Gouna (beetle)
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| Gouna | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Subfamily: | Melolonthinae |
| Tribe: | Hopliini |
| Genus: | Gouna Péringuey, 1902[1] |
Gouna is a genus of monkey beetles in the family Scarabaeidae.[2] These species are found in South Africa.[3][4]
Members of the genus Gouna are relatively small, with adults less that 1 centimetre in length.[1] Originally, for the two species first described, Péringuey, 1902 (p.861) emphasises white bands of scales on various parts, especially the pronotum and the elytra.[1]
Gouna was placed in the "Gymnoloma genus group" by Dombrow, Colville & Bowie, 2022.[5] These authors distinguished Gouna by their eight-segmented antenna, in contrast to others including the comparatively speciose genus Amblymelanoplia where the antennae is nine-segmented in nearly all species. From the remainder of Amblymelanoplia and other genera of the "Gymnoloma genus group", Gouna were further distinguished by their slender legs - especially the metathoracic (hind) femur, their metathoracic tibia with a spur, and notably that the elytra of Gouna have a squamose (scaly) pattern.[5]
Species
As of November 2025[update] these 3 species belong to the genus Gouna :[2]
- Gouna aliena Péringuey, 1902 – South Africa
- Gouna lineolata (Burmeister, 1844) – South Africa
- Gouna vittigera (Burmeister, 1844) – South Africa
Taxonomy
Another former species Gouna burchelli Arrow, 1917 was revised as Amblymelanoplia burchelli (Arrow, 1917) in a part of an extensive study where some of the original specimens were also then assigned to other species.[5] The genus Gouna was again recognised as valid by Allsopp & Schoolmeesters, 2024.[6]
