Taxonomic contribution on the Andean species of Aegognathus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) with two new species from Colombia and Peru

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Andes represent one of the most important eco-regions of the world, fostering an enormous number of taxa associated with different altitudinal gradients. In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the description of different groups of insects, as in the case of the Lucanidae whose number of described species significantly rose in countries such as Peru and Bolivia. Aegognathus, a genus described originally from Peru, gained four new species during the last decade. Since then, the genus has not received proper taxonomic treatment, lacking updated information such as the actual distribution of some species, genitalic descriptions, female descriptions and identification keys. This paper aims to offer new taxonomic knowledge for the Andean species of Aegognathus, with a redescription of the type species, A. waterhousei Leuthner, the description of two new species and an identification key for the Andean taxa, as well as, the discussion of some possible implications in future conservation studies related to the distribution data of the studied taxa.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D7A3FB96-F47D-4420-97BB-FFC399649564