Araboplia lorisi new genus and species of Rutelinae from Saudi Arabia (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), with comments on the subtribe Popilliina

Abstract

Araboplia lorisi gen. et sp. nov. of Scarabaeidae Latreille, 1802 Rutelinae MacLeay, 1819, is described based on a single male specimen from the Arabian Peninsula, and compared with the closest Palaearctic genera. Araboplia gen. nov. is placed in the tribe Anomalini C.E. Blanchard, 1851 subtribe Popilliina Ohaus, 1918. This decision is due to its similarity with other Popilliina genera but lacks strong characters-based evidence, due to the poor defi nition of the Popilliina itself, which is discussed.