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Description of a new, possibly extinct, species of flightless Trox F. (Coleoptera: Trogidae) from South Africa
Abstract
A new species, which may already be extinct, of flightless Trox , T. youngai sp.n., is described based on specimens collected 30 years ago from a now severely transformed area in South Africa. It is one of seven members of the natalensis-group of Trox species. All have very localised distributions in small fragments of once considerably larger habitats along the greater eastern escarpment and the coastal edge of southern Africa. Th is description brings the total number of endemic fl ightless Trox in the region to 14. A key to the species in the natalensis -group is provided. Furthermore, pronotal and elytral features of diagnostic value are tabulated to aid in the identification of members of this group. All species are illustrated by photographs of habitus and male aedeagi. A map is provided showing the distributions for each of them.
... En Afrique, les taxons sont majoritairement localisés dans les régions australe et orientale du continent avec cependant une nette concentration des espèces entre les 25 e et 35 e parallèles sud. Ce genre n'en demeure pas moins assez hétérogène incluant 10 groupes d'espèces basés sur la morphologie externe et la conformation des genitalia mâles (Scholtz, 1980 ;Strümpher & Scholtz, 2011 ;Strümpher et al., 2016). ...
... Au sein de ce genre, le groupe « natalensis » rassemble un petit corpus de sept espèces endémiques à l'Afrique du Sud, de taille réduite (< 7mm), qui se distinguent morphologiquement des autres membres du genre par une combinaison de caractères : Les espèces incluses dans le groupe « natalensis », dont certaines décrites récemment par Van der Merwe & Scholtz (2005), ont été revues par Strümpher & Scholtz (2011). Ce groupe inclut les espèces suivantes : P. natalensis (Haaf, 1954), P. quadricostatus (Scholtz, 1980), P. elmariae (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. ngomensis (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. sternbergi (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. mozalae (Strümpher & Scholtz, 2009) et P. youngai (Strümpher & Scholtz, 2011). ...
... Au sein de ce genre, le groupe « natalensis » rassemble un petit corpus de sept espèces endémiques à l'Afrique du Sud, de taille réduite (< 7mm), qui se distinguent morphologiquement des autres membres du genre par une combinaison de caractères : Les espèces incluses dans le groupe « natalensis », dont certaines décrites récemment par Van der Merwe & Scholtz (2005), ont été revues par Strümpher & Scholtz (2011). Ce groupe inclut les espèces suivantes : P. natalensis (Haaf, 1954), P. quadricostatus (Scholtz, 1980), P. elmariae (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. ngomensis (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. sternbergi (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), P. mozalae (Strümpher & Scholtz, 2009) et P. youngai (Strümpher & Scholtz, 2011). ...
Phoberus bulirschi n. sp, a new species from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is described and compared to Phoberus ngomensis (Van der Merwe & Scholtz, 2005) and P. sternbergi (Van de Merwe & Scholtz, 2005), its most morphologically related species. The main diagnostic characteristics distinguishing these taxa are indicated and illustrated. The distribution map of the Phoberus species belonging to the "natalensis" group is updated.
... Of the five extant genera in the family Trogidae, Phoberus has the highest incidence of flightless species. Almost half (20 of 49) of the known species have lost the ability to fly (Strümpher & Scholtz 2011;Strümpher et al. 2016a, b;Strümpher & Scholtz 2017). All but three of the flightless species of Phoberus are restricted to southern Africa, in particular South Africa. ...
The loss of flight is common in the keratin beetle genus Phoberus Macleay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Trogidae)—20 out of the 49 species in this genus exhibit metathoracic-wing reduction in various degrees rendering them flightless. In this paper another flightless species, Phoberus villeti Strümpher, new species, is described and illustrated from the Amathole mountains in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The new species is micropterous having tightly fused elytra (only wing rudiments visible), rounded humeral angles and a characteristic rounded body shape. However, it is most notable for its large size (~12 mm) and the distinctive tufts of yellow setae present on the elytra.
A new brachypterous species, Phoberus nyikanus Strümpher (Coleoptera: Trogidae), is described from Malawi. In addition, three status changes are proposed: Phoberus nigrociliatus (Kolbe) from the Ethiopian highlands, P. nyansanus (Haaf) from central East Africa, and P. nyassicus (Haaf) from southern Tanzanian mountains are elevated to species level. A key is provided to aid in the identification of members of the P. nigrociliatus group, and the species in the group are illustrated by photographs. This brings the total number of species in the genus to 44.
Extant genera and subgenera of the Trogidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) are reviewed. Contemporary classifications of this family have been based exclusively on morphological characters. The first molecular phylogeny for the family recently provided strong support for the relationships between morphologically defined genera and subgenera. On the basis of morphological, molecular and biogeographical evidence, certain taxonomic changes to the genus-level classification of the family are now proposed. The family is confirmed as consisting of two subfamilies, Omorginae Nikolajev and Troginae MacLeay, the former with two genera, Omorgus Erichson and Polynoncus Burmeister, and the latter with two genera, Trox Fabricius and Phoberus MacLeay stat. rev. Phoberus is restored to generic rank to include all Afrotropical (including Madagascan endemic) species; Afromorgus is confirmed at subgeneric rank within the genus Omorgus; and the monotypic Madagascan genus Madagatrox syn. n. is synonymised with Phoberus. The current synonymies of Pseudotrox Robinson (with Trox), Chesas Burmeister, Lagopelus Burmeister and Megalotrox Preudhomme de Borre (all with Omorgus) are all accepted to avoid creating speculative synonyms before definitive phylogenetic evidence is available. New combinations resulting from restoring Phoberus to a monophyletic genus are listed in Appendix A.
A new species of Trox, T. mozalae, from coastal sand forest in Mozambique, is described. T. natalensis quadricostatus Scholtz is elevated to species-level and T. natalensis schaborti Scholtz and T. elizabethae van der Merwe & Scholtz are synonymised with it. A key to the subgenus Phoberus MacLeay, to which most of the flightless species in Africa belong, is provided. All species incorporated into the key are illustrated by photographs of habitus and aedeagi. A map is provided of the distribution of each of them.
A study, based on examination of thirteen scarabaeoid families, was made of 134 adult and larval characters from the following character suites: 105 adult characters of the antennae, eye, epipharynx, mandible, maxillae, labium, tentorium, trochantin, procoxae, mesocoxae, mesothoracic spiracles, hind wing articulation, hind wing base, hind wing venation, hind wing folding, abdominal sternites, abdominal spiracles, male genitalia, ovarioles and karyotype; twenty larval characters of the antennae, fronto-clypeal suture, stemmata, labial palpi, maxillae, mandibles, legs, stridulatory apparatus, spiracles and ecdysial process; and nine adult and larval biological characters. In order to assess the reliability of different characters in resolving scarabaeoid family relationships, six data sets were subjected to cladistic analysis: the total evidence character set (134 characters), restricted adult character set (thirty-two characters, not including those of the wings), wing character set (seventy-three characters), larval character set (twenty characters), biological character set (nine characters) and re-coded Howden (1982) character set (thirty-nine characters). The complete character set and wing character set both produced phylograms with all nodes resolved; the restricted adult data set, larval data set, Howden (1982) data set and biological data set produced phylograms with diminishing levels of node resolution. The reconstructed phylogeny, from the preferred phylogram of the total evidence character set, shows that the Scarabaeoidea comprises three major lineages; a glaresid, passalid and scarabaeid lineage. The glaresid lineage consists only of the Glaresidae. The passalid lineage comprises two major lines; a glaphyrid line (containing Glaphyridae, Passalidae, Lucanidae, Diphyllostomatidae, Trogidae, Bolboceratidae and Pleocomidae) and a geotrupid line (containing Geotrupidae, Ochodaeidae, Ceratocanthidae and Hybosoridae). The scarabaeid lineage contains those taxa traditionally included within the Scarabaeidae (Aphodiinae, Scarabaeinae, Orphninae, Melolonthinae, Acoma, Chasmatopterinae, Hopliinae, Oncerinae, Rutelinae, Dynastinae, Trichiinae, Cetoniinae and Valginae).
A cladistic analysis of the Trogidae using eighteen adult characters resulted in a monophyletic group from which the genera Glaresis Erichson, Afroglaresis Petrovitz and Cryptogenius Westwood are excluded. The Trogidae as here defined comprises three genera, Trox Fabricius (with two subgenera, Trox and Phoberus Macleay), Omorgus Erichson (with three subgenera, Omorgus, Afromorgussubg.n. and Haroldomorgussubg.n.) and Polynoncus Burmeister.
Th e vegetation of South Africa
- L Musina
- M C Rutherford
Musina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. (2006) Th e vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia.
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Monograph of the genus Trox F (Coleoptera: Trogidae) of Subsaharan Africa
- C H Scholtz
Scholtz, C.H. (1980) Monograph of the genus Trox F (Coleoptera: Trogidae) of Subsaharan Africa.
Cimbebasia Memoir 4.
RSA: Mpumalanga, nr. Baberton, Nelshoogte, Devils Nuckles
Paratypes (SAM: 1♂, 1♀): RSA: Mpumalanga, nr. Baberton, Nelshoogte, Devils
Nuckles, 25.78333°S – 30.81667°E; 04.XII.1986; E-Y: 2353G, Ground traps, leg.
Th e ' horridus '-group of Trox F. species (Coleoptera: Trogidae) in South Africa
- C H Scholtz
Scholtz, C.H. (1979) Th e ' horridus '-group of Trox F. species (Coleoptera: Trogidae) in South Africa.
Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 42 : 169 -180.
E-Y: 2353, Ground traps, 67 days, leg. Endrödy-Younga. 4 Paratypes (TMSA): S E-Y: 2443, Ground traps, 56 days, leg
- S Africa
- Tvl
- Knucles Nelshoogte
- Grassveld
S. Africa, Tvl., Nelshoogte, Knucles grassveld, 25.47S – 30.49E; 4.12.1986; E-Y:
2353, Ground traps, 67 days, leg. Endrödy-Younga. 4 Paratypes (TMSA): S. Africa,
Tvl., Nelshoogte, Knucles grassveld, 25.47S – 30.49E; 11.2.1987; E-Y: 2443, Ground
traps, 56 days, leg. Endrödy-Younga. 12 Paratypes (UPSA: 5♂, 7♀): RSA: Mpumalanga, nr. Baberton, Nelshoogte, Devils Nuckles, 25.78333°S – 30.81667°E; 04.
E-Y: 2353G, Ground traps, leg. Endrödy-Younga
81667°E; 04.XII.1986; E-Y: 2353G, Ground traps, leg. Endrödy-Younga. 2