8 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 8)

Cazier, Mont A.

David Rockefeller Mexican Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History 1947)

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AMERIICAN MUSEUMNOVITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK JUNE 4, 1951 NUMBER 1516THE GENERA CHRrSINA AND PLUSIOTISOF NORTH CENTRAL MEXICO(COLEOPTERA, SCARABAEIDAE)BY MONT A. CAZIER1The material on which this paper is based was collected on theDavid Rockefeller Mexican Expedition of the American Museumof Natural History (Spieth, 1950). However, it also includesspecies previously recorded from Chihuahua, Durango, Zaca-tecas, and Coahuila, and also one species (beyeri) known onlyfrom the United States.Both genera are primarily Neotropical, with most of thespecies occurring south of the area being considered in this paper.Chrysina contains six species (Ohaus, 1934), two of which areendemic in Chihuahua, Durango, and Nayarit, and none reachesthe United States. Plusiotis contains 49 species (Ohaus, 1934),only two of which appear to be endemic in Durango; one is asouthern species, three occur both in the United States andnorth central Mexico, and one is known only from Arizona.The writer wishes to express his thanks to Dr. David Rocke-feller who is responsible for making the material available, andto Miss Marjorie Statham who made the drawings.KEY TO THE GENERA21. Males with hind tibiae notched at base on inner margin; hind legs usuallygreatly enlarged. Females with side margins usually widely reflexedfrom base to near apex...................... Chrysina1 Chairman and Associate Curator, Department of Insects and Spiders, the Ameri-can Museum of Natural History.2 Further studies are necessary to determine the validity of Plusiotis and Chrysinaas distinct genera. At present only the males can be distinguished with certainty oncharacters of questionable generic value.2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1516Males with no notch on inner margin of hind tibiae; hind legs not greatlyenlarged. Females with side margins of elytra not reflexed much be-yond middle ....... ..................... PlusiotisKEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS Chrysina1. Mesosternal process wide though acute ............... ........... beckeri'- Mesosternal process narrower and rounded.................... erubescensChrysina beckeri BatesChrysina beckeri BATES, 1889, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Coleoptera, vol. 2,pt. 2, p. 411.No specimens of this species were collected on the expedition,and none was available for study. According to Bates (1889) itis closely related to C. amoena Sturm, but can be separated fromit by the sparser punctuation of the upper surface, in whichcharacter it is intermediate between C. amoena and the morestrongly punctured examples of C. macropus Francillon. Itagrees with C. amoena in the prominent though small mesoster-nal process, which is narrower and more acute, though muchstouter, than in C. erubescens.This species was listed by Leng as occurring in Arizona, butthis record was probably based on an incorrectly determinedspecimen of P. beyeri. There are no authentic records of anyspecies of Chrysina from the United States.TYPE LOCALITY: Canelas in the Sierra Madre de Durango.Chrysina erubescens BatesFigure 1Chrysina erubescens BATES, 1889, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Coleoptera,vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 411, pl. 24, fig. 23.A series of 57 specimens of this species were collected on oakby members of the expedition, and the distribution of thespecies is considerably extended.TYPE LOCALITY: Cuidad in Durango.RECORDED MEXICAN DISTRIBUTION: Durango: DurangoCity. Nayarit: Sierra de Nayarit.NEW RECORDS FOR MEXICO: Chihuahua: Matachic, July 7,1947; 5 miles west of Matachic, July 8, 1947; 8 miles west ofMatachic, July 8, 1947, 7200 feet; Kilo. 36, Santa Barbara-1 Placed in key on basis of description only; no specimens available for study.1951 CHRYSINA AND PLUSIOTIS OF MEXICO 31 I2i...4 5 6FIGS. 1-6. Male genitalia. 1. Chrysina erubescens. 2. Plusiotis lecontei3. Plusiotis gloriosa. 4. Plusiotis beyeri. 5. Plusiotis woodi. 6. Plusiotisadelaida.4 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1516Ojito Road, August 17. 1947, 6900 feet (G. M. Bradt); CanonPrieto near Primavera, July 2, 1947, 6500-6800 feet; SantaBarbara, September 19, 1947, 6200 feet (G. M. Bradt); SanFrancisco del Oro, October, 1948 (Tommy Herndon). Durango:Palos Colorados, August 5, 1947,.8000 feet; 6 miles northeast ofEl Salto, Durango District, August 10, 1947, 8500 feet. Sonoraor Nayarit: Santa Teresa (U.S.N.M.).KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Plusiotus1. Each elytron with four longitudinal silver vittae ....... ........gloriosa- Elytra without silver vittae......................................... 22. Tibiae and tarsi pale lavender................................... beyeri- Tibiae and tarsi not pale lavender..................... ............. 33. Tibiae brilliant green, tarsi dark green, blue, or purple . woodi- Tibiae and tarsi not bicolored as above............................. 44. Middle of femora and tibiae reddish violet, tarsi silver green........flohril- Middle of femora and tibiae not reddish violet, tarsi not silver green... 55. Third elytral striae obsolete behind middle; sides of elytra somewhat erugos,especially behind the humeri............................... brevis'- Third elytral striae not obsolete behind middle; sides of elytra not rugose. 66. Prosternum with median longitudinal groove; mesosternal process long,extending beyond middle coxae; labrum deeply emarginate .... adelaida- Prosternum with median longitudinal carina; mesosternal process short, notextending beyond middle coxae; labrum shallowly emarginate. .leconteiPlusiotis gloriosa Le ConteFigure 3Plusiotis gloriosa LE CONTE, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, pp. 221-222.One male and one female collected on juniper by members ofthe expedition do not differ from series taken in Arizona andNew Mexico, and the genitalia are identical.TYPE LOCALITY: Copper mines and at Camp No. 6 (Texas?).RECORDED MEXICAN LOCALITIES: Sonora: Cananea.NEW RECORDS FOR MEXICO: Chihuahua; 2 miles west ofMatachic, July 7, 1947, 6400 feet.Plusiotis beyeri SkinnerFigure 4Plusiotis beyeri SKINNER, 1905, Ent. News, vol. 16, p. 289.-Plusiotis beyeri ocularis CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, p.83 (new synonym).1 No specimens of these species were available for study, and the characters usedin the key were taken from the literature.1951 CHRYSINA AND PLUSIOTIS OF MEXICO 5Plusiotis ampliata CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, p. 82(new synonym).Although this species has never been recorded from Mexico,it is included for the sake of completeness of the paper and torecord the two new synonyms as given above. P. beyeri ocularisrepresents a small male and P. ampliata a large female of P.beyeri, both being within the range of variability of typical P.beyeri.TYPE LOCALITY: Carr Canyon and Miller Canyon, HuachucaMountains, Arizona.Plusiotis woodi HornFigure 5Plusiotis woodi HORN, 1885, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 12, p. 124.No specimens of this species were taken on the expedition.It is rather common in northwestern Texas where it occurs onwalnut.TYPE LOCALITY: Rio Grande, Texas.RECORDED MEXICAN LOCALITIES: Chihuahua: Pinos Altos.Plusiotis flohri OhausPlusiotisflohri OHAus, 1905, Ent. Zeitg., Stettin, vol. 66, p. 321.No specimens of this species were collected on the expedition.According to Ohaus it is closely related to P. badeni Boucard,P. lacordairei Boucard, and P. sallaei Boucard. It is relativelysomewhat broader, but not broadened towards the apex as in P.sallaei. Above beautiful apple green with golden yellow sheen,below greenish shining silver, the middle of the femora and thetibiae reddish violet, the tarsi silver green, antennae red brown;apical convexity of the elytra less prominent and not metallic.Head- rugosely punctured; pronotum bordered with fine silveryedge,- extremely finely and densely punctured, and with coarserpunctures between. Elytra regularly furrowed, striae stronglypunctured, the three discal interstices with shortened rows ofpunctures, the whole upper surface extremely finely and ratherdensely punctate and, therefore, less shining than in the threespecies mentioned above. Pygidium densely punctate, withisolated, rather large punctures. Mesosternal appendage with arather small, painted knob or elevation which scarcely extends6 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1516over the middle coxae. According to Ohaus (1934) P. flohribelongs to the costata group to which P. lecontei also belongs.MALE: Length, 24 mm.; width, 14 mm.TYPE LOCALITY: Ventanas, Durango, Mexico.Plusiotis brevis Rothschild and JordonPlusiotis brevis ROTHSCHILD AND JORDON, 1894, Novitates Zool., vol. 1, p.507.No specimens of this species were collected on the expedition.The elytra have about nine stripes each, the outer ones irregularand feeble; the third and fourth interstices more raised behind,where they are confluent, the third stripe obsolete behind themiddle; sides somewhat rugose, especially in the slight depres-sions behind the humeri, outer margin not dilated and onlyfaintly flattened beside the posthumeral impression. Accordingto Rothschild and Jordon this species is almost the same size andoutline as P. lecontei Horn, but is more rounded, has a pale applegreen color, and golden green tibiae; its pubescence is white;the head is broad as in P. laniventris and allies, and not smallas in P. lecontei; the process of the mesosternum is a littlelonger than in P. laniventris; the last abdominal segment trans-verse, truncate, and transversely depressed before the apicalmargin.FEMALE: Length, 22 mm.; width, 13 mm.TYPE LOCALITY: West Mexico (taken on a journey fromDurango to the Pacific).Plusiotis adelaida (Hope)Figure 6Pelidnota adelaida HOPE, 1840, Proc. Ent. Soc. London, vol. 4, p. 11; 1840,Trans. Ent. Soc. London, vol. 4, P. 8.Two specimens of this species were collected on the expeditionat lights at night. Both specimens are green, with a median,reddish brown, longitudinal stripe on the pronotum. Thisspecies appears to be variable, and the correct synonomy can beestablished only by a study of the male genitalia, which are notnow available.TYPE LOCALITY: Mexico.RECORDED MEXICAN DISTRIBUTION: Oaxaca: La Parada.Guerrero: Omiltene. Distrito Federal: Atlapanga, Anecholac,1951 CHRYSINA AND PLUSIOTIS OF MEXICO 7Xololoya, Cofre de Perote. Durango: Promontorio; Sierra deSan Francisco. Vera Cruz: Jalapa.NEW RECORDS FOR MEXICO: Durango: 6 miles northeast ofEl Salto, Durango District, August 10, 1947, 8500 feet; Coyotes,Durango District, August 8, 1947, 8300 feet.Plusiotis lecontei HornFigure 2Plusiotis lecontei HORN, 1882, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 10, p. 120.Plusiotina aeruginis CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, p. 85(new synonym).Plusiotina subenodis CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, pp. 85,86 (new synonym).Plusiotina angusta CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, p. 86(new synonym).Plusiotina sonorica CASEY, 1915, Memoirs on the Coleoptera, vol. 6, pp. 86.87 (new synonym).A study of the Casey types has shown that the four nameslisted above as synonyms represent individual variants of thiscommon and widespread species. The male genitalia of thetypes of P. subenodis and P. sonorica are the same as those oftopotypical males of P. lecontei. The male type of P. angustadoes not differ specifically from males of P. lecontei taken fromnumerous localities in Arizona. The distinguishing charactersgiven by Casey represent individual differences rather thanpopulation differences. A series of 78 specimens of P. leconteifrom Arizona were dissected, and it was found that 66 weremales and 12 females, all of the latter being the larger and darkergreen or bluish specimens in the series. The type of P. aeru-ginis is a large, dark green female that does not differ specificallyfrom the Arizona females. The male and female collected onthe expedition in Durango do not differ from the Arizona series.P. alticola from Sierra Nevada de Colima, 11,000 feet, and P.orizabae from Suapam, Volcan de Orizaba, are closely allied andmay eventually be shown to represent southern extensions of thisspecies. There are good male genitalic differences between thevarious species of Plusiotis, but the genitalia of the two males oflecontei collected in Durango, Mexico, do not differ from those ofspecimens collected in Arizona and New Mexico.TYPE LOCALITY: Prescott, Arizona.RECORDED MEXICAN LOCALITIES: Chihuahua: Pinos Altos;Colonia Garcia, Sierra Madre Mountains (aeruginis and sono-8 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1516rica). Durango: Ciudad in Durango; Promontorio; Canelas;Durango (subenodis). Sonora: Cananea.NEW RECORDS FOR MEXICO. Durango. 6 miles northeast ofEl Salto, Durango District, August 10, 1947, 8500 feet; 10 mileseast of El Salto, August 9, 1947.SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBATES, HENRY WALTER1886-1890. Biologia Centrali-Americana, Coleoptera. London, vol. 2, pt. 2,pp. 1-432, pls. 1-24.OHAus, FRIEDRICH1934. Coleoptera. In Wytsman, P. (publ.), Genera insectorum.Brussels, pt. 1, fasc. 199a, pp. 1-172, pls. 1-6.SPIETH, HERMAN T.1950. The David Rockefeller Mexican expedition of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History, introductory account. Amer. Mus.Novitates, no. 1454, pp. 1-67.

Chrysina and Plusiotis of Mexico

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