Liogenys boliviensis Moser, 1919

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, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (zlae 147) 203 (1), pp. 1-38 : 12-15

Liogenys boliviensis Moser, 1919

( Figs 7A–F, 16A)

Liogenys boliviensis Moser 1919: 11 (original description); Blackwelder 1944: 227 (catalogue); Frey 1969: 40, 53 (key); Evans 2003: 207 (catalogue); Evans and Smith 2009: 176 (catalogue); Krajčík 2012: 144 (catalogue); Cherman et al. 2017: 4 (revision).

Liogenys latipalpus Moser 1919:10 (original description); Frey 1969: 37 (key).

Liogenys latipalpa : Blackwelder 1944: 227 (catalogue); Evans 2003: 210 (catalogue); Evans and Smith 2009: 178 (catalogue); Krajčík 2012: 144 (catalogue); Cherman et al. 2017: 4 (revision). Synon. nov.

Type material examined: Liogenys boliviensis ♂ holotype ( ZMHB): [white typeset] ‘ Yungas de La Paz / Bolivia, 1000 m’., [white handwriten] ‘ Liogenys / boliviensis / Type Mos’., [red typeset] ‘ Typus’ .

Liogenys latipalpus ♂ holotype ( ZMHB): [White typeset] ‘ Bolivia [handwriten] La Paz’, [white handwriten] ‘ Liogenys / latipalpus / Type Mos’., [red typeset] ‘Typus’ .

Non-type material examined: BOLIVIA. Without locality, date or collector, 1♂ ( NHMB) ; La Paz: Achacachi, Belen , XII.1948, 3800 m, Kuschel leg., 2♂ ( MZUC) ; El Alto , 14.XII.1948, 4100 m, Kuschel leg., 1♂ ( NHMB) ; Cochabamba: Aguirre, ‘ Bolivia andina’, 30.XI.1957, 3500 m, Zischka leg., 1♂ and 1♀ ( NHMB) ; Oruro: Callapata , 2.II.2008, Marcos Ferrú leg., colectado muerto [collected dead], 7♀ ( VMDC) . CHILE. Arica and Parinacota: Parinacota, Gral. Lagos , Visviri [17°35 ʹ 44.9 ʹʹ S 69°28 ʹ 56.8 ʹʹ W], 29.XII. 2009, C. Avilaleg., 1♀ ( JMEC) . PERU. Cusco: Espinar, Yauri , 14º58 ʹ 07.21 ʹʹ S / 71º17 ʹ 58.49 ʹʹ W, 03.X.2019, 4358 m, I. Medina, 5 adults ( MUSM) ; Apurímac: Tambobamba, Chalhuahuacho , 14º02 ʹ 52.8 ʹʹ S / 72º15 ʹ 14.9 ʹʹ W, 26.IX.2019, 5097 m, C. Espinoza, 2 adults ( MUSM) ; Mina Las Bambas, Sector Saqrapeña , 14º04 ʹ 37.24 ʹʹ S / 72º18 ʹ 33 ʹʹ W, 24.IV.2017, L. Pérez, 1 adult ( MUSM) .

Diagnosis: Length: 10.9–13.2 mm; width: 6.3–7.6 mm. Body somewhat short; reddish brown, shiny ( Fig. 7A); distance betweeneyesthreetimesthewidthofoneeye; clypealemargination shallow, narrow, and rounded, wider when worn out; outer sides of anterior teeth sub-parallel or following the lateral edge of clypeus; clypeal lateral edge straight; canthus not exceeding outer edge of eye ( Fig. 7B); antenna with 10 antennomeres; posterior corners of pronotum widely rounded; pronotal disc finely punctate, punctures very sparse, posterior edge of the pronotum, disc of mesoventrite, metaventrite, and coxae densely clothed with long, hair-like setae; scutellum wide and rounded; three protibial teeth almost equally spaced; mesotibia subquadrate in cross-section, two transverse carinae, the apical carina always complete; two metatibial transverse carinae present posteriorly, the apical carina incomplete in males, complete in females ( Fig. 7C); propygidium bristled; pygidium trapezoidal, barely convex, or flat, as wide as it is long, with hair-like bristles throughout ( Fig. 7D); males with inner edge of metatibia carinate towards the apex, slightly concave subbasally; mesotarsomeres narrower than protarsomeres; protarsomere 2 elongate; parameral split at or slightly past the midline; apex lanceolate like, lateral margins expanded in a lower plane, angled ( Fig. 7E); in lateral view parameres slightly convex, basal region and parameres coplanar ( Fig. 7F).

Type locality: Liogenys boliviensis : BOLIVIA. Yungas de La Paz , 1000 m; L. latipalpa : BOLIVIA. La Paz .

Geographical distribution: BOLIVIA (La Paz, Oruro) ; CHILE ( Arica y Parinacota) ; PERU (Cusco, Apurímac) .

Remarks: Liogenys boliviensis resembles L. palpalis in the body size and colour, and also in the hair-like vestiture on the posterior edge of the prothorax and throughout the ventral surface of the thorax, as well as other Chilean species. Tis species differs from L. palpalis (parenthesis) in the clypeus with lateral margins almost straight, with emargination shallow (lateral edge convex, with emargination deep); prothorax flater; scutellum wider and rounded; elytral suture and ridges less noticeable; pygidium as wide as long (longer than wide) and pygidial disc with hair-like bristled throughout (short bristles throughout, long bristles only at the apex); males with the basal tooth of protibia reduced, teeth almost equally spaced (basal tooth of protibia slightly shorter than the other two, basal and medial teeth distinctly more spaced than medial and apical); protarsomere 2 long (as wide as it is long); metafemur with inferior edge slightly produced medially (straight); inner edge of metatibia slightly concave subapically (straight); and parameres distinctly different.

Frey (1969) mentioned in his Liogenys revision that L. latipalpa Moser, 1919 remained unknown. We compared the name-bearing types of L. boliviensis and L. latipalpa and confirmed that they are identical. For this reason, here we place L. latipalpa in synonymy with L. boliviensis . As L. boliviensis and L. latipalpa were described in the same work ( Moser 1919), and in this case the Principle of Priority does not apply (Art. 23.1, ICZN 1999), the name L. boliviensis Moser, 1919 is here selected as the valid name using the Principle of the First Reviser (Art. 24.2.2, ICZN 1999). Tis is the first record of L. boliviensis from Chile and Peru.