New taxa of Leucocelis Burmeister, 1842 from Namibia, and revision of L. (L.) adspersa s. l. (Fabricius, 1801) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae)
Author
Perissinotto, Renzo
text
Fragmenta entomologica
2023
2023-12-21
55
2
195
214
http://dx.doi.org/10.13133/2284-4880/1548
journal article
10.13133/2284-4880/1548
2284-4880
12763137
Leucocelis
(
Leucocelis
)
claveaui claveaui
sp. et subsp. nov.
(
Figs 1
,
2
,
7
)
Diagnosis.
This new species resembles superficially darkblue specimens of
Leucocelis
(
L.
)
franki
Janson, 1888
but there are clear diagnostic characters differentiating it from the more widespread latter species. In particular,
L.
(
L.
)
c.
claveaui
exhibits a consistently black pronotum and reddish-orange pygidium, while in the dark specimens of
L
. (
L
.)
franki
the pronotum is rather dark blue or dark green and the pygidium is always black to dark brown. Light green, blue, orange or polychromatic specimens of
L
. (
L
.)
franki
also have a reddish-orange pygidium, but they differ drastically in many other ways from the new species that only dark specimens can potentially be confused with it. Specimens of
L
. (
L
.)
c.
claveaui
also have their dorsal white maculae well rounded and reduced in diameter, by comparison with those of
L.
(
L
.)
franki
, which are particularly large around the apical and postero-lateral margins of their elytra. The ventral surface is markedly less setose and the mesosternal process narrower and more constrained in
L
. (
L
.)
c
.
claveaui
than in
L.
(
L
.)
franki
.
The general body shape of
L.
(
L
.)
franki
is notably stockier than that of
L
. (
L
.)
c
.
claveaui
,
with the former exhibiting a total length to maximum width ratio (TL:MW) of ≈ 2 and the latter of> 2. Concerning aedeagal parameres, in
L
. (
L
.)
c
.
claveaui
the ventral lobes are laterally parallel and project forward forming a tubercle of medium size at the apex with setation on its inner declivity, while in
L.
(
L
.)
franki
the ventral lobes are short and smoothly rounded, projecting forward barely above the dorsal lobes at the apex, which does not exhibit any setation.