Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida

 

Date of this Version

12-31-2021

Citation

Paulsen MJ. 2021. Ardella magnaemirabilis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Ardellini), a new scarabaeoid species, genus and tribe from the southwestern United States. Insecta Mundi 0903: 1–5.

Comments

Copyright held by the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License

Published on December 31, 2021 by Center for Systematic Entomology, Inc. P.O. Box 141874 Gainesville, FL 32614-1874 USA http://centerforsystematicentomology.org/

Abstract

An interesting new taxon of scarabaeoid beetle is described from western Texas, USA. The remark­ably small chafer, Ardella magnaemirabilis new genus, new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Ardellini) is described and compared to other diminutive scarabaeoid genera from drier habitats of the southwestern USA. The tribe Ardellini, new tribe, is erected to accommodate the unusual genus.

After a few centuries with entomologists scouring the continent, the discovery of unknown Nearctic scarab gen­era is no longer commonplace. The western United States, in particular, is biogeographically diverse with pockets of endemism that makes such discoveries still possible, driving collectors to continue sampling in unique places and isolated habitats. Harsh, xeric habitats are often home to species with very brief periods of activity. These spe­cies are not commonly collected unless one happens to be in the right place at the exact right time. In particular, many genera of chafers in the subfamily Melolonthinae (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) and related groups are known from rather inhospitable desert habitats. This paper describes a new taxon from such a habitat in western Texas that has thus far remained unknown.

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