Friday 15 May 2015

Ateuchus cujuchi: A new species of Scarab Beetle from Rodent burrows in Bolivia.


Tuco-tucos, Ctenomys spp., are small South American Rodents which live their entire lives underground within underground burrow systems, never venturing to the surface. Studies of other Rodents with similar lifestyles, such as the Pocket Gophers of North America, have found that their burrows tend to form unique ecosystems with distinctive faunas of Insects and other small invertebrates.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 8 April 2015, François Génier of the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids andNematodes at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, describes a new species of Scarab Beetle discovered during an investigation into the fauna of Tuco-tuco burrows at low elevation in Santa Cruz de la Sierra province, Bolivia.

The new Beetle is placed in the genus Ctenomys, and given the specific name cujuchi, a local name for Tuco-tucos. These are glossy black Scarab Beetles 4.3-6.0 mm in length, with coarsely punctate pygidia (dense patterns of pits on their backs between the heads and wings).

Ateuchus cujuchi in (1) dorsal and (2) ventral views. Génier(2015).

See also…

There are currently eight species of Scarab Beetles in the genus Scapanoclypeus, which is known from Namibia and western South Africa. They are...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/a-new-species-of-scarab-beetle-from.html A new species of Scarab Beetle from the Elandsberg Mountains of the Western Cape, South Africa.                                                         Scarab Beetles of the genus Trichostetha occur across southern Africa, reaching their greatest diversity in...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-new-species-of-scavenger-scarab.html A new species of Scavenger Scarab Beetle from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China.                                               Scavenger Scarab Beetles (Hybosoridae) are small (5-7 mm), oval Scarab Beetles, with enlarged mandibles and mouthparts. They are typically carrion feeders, with some species favouring vertebrate dung. They are not a large group of Beetles, with only about 600 species... 
 
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