Aegialia blanchardi Horn 1887

Aegialia (Aegialia) blanchardi Horn

Aegialia blanchardi Horn, 1887:99

Aegialia (Aegialia) blanchardi—Brown, 1931:45—Hatch, 1971:442—Stebnicka, 1977:442—Gordon and Cartwright, 1977:43

DESCRIPTION—Length 380 to 525 mm, greatest width 180 to 260 mm Form elongate, widest behind middle (Figure 13) Color reddish brown to black; ventral surface variable, fully mature specimens piceous to black except prosternum, leg, apex of abdomen reddish piceous Head without punctations, granulate and/or rugose; clypeal apex strongly emarginate (Pacific Coast) or less so (Atlantic Coast), gena not or slightly produced Pronotal surface smooth, polished, punctations fine (Pacific Coast) or slightly coarser (Atlantic Coast), separated by a diameter or slightly more on disc; base with distinct marginal line, slight projection medially Elytron with interval convex, impunctate; strial punctations separated by a diameter Metasternum polished or somewhat alutaceous medially, lacking punctations Functional wings present Middle tibia elongate, with surface denticles in basal third, without complete transverse carina, apical spurs long, slender, inner spur as long as basal 3 tarsal segments, outer spur as long as basal 2 tarsal segments; hindtibia elongate, with scattered surface denticles, single row of denticles present on inner margin from base to apex, without complete transverse carina, apical spurs elongate, length as for middle tibial spurs (Figure 45) Male genitalia as in Figure 45; female genital plate as figured by Stebnicka (1977, fig 50)

LECTOTYPE—Designated herein We designate as the lectotype a female labeled “Mass, Lowell/TYPE No 3622 Aegialia blanchardi GH Horn [red paper]”

TYPE LOCALITY—Lowell, Massachusetts (lectotype here designated)

TYPE DEPOSITORY—MCZ

REMARKS—The distribution of this species could hardly be more disjunct It was originally described from the Atlantic Coast but it occurs more commonly on the Pacific Coast In both instances, the bulk of the specimens have been taken from coastal localities, however, in both instances specimens have also been collected at inland localities It is particularly common on the coastal dune systems from British Columbia to California A feeble case could be made for splitting A blanchardi into eastern and western species based on the somewhat different pronotal punctation and the equally nebulous differential in the clypeal emargination This split cannot be supported by any other morphological characters, including the genitalia, therefore we maintain the status quo The larva of this species was described by Jerath (1960) from specimens collected at Waldport, Oregon, which is coastal dune habitat

DISTRIBUTION—Eastern North America: Quebec to Georgia Western North America: British Columbia to Santa Cruz Co, California New Records: USA, Georgia: Atlanta Maryland: Silver Spring

Aegialia blanchardi is a species of aphodiine dung beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in North America.