogenys (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae) and molecular assessment of a species complex, pp. 1-38 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (zlae 147) (zlae 147) 203 (1) on page 21, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae147