Ocurrencia de Ancistrosoma klugii Curtis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae), y su importancia como posible riesgo fitosanitario en el Perú

The objective of the present study is to report the feeding and copula-tion habits and provide a diagnosis of the adult stage of Ancistrosoma klugii and its importance as a possible phytosanitary risk based on specimens collected in the department of Huánuco, Peru, where the insect is a polyphagous pest at certain ti-mes of the year. The habits of the insect were monitored through observations of the populations in the field. Groups of A. klugii were observed made up of 6 to 8 individuals close to each other, found in the floral parts, foliage and branches of citrus trees, avocado trees, mangoes, grapevines and alfalfa fields, feeding and copulating simultaneously, especially in the morning hours, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. In alfalfa crops, up to an average of 42 adult individuals per square meter could be counted. Differences were found in the size of male and female individuals with 27.2 mm in length and 24.4 mm, respectively, as well as differences in the abdominal sternites with a modification in a reduction of the sternites to a spine and a heavily sclerotized stooped aedeagus in the male; and the female with an abdomen without the spine, with the anterior margin of the pygidium sinuous.