Cyclocephala panthera Dechambre, 1979

Gasca-Álvarez, H. J. & Bosia, U., 2020, Scarab beetle Cyclocephala panthera (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Cyclocephalini): redescription and the first record from Colombia, Zoosystematica Rossica (China) 29 (2), pp. 165-171 : 166-170

Cyclocephala panthera Dechambre, 1979

( Figs 1–14)

Cyclocephala panthera Dechambre, 1979: 164 .

Material examined. 45 specimens. Bolivia, Cochabamba: Chapare, XII.1964 , 1 specimen ( EPGC); Villa Tunari , Malaise trap, 16.XI.2000 , 1 male, X. IV.2000, 1 female ( BCRC); Hotel El Puente , 18.X.2011 , 1 female ( BCRC); N of Cristal Mayu , 19.X.2011 , 1 male ( BCRC); Araní, III.2005 , 1 male, 1 female ( UGBC); Yungas, Locotal , Crystal Mayu, Yungas vegetation, 500–1500 m a.s.l. , 2 males ( UGBC). Brazil: Acre, Río Branco , 07.IX.1996 , light, 1 specimen ( EPGC); Distrito Federal : Brasilia, 19.X.1970 , light trap, 1 specimen, 16.X.1970 ( EPGC) ; Estação Florestal Cabeça do Veado , 1100 m, 13–27.X.1971 , E.G.I. & E.A. Munroe leg., 6 males, 3 females ( BCRC); Mato Grosso: Diamantino, Vale da Solidão , 14°22′S, 56°07′W, 450 m a.s.l., X.2012 , E. Furtado, 1 female ( CEMT); Alta Floresta, XI.1998 , light, 1 specimen ( EPGC); Alto Río Arinos, X.1998 , light, 3 specimens ( EPGC); Pará, São Felix do Xingu , 29–30.IX.1975 , M. Boulard, P. Jauffret, P. Pompanon leg., 1 male ( MNHN); Tocantins, Porto Nacional, XII.2017 , light, 1 specimen ( CERPE). Colombia, Boyacá, Otanche, 10–20.XI.2019 , 1 male, 1 female ( UGBC). Peru: Cusco, La convención, Echarate , 442 m a.s.l., 11°49′16.4″S, 73°11′13.4″W , 1 female ( MUSM); Madre de Dios: Manu Reserved Zone, Pakitza B.S., 320 m a.s.l., 11°56.7′S, 71°17.0′W, D. Brzoska leg., 16.X.2000 , 1 male ( FSCA); Rio Tambopata Reserve , 30 km SW Puerto. Maldonado, 290 m a.s.l., subtropical moist forest, 11–15.XI.1979 , J.B. Heppner leg., 1 male, 1 female ( FSCA); same data, 12°37′13.55″S, 69°10′47.40″W , 1 female ( MUSM) .

Redescription. Body length 20.2– 20.1 mm; width 10.7–9.0 mm. Main body colour testaceous; head black, frons black or with testaceous colouration near to clypeal apex; pronotum with two longitudinal black maculae, two transversal black maculae on posterior margin and four black spots; scutellum black; each elytron with eight to nine irregular black spots ( Figs 2–5); pygidium black in males ( Fig. 6), bicoloured in females ( Fig. 7); ventral surface and legs black.

Male. Head. Frons with small, dense punctures. Clypeus rugopunctate to rugulose, apex broadly truncate, angles rounded. Frontoclypeal suture weakly impressed. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club subequal in length to antennomeres 2–7 combined.

Pronotum. Surface with small, moderately dense punctures; punctures becoming slightly finer and sparser on sides. Base lacking marginal bead.

Elytra. Surface strongly punctate, punctures moderate in size, ocellate, uniformly distributed.

Pygidium. Surface glabrous, disc with minute to small, finely dense punctures ( Fig. 6), convex in lateral view.

Legs. Protibia tridentate, basal tooth separated from others. Protarsus enlarged; tarsomere 5 bent; median claw large, curved, apex narrowly cleft. Metatarsus slightly longer than metatibia.

Venter. Prosternal process long, columnar; apex flattened into transversely suboval disc raised medially on anterior two-thirds, with long gold setae.

Genitalia. Parameres oval, elongate, wide at base, narrow at apex, anterolateral margin with strong tooth, apices with anterolateral projections strongly acuminate, slightly curved ( Figs 9–10).

H.J. Gasca-Álvarez & U. Bosia. Cyclocephala panthera : redescription and first record from Colombia

Female. Similar to male except the following characters: head surface rugose, with punctures slightly denser; pronotum with punctures slightly dense; epipleuron (in ventral view) enlarged, forming obtuse angle at level of abdominal sternite 1 and then tapering to apex ( Fig. 8); elytral margin above epipleuron slightly swollen into small, elongate knob; pygidium weakly convex in lateral view ( Fig. 5), with larger punctures; protibia tridentate, teeth subequally spaced; protarsus simple, not enlarged; ventromesial genital plates quadrangular, their apices strongly sclerotised, with long, thick, testaceous setae, surface with micropunctures; laterodorsal genital plates oval, their apices rounded, with long gold setae ( Fig. 11).

Diagnosis. Cyclocephala panthera is characterised by the distinctive colour pattern on pronotum and elytra ( Figs 2–5), truncate clypeus, pronotum lacking marginal bead on base, and parameres with a strong tooth on anterolateral margin and apices having anterolateral projections strongly acuminate and slightly curved ( Figs 9–10).

Distribution. Cyclocephala panthera is known from Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia (new country record) ( Fig. 14).

Natural history. Nothing is known of the natural history of this gorgeous species. It appears to be associated with subtropical forests, at elevations from 135 to 2700 m. According to the label data, adults are attracted to light and have been also collected with Malaise traps.

Remarks. The record of Cyclocephala panthera from Colombia is rather unexpected because the new locality is about 2200 km north of the other localities of this species recorded so far ( Fig. 14). Some Cyclocephala species are known to have disjunct distribution ranges, e.g. C. aequatoria Endrödi, 1963 ( Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador) and C. concolor Burmeister, 1847 ( Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Paraguay) ( Endrödi, 1985; Ratcliffe et al., 2013). However, in the case of C. panthera , more thorough sampling is needed to clarify if its range is really disjunct or the species was introduced in Colombia.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Brett C. Ratcliffe ( BCRC), Paul Skelley ( FSCA), Luis Figueroa ( MUSM), Fernando Vaz-de-Mello ( CEMT), Paschoal Grossi ( CERPE) and Everardo Grossi ( EPGC) who kindly shared the data on C. panthera . Paul Skelley provided the photos of C. panthera specimens from FSCA. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to the manuscript. This contribution is part of the Research Program of the Corporación Sentido Natural (Bogotá, Colombia).