Liogenys wagenknechti 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 wagenknechti

description: Liogenys wagenknechti Gutiérrez, 1951
(Figs 15A–G, 16F)
Liogenys wagenknechti Gutiérrez 1951: 137 (original description); Evans 2003: 215 (catalogue); Evans and Smith 2009: 183 (catalogue); Krajčík 2012: 145 (catalogue); Cherman et al. 2017: 5, 16 (revision).
Type material examined: Liogenys wagenknechti ♂ holotype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘4108’, [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.44 / Sn. Julian costa / Ovalle. Coquimbo’, [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys n.sp. / wagenknechti Gut. / ♂ R. Gutierrez-Det. 51’, [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / HOLOTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 913’, [light red typeset] ‘ HOLOTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.44 / Sn. Julian costa / Ovalle. Coquimbo’, [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [white handwriten and typeset, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti / Det.: Gut.’, [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / PARTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 914’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.43 / Llanos de Chimba / Coquimbo Wag’., [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti / Det.: Gut.’, [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / PARTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 915’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.43 / Llanos de Barraza’ / Coquimbo Wag.’, [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti / Det.: Gut.’, [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / PARTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 916’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘ Chile.XI.43 / Llanos de Chimba / Coquimbo Wag’., [white, blue typeset, outlined] ‘Colección / R. Gutiérrez / 1958’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti / Det.: Gut’., [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / PARTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 917’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (MZUC): [white handwriten] ‘Llanos / Barraza / 11-XI-44’, [white typeset] ‘Colección / Wagenkneght / 1973’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti Gut / R. Gutierrez-Det. 51 / Paratipo’, [light red typeset] ‘Lyogenis wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 / PARTYPE / MZUC-UCCC Nº 41 918’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO ♂ ’. One ♂ paratype (CMNC): [white handwriten] ‘Chile-XI.44 / Llanos de / Barraza / Coquimbo / wagenk’, [white typeset and handwriten, outlined] ‘ Liogenys / wagenknechti Gut / ♂ R. Gutiérrez-Det. 51’, [light red typeset] ‘PARTIPO’, [white, outlined, typeset] ‘H. and A. HOWDEN / COLLECTION / ex. A. Martinez coll.’, [white, outlined, typeset] ‘Southern Neotropical Scarabs / database # AS 2613457 / Liogenys wagenknechti / Gutiérrez, 1951 ♂ / DET: A.B. T. SMITH 2008’.
Non-type material examined: CHILE. Coquimbo: Limarí, Ovalle, without date or collector, 1♂ (NHMB); 4♂ (CASC); Socos, 2.XI.1957, L. E. Peña leg., 3♂ (FMNH); 1.XII.1984, 2♂ (LEMQ); 27.XI.1994, J. Mondaca leg., DNA vouchers MAC015 and LSBC45 (dry specimen), 1♂ (DZUP); Socos (10 km E), 9.XI.1965, L. E. Peña leg., 15♂ (FMNH); 1♂ (MNNC); 1♂ (MEUC); Barraza, 2.XI.1957, L. E. Peña leg., 10♂ (FMNH); 23.X.1967, 1♂ (CMNC); Barraza, Rio Limari, 1.XI.1957, L. E. Peña leg., 1♂ (CMNC).
Diagnosis: ♂. Length: 12.7–13.6 mm; width: 6.7–6.9 mm. Body black, short (Fig. 15A), pronotum sometimes shinier than elytra, clypeus long, clypeal emargination shallow, rounded and wide; lateral edge convex (Fig. 15B), pronotum coarsely punctate; elytra slightly more than twice the pronotal length; bristled, bristles very short, sometimes not apparent; meso- and metaventrite covered with abundant dark, hair-like bristles, grey or dull brown (Fig. 15C); mesotibia with two transverse carinae, the apical carina complete; metatibia with two transverse carinae present posteriorly, the apical carina weak across disc (Fig. 15E); coarsely sculptured; inner edge of metatibia carinate straight towards the apex; tarsi slender, weakly enlarged; protarsomere 2 elongate; pygidium as long as it is wide, subquadrate, bristled throughout, bristles short, erect (Fig. 15D); parameres slightly wider at the midline and narrower subapically; apex spatulate, lateral corner expanded laterally (Fig. 15F, G). ♀. Not known.
Type locality: CHILE. Coquimbo, Ovalle, Sn. [San] Julian costa.
Geographical distribution: CHILE. Coquimbo (Limarí). Remarks: Liogenys wagenknechti resembles mainly L. hirta in the body colour and sometimes in size. It differs from L. hirta (in parenthesis) in the body short (elongate), elytra bearing quite short and sparse bristles (long, abundant), pygidium shorter and slightly convex (flat), hair-like bristles of posterior edge of prothorax and meso- and metaventrite dark (dull yellow); males with metatibia more coarsely sculptured and transverse carina more conspicuous; protarsomeres slender (from slender to strongly enlarged), and parameres with lateral edges more narrowed on subapical portion, and apex more expanded laterally.
Tere is one specimen from Socos (27-XI-1994, J. Mondaca leg.) with abundant bristles on the elytra and the hair-like bristles of meso- and metaventrite lighter in colour. Having a single specimen bearing these features, we decided to treat this variation as intraspecific in L. wagenknechti until more specimens are available for further study.
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 pages 30-33, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae147