Peltecanthon Pereira 1953
Creators: name: Nunes, Luis Gabriel de O. A.
name: Nunes, Rafael V.
name: Vaz-De, Fernando Z.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Peltecanthon

description: Peltecanthon Pereira, 1953
Peltecanthon Pereira, 1953: 396.
Peltecanthon – Pereira & Martínez 1956: 94, 98, 182 — Martínez 1959: 26 — Halffter 1961: 230 — Vulcano & Pereira 1964: 573 — Halffter & Martínez 1967: 80.
Canthon (Peltecanthon) – Halffter & Martínez 1977: 75 — Vaz-de-Mello 2000: 191 (species list) — Medina et al. 2003: 24, 38, 45 — Vaz-de-Mello et al. 2011: 52 (key) — Cupello & Vaz-de-Mello 2018: 18, 46 — Vaz-de-Mello & Cupello 2018a: 46.
Type-species
Peltecanthon staigi Pereira 1953, by original designation (Pereira 1953).
Diagnosis
Among the Scarabaeinae, the tribe Deltochilini features the following characters: hind wing vein radio posterior 1 (RP1) with a small basal appendix and radio anterior 4 (RA4) clearly thinner than RP1 and basally fused with RP1 (Tarasov & Dimitrov 2016). Among the Deltochilini, Canthon (Peltecanthon) can be differentiated by the following combination of characters: shiny pronotum and elytral disc, without tubercles or lateral carinae; ventral surface of the metafemora without anterior margin; and metafemora with elongated base, giving the femur a claviform shape (Halffter & Martínez 1977; Vazde-Mello et al. 2011).
Key to the species of Canthon (Peltecanthon)
1. Dorsal surface with blue, green and red metallic reflections (Figs 1A, 3A, 5A, 7A). Metafemur base narrow, claviform, ventral surface without anterior margin (Figs 1B, 3B, 5B, 7B) ........................... ............................................................................................2 Subgenus Peltecanthon Pereira, 1953
– Dorsal surface having other colours and reflections. Metafemur base wide, not claviform, ventral surface with or without anterior margin ..................................other Canthon groups and subgenera
2. Dorsal surface with green metallic reflections (Fig. 3A). Metafemora with posterior longitudinal groove at their basal third (Fig. 3B). Hypomera lacking transverse carina (Fig. 3C). Pygidium basal margin (which separates it from pro-pygidium) lacking carina (Fig. 3D). Paramere apical margin sinuous (Fig. 4A). Brazilian Atlantic Forest (from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro) ..................................... ........................................................................................ Canthon (Peltecanthon) haroldi nom. nov.
– Dorsal surface with blue, green and/or red reflections (Figs 1A, 5A, 7A). Metafemur base is smooth (Fig. 7A) or with punctures (Figs 1A, 5A), always lacking longitudinal groove. Hypomera with transverse carina (Figs 1C, 5C, 7C). Pygidium basal margin (which separates it from pro-pygidium) carinate (with a V-shaped projection) (Figs 1D, 5D, 7D). Paramere apical margin straight, substraight or sinuous ............................................................................................................................. 3
3. Elytra and pronotum of different colours; dorsal surface of elytra blue, pronotum with green and red reflections (Fig. 5A). Hypomera with transverse carina strongly marked and interrupted near external margin (Fig. 5C). Pygidium basal margin with weak carina (Fig. 5D). Paramere apical margin strongly sinuous (Fig. 6A). Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro ............................................ Canthon (Peltecanthon) splendidus Schmidt, 1922
– Elytra and pronotum of equal colours; dorsal surface of elytra and pronotum blue, red or green. Hypomera with transverse carina finely marked and interrupted at mid-portion (e.g., Figs 1C, 7C). Pygidium basal margin with strong carina. Paramere apical margin sub-straight (e.g., Figs 2A, 8A). ...............................................................................................................................................................4
4. Dorsal surface with blue or green reflections, pronotum and elytra of same colour (Fig. 1A). Metafemur with basal portion punctures (Fig. 1B). Atlantic Forest in Brazil (from Pernambuco to Paraná), Paraguay and Argentina .............................. Canthon (Peltecanthon) staigi (Pereira, 1953)
– Dorsal surface with red or light green reflections, pronotum and elytra of same colour (Fig. 7A). Metafemur with basal portion smooth, lacking punctures (Fig. 7A). Northern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Sergipe) ..................................................... ............................................................................................ Canthon (Peltecanthon) terciae sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Nunes, Luis Gabriel de O. A., Nunes, Rafael V. & Vaz-De, Fernando Z., 2020, Taxonomic revision of the South American subgenus Canthon (Peltecanthon) Pereira, 1953 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Deltochilini), pp. 1-27 in European Journal of Taxonomy 594 on pages 3-4, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.594, http://zenodo.org/record/3659753