Transfer of three species of Namakwanus Scholtz & Howden to Versicorpus Deschodt, Davis & Scholtz or to Namaphilus gen. nov., with descriptions of two new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)
Author
Deschodt, Christian M.
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
cdeschodt@zoology.up.ac.za
Author
Davis, Adrian L. V.
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
text
Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History
2017
2017-05-01
7
7
109
114
journal article
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5562912
9de32fb5-ae5c-4552-afdb-9cfdcad56ce9
5562912
Namaphilusgen
. nov.
,
Figs 1–2
TYPE
SPECIES.
Namakwanus endroedyi Deschodt
,
Davis & Scholtz
, 2011
, here designated.
Gender of new name: masculine.
DESCRIPTION. Small (
7.1–9.7 mm
long ×
4.5–5.8 mm
wide) dark brown, rounded and convex beetles.
Head: with two small and short, slightly upturned clypeal teeth; one much smaller tooth medially on lower margin of clypeus.
Pronotum: dark brown, convex with ovoid to round punctures.
Protibia: tridentate in last one-third of outside margin, more or less smooth in first two-thirds.
Elytra: strongly convex, dark brown.
Sterna: mesometasternal suture straight.
Scutellum not visible.
Pygidium: shagreened with small punctures.
DISCUSSION. Morphologically this new genus can easily be separated from
Versicorpus
by lacking serrations on the outside margins of the front tibiae and by being smaller (
7.1–9.7 mm
long) and more convex than the larger (
10.1 mm
) and more elongate
Versicorpus
.
The clypeus of
Namakwanus
has much more pronounced clypeal teeth than
Namaphilus
. The known species in the genus thus currently comprise
Namaphilus davisi
(
Deschodt & Scholtz, 2007
) comb. nov.,
Namaphilus endroedyi
(
Deschodt, Davis & Scholtz, 2011
) comb. nov. and
Namaphilus ameibensis
spec. nov.