An overview of the Onthophagini from the Arabian Peninsula (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae)
Author
Ziani, Stefano
Author
Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud Saleh
Author
Aldhafer, Hathal Mohammed
Author
Barbero, Enrico
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-08-21
4658
1
1
36
journal article
25961
10.11646/zootaxa.4658.1.1
31d6e081-95c3-4086-a45a-c11555dda3aa
1175-5326
3373040
ADCBCCA2-63C1-42CD-A3C9-C14F954F4A21
Onthophagus bicolor
species group
Remarks
.
Zunino (1975)
noticed that the internal sac of the aedeagus of
Onthophagus bicolor
Raffray, 1877
and
O. latipennis
d’Orbigny, 1898
lacks the lamella copulatrix as well as spicules and raspulae. Only some accessory lamellae are present, as happens in males of the genus
Phalops
Erichson, 1848
. Females of
O. bicolor
and
O. latipennis
show a vagina with no defined sclerotizations and infundibulum. Furthermore, males of both species have a strong pygidial sexual dimorphism, with a significant decrease of the size of the abdominal sternites, medially. For all these reasons a few years later
Zunino (1981)
supposed that it could be reasonable to institute a distinct genus for
O. bicolor
and
O. latipennis
and some other species from east Africa, but without establishing a new taxon. Waiting for a deeper study of the Afrotropical species with the same genital characteristics, we herein choose to follow
Zunino (1981)
and to insert the two quoted species in a species-group, with no nomenclatorial value, always within the genus
Onthophagus
.