Dung beetle vicariant speciation in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, with a description of a new species of Phanaeus (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae, Scarabaeidae)
Author
Kohlmann, Bert
Author
Arriaga-Jimenez, Alfonsina
Author
Roes, Matthias
text
ZooKeys
2018
743
67
93
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.743.23029
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.743.23029
1313-2970-743-67
4D31DBBF07B1479C90489C9207B5103D
4D31DBBF07B1479C90489C9207B5103D
Phanaeus (Notiophanaeus) dionysius Kohlmann,
Arriaga-Jimenez
&
Roes
sp. n.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Type material.
Holotype male, pinned, with genitalia in a separate microvial. Original label:
"Mexico
. La Mesita San Pablo Etla. Oaxaca.
23-VI-17, coprotrampa,
17°9'54"N
,
96°44'18"W
, bosque de Encino, 1976 m, Arriaga A. and Arenas A. Col." "HOLOTYPE/
Phanaeus dionysius
Kohlmann,
Arriaga-Jimenez
,
Roes
[red printed label]". Allotype female: "Mexico. La Mesita San Pablo Etla. Oaxaca. 23-VI-17, coprotrampa,
17°9'54"N
,
96°44'19"W
, bosque de Encino, 1976 m, Arriaga A. and Arenas A. Col."
Other material.
(5 males, 5 females). Paratypes: "Mexico. Reserva Comunitaria San Pablo Etla. Oaxaca. 27-IV-17, coprotrampa,
17°9'53"N
,
96°44'20"W
, bosque de Encino, 1974 m, Arriaga A. and Arenas A. Col." (1 males, 2 females) (CMN, CEMT, CPFA); "Mexico. La Mesita San Pablo Etla. Oaxaca. 23-VI-17, coprotrampa,
17°9'54"N
,
96°44'18"W
, bosque de Encino, 1976 m, Arriaga A. and Arenas A. Col. (2 males, 2 females) (CMN, CEMT, IEXA, CPFA); 14-VII-17,
17°9'54"N
,
96°44'54"W
, 1954 m, (1 male) (IEXA); 27-IV-17,
17°10'16"N
,
96°43'50"W
, 2219 (1 male) (JB). 23-VI-17,
17°09'54"N
,
96°44'19"W
, 1976 m, (1 female) (JB).
Type locality.
La Mesita San Pablo Etla (
17°9'54"N
,
96°44'19"W
, 1976 m), Oaxaca, Mexico.
Type deposition.
Coleccion
Entomologica
IEXA, Instituto de
Ecologia
, Xalapa, Mexico.
Diagnosis.
Distinctly granulate male pronotal disk; sagittal furrow present on the female pronotum; unmodified sutural margin of the elytra; pygidium longer than wide. Its basal border forming a small indentation medially, usually all-black color.
Description.
Holotype. Major male (Fig. 1
a-b
). Length: 16.5 mm. Humeral width: 10. 9 mm. Body appearing dull shiny black with a faint blue luster to the unaided eye. Magnification reveals faint greenish cast along the ocular, pronotal, and elytral borders, on the abdominal surface and underside of femora rugose. Clypeus with two conspicuous median teeth; surface and frons bearing long, slender horn strongly curved over the pronotum. Pronotum with large, flat triangular disk (Fig. 1a), with a well-developed, small callosity on each side near anterior margin and with postero-lateral angles projecting caudally; lateral portions faintly asperate, with distinct punctures present only behind lateral fossae (
x
20); flat triangular surface disk densely, evenly, and coarsely granulate; granules extending onto posterolateral angles and becoming eroded near and along disk borders. Pronotum with obsolete basal fossae; anterolateral angles subquadrate, distinctly upturned and surface behind angles concave; pronotal midline present, faintly developed, more evident on anterior half; weak punctures along posterior pronotal margin; pronotal surface shagreen. Elytral striae fine, with small but well-defined punctures separated at regular intervals; intervals broad and faintly convex, evenly and faintly shiny, covered with minute punctures (
x
20); surface shagreen. Pygidium black with shagreen surface and obsolete punctures, glabrous; pygidium wider than long (Fig. 2a); basal pygidial margin forming a small triangular tooth medially (Fig. 2b); pygidial margin with a green cast.
Protibia
quadridentate. Lamella copulatrix as in Figure 3a; aedeagus similar to the
Ph. endymion
species group (Fig. 3b, d).
Figure 1. Major male habitus in a dorsal and b lateral view of
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n., and c dorsal view of
Ph. zapotecus
. Scale bar= 5mm.
Figure 2. Pygidia of a
Ph. dyionysius
sp. n. b detail, arrow points to the triangle that forms the keel c
Ph. zapotecus
. Scale bar= 1mm.
Figure 3. a Lamella copulatrix and b aedeagus of
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n. c aedeagus of
Phanaeus zapotecus
d parameres of
Ph. dionysius
sp. n. e parameres of
Ph. zapotecus
. Scale bar= 1mm.
Female. Allotype (Fig. 4). Length: 16.3 mm. Humeral width: 10 mm. Body faintly shining black. Head with low, narrow trituberculate carina. Pronotum with a faint green lustre, evenly and densely covered with punctures, punctures becoming fainter on middle of disk; surface shagreen; with raised anteromedian trituberculate tumosity near anterior margin, tubercles equal in size and set in a more-or-less straight, transverse line; disk with distinct mid-longitudinal furrow, extending forward from posterior margin to about middle of disk, furrow more strongly sculptured than adjacent surface of disk. Pygidium with faint to distinct fine, sparse punctures.
Figure 4. Female habitus of a dorsal and b lateral view of
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n. Scale bar= 5mm.
Variations.
Length: 12.6-18.7 mm. Humeral width: 7.9-11.1 mm. Pronotal disk of males may vary from black without reflections to having a green or red lustre. Minor male (Fig. 5): Similar to major male, except the cephalic horn is smaller and the posterolateral angles of the pronotum are reduced.
Figure 5. Dorsal habitus of a minor male of
Phanaeus dionysius
sp.n. Scale bar= 5mm.
Etymology
.
Due to the fact that this species has been collected in association with
Ph. damocles
Harold, this new species (a noun in the nominative singular) is named after Dionysius II of Syracuse, one of the main characters alluded to in the moral anecdote of the "Sword of Damocles".
Distribution
and ecology.
So far, this species is only known from San Pablo Etla in the Sierra Norte (Sierra de
Ixtlan
) in Oaxaca (Fig. 6), along the internal dry slope facing the Oaxaca Valley. It has been collected from altitudes of 1950 m to 2250 m. The dry deciduous oak forest where
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n. was found is characterised by trees between five and ten meters tall. Abundant oak species are
Quercus laeta
Liebm. and
Q. laurina
Humb. and Bonpl., predominant species of this ecosystem, ranging from 1800 m to 2400 m altitude (Fig. 7). Other species dominating this forest in the sampling site are
Q. glaucoides
Mart. and Gal.,
Q. liebmannii
Oersted.,
Q. rugosa
Nee
, and
Q. castanea
Nee
, also found at higher or lower altitudes (J. Williams, CIIDIR-Oaxaca, pers. comm.,
Valencia-Avalos
and Nixon 2004
). This dry deciduous oak forest shows a strong seasonality, when most trees lose their leaves for around four to five months between December and May. This new species is found next to the Oaxaca Metropolitan Area in a voluntary protected area, the San Pablo Etla Community Reserve "La Mesita".
Figure 6. Map of the known distribution of
Geotrupes pecki
,
G. viridiobscurus
,
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n., and
Ph. zapotecus
. Orography of Oaxaca is shown, based on the Digital Elevation Model downloaded from INEGI (2017, http://www.inegi.org.mx). Grey area shows the limits of Mexico with the Gulf of Mexico in the North and the Pacific Ocean in the South.
Figure 7. Drone photographs of the dry oak forest where
Ph. dionysius
sp. n. was collected; a April 2017 and b August 2017.
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n. has been collected simultaneously in dung-baited traps with
Canthidium quercetorum
Kohlmann,
Arriaga-Jimenez
and
Roes
,
Canthon humectus
(Say),
Copris klugi
Harold,
Deltochilum mexicanum
Burmeister,
Dichotomius colonicus
(Say),
Onthophagus near anthracinus
Harold,
O. aureofuscus
Bates,
O. chevrolati retusus
Harold,
O. mexicanus
Bates,
O. zapotecus
Zunino and Halffter and
Phanaeus damocles
Harold, in the oak forest. Although its closest relative,
Ph. zapotecus
Edmonds, seems
to
be a strictly mycetophagous species,
Ph. dionysius
has only been collected in dung, despite the presence of fungi-baited traps put in the forest. Interestingly, no big fleshy fungi (toadstools) were observed in this type of forest, only small
"clavitos"
(
Lyophyllum
), which could probably explain why this species does not exploit fungi.
Taxonomic relationships.
Phanaeus dionysius
sp. n. belongs to the
Ph. endymion
species group and due to its close taxonomic similarity discussed below is postulated to be the sister species of
Ph. zapotecus
Edmonds, 2006.
Phanaeus dionysius
will key out to
Ph. zapotecus
in the key of
Moctezuma et al. (2017)
and can be separated from it because it has long and slender pronotal posterolateral angles (Fig. 1a) whereas
Ph. zapotecus
has short and rounded posterolateral angles (Fig. 1c). The basal border of the pygidium in
Ph. dionysius
forms a small indentation at its middle (Fig. 2b), whereas it runs completely straight in
Ph. zapotecus
(Fig. 2c). Additionally, the apex of the parameres of
Ph. dionysius
sp. n. is more projected (Fig. 3b, d), than that from
Ph. zapotecus
(Fig. 3c, e). Moreover, the middle sinuation of the parameres in lateral view is much more pronounced in
Ph. dionysius
sp. n. (Fig. 3b) than in
Ph. zapotecus
(Fig. 3c).
Chorological affinities.
The known distribution of
Ph. dionysius
sp. n. is relatively near to its closest relative,
Ph. zapotecus
, 90 km distance in a straight line, which is distributed in dry pine-oak and pine-oak-juniper forests on the internal slope of the Sierra Sur (Sierra de Tlaxiaco), going from 1850 m to 2150 m altitude. Interestingly, attempts at trying to collect
Ph. zapotecus
in the environs of San
Jose
del
Pacifico
in the Sierra Sur (Sierra de
Miahuatlan
) with fungi-baited traps did not produce any results.