Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica, Barria & Clavijo-Bustos & Ramírez-Ponce, 2022

Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica View in CoL sp. nov.

( Fig. 1-2)

ZooBank:http://zoobank.org/ 61738396-496B-4ED5-90FD-24432D929D37

Holotype, ♂ ( MIUP). Labelled as follows: “ PANAMÁ: Chiriquí, PILA, Jurutungo, Sendero al monumento, 8.91635 -82.71763, 2154 m, 25-27/VI/2022, M. Barria, V. Rios-Almanza, W. Bayfield-Farrell coll., Metal Hallide Hg & UV light trap” [white printed label]// “ GoogleMaps HOLOTIPO Phyllophaga xenomorphallica ♂ Barria, Clavijo-Bustos & Ramírez-Ponce 2022 ” [red printed label].

Paratypes:

- 1 ♀ ( MIUP) ídem to holotype except by: “ ALOTIPO Phyllophaga xenomorphallica ♀ Barria, Clavijo-Bustos & Ramírez-Ponce 2022 ” [yellow printed label] ;

- 1 ♂ ( MDBC) ídem to holotype except by: “ PARATIPO Phyllophaga xenomorphallica ♂ Barria, Clavijo-Bustos & Ramírez-Ponce 2022 ” [yellow printed label] .

Diagnosis. –Shiny reddish black species, glabrous, antennae with ten antennomeres; lateral borders of pronotum clearly irregular and completely crenulate, abdominal sternites medially almost smooth, fifth abdominal sternite posteriorly transversely depressed, metatibial spurs articulate, tarsal claws divided and with basal tooth near middle the basal process, parameres fused dorso-apically, dorsal process of parameres long with apical process bilobed and divergent, ventral membrane of phallobase with sclerotized plates, female ventralgenital plates mostly squared and basally narrowed, female dorsal genital plates sub-triangular with apex narrowly rounded.

Description of the holotype

Dimensions. – Length: 27 mm. Humeral width: 11.5 mm. Elytral maximum width: 13.5 mm.

General aspect. – Body and legs entirely reddish black; dorsally mostly glabrous.

Head. – Clypeus short, anterior border medially emarginate, borders on each side of medial emargination rounded and slightly upturned; clypeal disc glabrous, convex in the middle and almost flat elsewhere, surface with small, round punctures irregularly distributed, distanced by less than 1 times their diameter. Fronto-clypeal suture marked, medially sinuated. Frons convex, glabrous, surface with small, round punctures dense and irregularly distributed, distanced by 0.5-1 times their diameter; vertex smooth. Antennae with 10 antennomeres, antennal club shorter than the previous six antennomeres (0.85:1). Interocular distance equal to 4 times the dorsal width of the eye. Ocular canthus short and narrow, dorsally with a row of 7-8 short reddish yellow setae.

Pronotum. – Pronotal disc glabrous, convex, surface with small, round, deep punctures, densely and irregularly distributed giving a rugose aspect, distanced by 1-3 times their diameter; punctures slightly denser anteriorly and with a narrow smooth band over the posterior three fifths of the midline. Anterior angles slightly acute and prominent, posterior angles almost straight, not prominent. Lateral borders of pronotum clearly irregular and completely crenulate. Scutellum . – Wider than long (1:0.5); surface glabrous, rugose-punctate as on the pronotum, slightly less dense medially.

Elytra . – Surface glabrous, densely rugose-punctate with small, deep, rounded punctures irregularly distributed, slightly larger near the elytral sutural costa. Sutural costa elevated and well-marked, with scarce punctures, dispersedly distributed. Two discal longitudinal costae arising near humeral callus, well-marked, with scarce punctures, dispersedly distributed; first costa longitudinally transverse, arising near humeral callus and posteriorly fused with apical callus near to sutural costa; second costa completely longitudinal, arising at humeral callus, straight, and posteriorly fused with apical callus; lateral costa behind humeral callus, narrowly marked, very scarcely punctate. Humeral callus prominent, rounded; apical callus moderately prominent, rounded. Metasternum – densely punctate, with deep rounded punctures, each with a long, yellowish setae, giving a hairy aspect.

Abdomen. –Abdominal sternites 2-4 convex, lateral sides with disperse, shallow, small punctures, medially almost smooth; posterior border of sternites slightly sinuous and medially emarginate. Abdominal sternites 3-4 with shallowly impressed, longitudinal sulcus on lateral borders. Abdominal sternite 5 with a posterior shallow, transverse sulcus, and posteriorly transversely depressed. Anal plate with small, round, deep punctures irregularlydistributed,distanced by less than 1 times their diameter. Pygidium. – Disc convex, with small, deep, rounded punctures irregularly distributed, denser over longitudinal midline; apical edge with about 27 fine rufous setae.

Legs. – Tibiae shorter than their respective tarsi. All tarsal claws equal, divided; basal tooth slightly shorter than apical tooth; basal tooth closer to basal process than to apical tooth. Protibiae with three teeth over the external border distributed in the apical half;protibial spur almost 1/2 the length of the first protarsomere, straight, acute, apex slightly downward curved; first protarsomere almost subequal to the combined length of the following two, second to fourth protarsomeres equal in length, fifth protarsomere slightly shorter than the combined length of the previous two. Mesotibiae thickened apically; one well-marked transverse carina over the middle of the external face, another short and less marked transverse carina in basal fourth; mesotibial spurs articulate, almost straight, apically acute and slightly curved; both spurs almost subequal, 1/2 the length of first mesotarsomere; first mesotarsomere shorter than the combined length of the following two, second to fourth mesotarsomeres equal in length,fifth mesotarsomere shorter than the combined length of the previous two. Metatibiae thickened apically, longer than mesotibiae; well-marked transverse carina over middle of external face, and another shorter and less marked in basal fourth; metatibial spurs articulate, curved, with acute apex; superior spur two times longer than inferior;superior spur longer than first metatarsomere; first metatarsomere shorter than second; second metatarsomere longer than third, but shorter than the combined length of third and fourth; fifth metatarsomere longer than fourth.

Genitalia. – Male parameres elongate, only fused dorso-apically; dorsal process long, especially appreciated in lateral view, apex bilobed and divergent; ventral processes long, not fused, symmetrical, apex of each one with an apical tooth ( Fig. 2 a-b). Ventral membrane of phallobase with two longitudinal sclerotized plates on the apical third. Phallobase 3 times longer than the length of the parameres (3:1).

Female. – Size: Length: 29 mm. Humeral width: 11 mm. Elytra maximum width: 14 mm. Similar to male, except for: antenna slightly shorter than the male; abdomen wider in appearance than in males; ventral edge of the pygidial plate thicker and more prominent than in males ( Fig. 2e). Ventral genital plates squared with scattered short setae dorso-apically and over the apical border, base narrower than the apex, inner basal angle obtuse, other angles slightly rounded to straight-angled; dorsal genital plates sub-triangular with few short and long setae over the apical border, apex narrowly rounded.

Variation. – The male paratype differs only in size: Length: 27.5 mm. Humeral width: 11 mm. Elytra maximum width: 13 mm.

Etymology. – The specific name refers tothe fictitious extraterrestrial species, the Xenomorph from the movie saga "Alien" designed by Hans R. Giger and originally directed by Ridley Scott, due to the similarity of the male genitalia in lateral view with the shape of the skull of this fictitious alien species. The epithet is a compound word composed by the noun Xenomorph , common name of the fictitious alien species, and the latin singular feminine adjective phallica in the nominative case (latinized from the ancientgreek phallikós), meaning that is relating to, or characteristic of the penis.

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Distribution and habitat. – Adults were collected in a cloud forest at an altitude of 2154 m. The type locality is in Jurutungo, which is part of Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) and the central mountain range of Talamanca ( Fig. 3). As other species of the schizorhina group, Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica sp. nov. inhabit high-altitude forests, which represent subsampled ecosystems in Central America, particularly Panama, making possibly subestimated the distribution of the species.

Taxonomic remarks. – Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica sp. nov. is part of the schizorhina species group (sensu Morón 1986) and belongs to the subgroup 1 (sensu Morón 2003) because of its size between 21 and 30 mm, body color shiny reddish black, punctures of elytra and pygidium deep and irregularly distributed, surface of abdominal sternites almost smooth over midline, apex of phallobase lacking dorso-apical projections, parameres symmetrical and aedeagus lacking distinct sclerotized structures ( Morón 2003).

Among the species of the subgroup 1, the parameres of Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica sp. nov. are more similar to Phyllophaga (s. str.) boruca Morón, 2003 and Phyllophaga (s. str.) schizorhinoides Morón, 2003 , but the length of the dorsal process, and its bilobed and divergent apex, clearly differentiate it from these species ( Fig. 2 a-b). Also, female genital plates are different from these species, with ventral plates mostly squared with the base narrow, and dorsal plates with the apex narrowly rounded ( Fig. 2c). The female plates are similar to the female of Phyllophaga (Phyllophaga) zaragozana Morón 2003 (subgroup 1).

Checklist of the species of Phyllophaga (s. str.) of the schizorhina species group from Panama

Phyllophaga (s. str.) changuena Morón, 2003: 290-292 View in CoL .

Distribution. – Chiriquí: Santa Clara ( Morón, 2003: 292).

Phyllophaga (s. str.) nigrita (Moser, 1918) : 37.

Distribution. – Chiriquí: Santa Clara ( Morón, 2003: 273).

Phyllophaga (s. str.) schizorhina (Bates, 1887) : 202.

Distribution. – Chiriquí: Finca Hartman´s; Panamá Oeste: Cerro Campana ( Morón, 2003: 219)

Phyllophaga (s. str.) schizorhinoides Morón, 2003: 221 View in CoL

Distribution. – Chiriquí: Cerro Punta ( Morón, 2003: 221).

Phyllophaga (s. str.) xenomorphallica sp. nov.

Distribution. – Chiriquí: PILA, Jurutungo, Sendero al monumento, 8.91635 -82.71763.