A new genus and species of Orphninae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) associated with epiphytes in an Andean cloud forest in Ecuador.

Orphninae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are represented in the New World by the tribe Aegidiini, which is comprised of four genera (Paulian 1984). Examination of material collected in Ecuador revealed a series of the Aegidiini specimens from an undescribed species that cannot be classified as a member of one of the known genera. The new species is herein described and a new genus is established. Apart from the distinctive morphological characters, the new taxon shows an unusual, for the Orphninae, association with canopy epiphytes. Photographs were taken with a Canon D100 camera equipped with a EF-S 60 macro lens. Partially focused serial images were combined in Helicon Focus software (Helicon Soft Ltd.) to produce completely focused images. Distribution map was generated with ArcGIS software (ESRI Ltd.). The material used for this study is housed in the following institutions: Museum of Zoology of the Catholic University of Ecuador, Quito (QCAZ), Entomology Section of the Zoological Collection, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá (CEMT), and Zoological Institute, SaintPetersburg (ZIN).