Lepanus pecki Gunter & Weir, 2019

Gunter, Nicole L. & Weir, Thomas A., 2019, Revision of Australian species of the dung beetle genus Lepanus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae): key to species groups and description of 14 new species from the L. pygmaeus species group, Zootaxa 4564 (1), pp. 41-80 : 72-73

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.2

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:27F70B5F-24DD-4C9E-BBA7-2B87476BD49C

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5922826

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2A9D39E4-2808-40FC-B863-E4C849ED5A42

taxon LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:act:2A9D39E4-2808-40FC-B863-E4C849ED5A42

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Lepanus pecki Gunter & Weir
status

sp. nov.

Lepanus pecki Gunter & Weir View in CoL , new species

( Figs. 4 View FIGURE 4 D–E, 4I–J, 6D, 9A, 11E, 14)

Type series. Holotype: GoogleMaps ♂ “AUST: NT; Darwin CSIRO, McMilliansRd 1-25 xii 1993 FIT S&J Peck 93-87” [12°24'42"S, 130°55'19"E] /“Canadian Museum of NATURE CMNEN-00030268 ” / “ANIC Database 25-065551” / “ Lepanus NT6 det. T.A.Weir 2018 ” / “ANIC Image” in ANIC. Paratypes: Northern Territory: Darwin CSIRO, McMillans Road, [12°24'42"S, 130°55'19"E], 1–25.xii.1993, S.B. & J. Peck ( CMNEN-00030265-00030267 , 2 × ♀, 1 × ♂, 0 0 0 30269 ♀, 00030281–00030285 in CMNC 5 × ♀, CMNEN-00030286–00030287 in QM 1 × ♂ 1 × ♀, CMNEN-00030271- 79 in ANIC 9 View Materials × ♀); Darwin CSIRO, McMillans Road, [12°24'42"S, 130°55'19"E], 25.xii.1993 – 10.i.1994, S.B. & J. Peck ( CMNEN-00030252–00030258 in CMNC 1 × ♂, 6 × ♀, CMNEN- 00030259–00030260 in QM 2 × ♀, CMNEN-00030262–00030263 in ANIC 1 View Materials ♂, 1 ♀); 5 km SE Humpty Doo, Byrne , [12°38'S, 131°16'E], 11–13.i.1992, D. Bickel (K266973, ANIC 25- 060801 View Materials in AM 1 × ♂, 1x ♀) GoogleMaps .

Description. Either uniformly dark brown or bicoloured with head and pronotum dark brown and rest of the body light brown. Antennal clubs grey to yellow.

Total length: 2.0– 2.1 mm. Holotype measurements: Total length 2.0 mm, elytral width 1.3 mm.

Male: Head: U-shaped between clypeal teeth, which are short, blunt, and upturned. Margin slightly angulate at clypeogenal suture. Genal angle weakly defined. Basal carina present and interrupted medially. Dorsal part of eyes narrow in size, separated by interocular space approximately 15 times eye width (30:2); eye canthus nearly dividing eye. Head 1.15 × wider than long (37:32).

Prothorax: Hypomeral surface finely reticulate. Hypomeral striae about half the length of hypomeron. Pronotum 1.7 × wider than long (60:35).

Elytra: Striae 1–3 narrow and double; striae 4–7 single. Elytra 1.3 × wider than long (78:60).

Legs: Three teeth on the outer edge. Front edge of protibiae deeply angulate; apical digit somewhat elongate and sharp. Inner edge of metatibiae expanded approximately midlength, creating a distinct flange. Metatarsi with 2nd tarsomere subequal to the 5th. Tarsal claws small and toothed.

Abdomen: Pygidium with almost ovoid depression with angulate upper edge and containing a round tubercle in upper third. Depression occupies at least half size of disc and just extending under the angulate upper edge of pygidium. Abdominal surface smooth and non-reticulate. Segment 6 punctate.

Pterothorax: Medial lobe of metaventrite finely punctate and broadly margined between mesocoxae. Lateral lobe of metaventrite smooth and punctate with setae. Meso-metaventral suture very slightly arched. Mesoventrite with slight notch anteriorly. Mesoventrite and mesepimeron smooth. Metanepisternum reticulate.

Female: As per the L. pygmaeus species group.

Etymology. Named in honour of Stewart Peck, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada, who collected the majority of known specimens and many other Lepanus from the Northern Territory that are included in this study.

Distribution. Known only from mixed eucalypt woodland and in monsoon woodlands of Darwin and Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory IBRA region DAC ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ). Very limited sampling of dung beetles have been conducted in DAC and the neighbouring VIB, DAB, PCK, ARP, and ARC IBRA regions and L. pecki may be more widespread than currently reported.

Comments. Lepanus pecki was unknown at the time when the informal nomenclature for undescribed species of Lepanus was reported ( Yeates et al. 2011) but was designated the informal name “ Lepanus NT6” within this revision. This species has been collected in flight-intercept traps and pan traps. It is differentiated from all other Lepanus species (except L. guthrieae ) by males having a distinctive flange on the metatibiae. Furthermore it is one of only two species in the L. pygmaeus species group that have three protibial teeth, the other being L. sauroni .

CSIRO

Australian National Fish Collection

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Scarabaeidae

Genus

Lepanus

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