Description of a new species of Anoplocheilus MacLeay, 1838 from South Africa, with review of the genus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae)
Author
Perissinotto, Renzo
Coastal and Marine Research (CMR), Nelson Mandela University - P. O. Box 77000, Gqeberha 6031, South Africa - renzo. perissinotto @ mandela. ac. za
renzo.perissinotto@mandela.ac.za
Author
Beinhundner, Gerhard
Am Steigberg 25, D- 97502 Euerbach, Germany - g. beinhundner @ t-online. de
g.beinhundner@t-online.de
Author
Strümpher, Werner
Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 413, Pretoria 0001, South Africa - strumpher @ ditsong. org. za
strumpher@ditsong.org.za
text
Fragmenta entomologica
2021
2021-11-30
53
2
367
376
http://dx.doi.org/10.13133/2284-4880/567
journal article
306850
10.13133/2284-4880/567
bb480e48-e028-4025-9974-1226184c5839
2284-4880
12763624
Anoplocheilus
(
Nselenius
)
silvicola
Holm & Perissinotto, 2004
(
Fig. 6 A
)
Anoplocheilus
(
N.
)
silvicola
.
Holm and Perissinotto 2004: 82
;
Beinhundner 2017: 507
Remarks.
Anoplocheilus
(
Nselenius
)
silvicola
was originally described from a series of specimens collected in a very restricted area (Enseleni Nature Reserve) in the interior region of north-eastern
KwaZulu-Natal
,
South Africa
. Subsequently, a few drowned specimens were also retrieved from the False Bay part of Lake St Lucia, within the
iSimangaliso Wetland Park
(a UNESCO World Heritage Site), some 100 Km to the east of the
type
locality (cf.
Beinhundner 2017
). The species exhibits a very dorso-ventrally flattened shape, its legs are rather slender and in the male the tarsi are actually hypertrophic. Sexual dimorphism is extreme, with males testaceous with black/brown ornamentation and females completely black to dark green. Males also exhibit longer antennal clubs and a pronounced median groove on abdominal sternites, by comparison with their female counterparts. Their aedeagal parameres are actually very close to those of
Lamellothyrea
Krikken, 1980
species
(cf.
Holm and Perissinotto 2004
, fig. 5), with which they share several other characters, such as tibial and tarsal features as well as pronotal and scutellar morphology (
Fig. 6
). They clearly belong to the same clade, however other substantial differences prevent a confident re-allocation of
A.
(
N.
)
silvicola
to
Lamellothyrea
for now. These include in particular the short, unarmed shape of its clypeus, which is in sharp contrast to the elaborate clypeal armour of
Lamellothyrea
,
consisting of a bifurcate horn on anterior margin complemented by three sets of transverse and longitudinal laminae on frons and vertex (
Krikken 1980
;
Holm & Marais 1992
;
Beinhundner 2017
). The marked sexual dimorphism observed in
A.
(
N.
)
silvicola
is also a characteristic not seen in either of the two species currently recognised within
Lamellothyrea
(
Perissinotto 2017
)
. In summary, and in the absence of more quantitative molecular genetic data, it is thus suggested that the continuing inclusion of
A
. (
N
.)
silvicola
within the genus
Anoplocheilus
is untenable and that the subgenus
Nselenius
should be elevated to full genus status:
Nselenius silvicola
(
Holm & Perissinotto, 2004
)
stat. nov
.