Description of the larva and pupa of Phileurus truncatus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1806) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Phileurini) with a key to described third instars of New World Phileurini
Author
Arguez, Katherine M.
Author
Moore, Matthew R.
Author
Branham, Marc A.
text
Zootaxa
2017
2017-12-11
4363
2
journal volume
31199
10.11646/zootaxa.4363.2.6
f248e89f-ca42-421b-aab5-334a2281af89
1175-5326
1098838
4DF8A3AC-01FA-41D1-93CE-63E23FC7728E
Phileurus truncatus
(Palisot de Beauvois, 1806)
Pupa
(
Figs 11–13
)
Material examined.
Two pupae with the following data: “
FLORIDA
: Alachua Co/Gainesville; turkey oak;/larva
7-II-1976
/pupa
15-IV-1976
/
Scarabaeidae
Phileurus
/
truncatus
/P.M. Choate collr.”; “
FLORIDA
: Alachua Co./ Gainesville;
NATL
,
I-
2016
./coll. Gabe Somarriba”.
Description.
Length
42–44 mm
; greatest width
18–20 mm
(
Figs 11–13
). Body elongate, oval, stout, exarate. Color dark reddish brown. Entire body with very fine, small, golden setae.
Head:
Surface glabrous, bent sharply beneath thorax, mouthparts directed ventrally; antennae, labrum, mandibles, maxillary, and labial palps discernible; antennal thecae expanded, stout, with apices rounded. Compound eyes sunken, visible, with 2 tubercles between eyes.
Thorax:
Pronotal surface glabrous. Form transverse, with wide, anteromedial, rounded apex. Mesonotum and metanotum well differentiated. Elytral and posterior wing thecae closely appressed, curved ventrally around body; elytral thecae extending to end of abdominal segment I; posterior wing thecae extending to middle of abdominal segment III. Protibia with 3 distinct teeth on external edge. Mesotibia and metatibia with 3 swellings at apices; characters indicative to spines and spurs seen in adults, with the external swelling most likely the spine and the 2 inner swellings most likely the 2 apical spurs (1 spine on each tibia in adults).
Abdomen:
Segments III–X (ventral view) well defined. Segment VII slightly long than preceding segment and segment VIII 0.25 times longer than segment VII; segments VIII and IX fused. Segments I–X (dorsal view) with well-defined, dioneiform (gin trap) organs between segments I–II, II–III, III–IV, IV–V, V–VI, and VI–VII. Pleural lobes rounded. Spiracle I ovate, covered by wing thecae, more broadly opened than spiracles II–IV; spiracles II–IV ovate, prominent, each with strongly sclerotized peritreme; spiracles V–VI less sclerotized compared to I–IV; spiracles V–VIII closed. Abdominal apex rounded, with fine, short setae.
FIGURES 7–10.
Phileurus truncatus
, third instar.
7,
Maxillary stridulatory area. SD—stridulatory teeth;
8,
labium and maxillae, dorsal view. HSC—hypopharyngeal sclerome; TP—truncate process;
(9)
antennomeres II–IV;
10,
terminal antennomere. DSS—dorsal sensory spots.
FIGURES 11–13.
Phileurus truncatus
, pupa.
11,
Dorsal habitus;
12,
ventral habitus;
13,
lateral habitus.
Diagnosis
. Third-instar
P. truncatus
will key out to the terminal 4th couplet in the phileurine larval key to species of
Ibarra-Polesel
et al
. (2017)
. This is based on the lack of anterior frontal setae and the presence of an angulate margin on the left side of the labrum in
P
.
truncatus
. In the modified key below, the 4th couplet now separates
Phileurus
and
Hemiphileurus
species based on the number of dorsal sensory spots on the terminal antennomere.
Phileurus truncatus
keys to the 5th couplet where it is separated from
H. elbitae
Neita & Ratcliffe, 2010
by the size of the abdominal spiracles and the number of maxillary stridulatory teeth.
The third-instar
Phileurus truncatus
examined for this study lack long, thin anterior frontal setae. The presence of anterior frontal setae, along with similar sized tarsal claws on all the legs, are characters shared between the other known third instars of
Phileurus
species (
Ibarra-Polesel
et al
. 2017
). The lack of long, thin anterior frontal setae in
P. truncatus
thus broadens the diagnosis for the genus. Examined specimens of third-instar
P. trunctatus
do have setose punctures across the anterior margin of frons. However, these punctures are sporadically arranged and the short, stout setae in them does not reach past the margin of the punctures. We do not think that these punctures are associated with the anterior frontal setae found in other phileurine larvae.