Revision of the subgenus Mesopraocis Flores & Pizarro-Araya of the Neotropical genus Praocis Eschscholtz (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Pimeliinae)

By

Flores, Gustavo E.
Pizarro Araya, Jaime Rodrigo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1100

Pages

29--55

Subjects

Atacama , Chile , conical pegs sensilla , fossorial adaptations , Mesopraocis , new species

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1100.78769

 

Abstract

The second part of a revision of the species of the genus Praocis Eschscholtz is presented. The subgenus Mesopraocis Flores & Pizarro-Araya, distributed in northern Chile from 25° South to 31° South, is revised. This article includes a redescription of the subgenus, redescriptions of its species, an identification key, and a discussion on morphological adaptations of the species to fossorial life. Habitus photographs, scanning electron micrographs of head, antennae, prosternum, abdomen, and protibiae, illustrations of genital features, and distribution maps are presented. Conical pegs sensilla on tibiae are described and illustrated using SEM for the first time for a South American tenebrionid species. A new Praocis species is described: Praocis (Mesopraocis) arenicola sp. nov. Praocis (Mesopraocis) flava Kulzer, 1958 is synonymised with P. (M.) pilula Laporte, 1840. Other species of the subgenus are: P. (M.) calderana Kulzer and P. (M.) nitens Kulzer. A statement on the variation in the number of antennomeres in P. (M.) pilula is appended.