Onthophagus militaris

Sathiandran, Nithya & Sabu, Thomas K., 2012, New species, new synonym, and redescription of Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from the Western Ghats, India, Zootaxa 3526, pp. 53-58 : 54

Onthophagus militaris species group

(as defined by Arrow 1931, Balthasar 1963, Schoolmeesters & Sabu 2006)

Medium size (4–7 mm), uniformly greenish blue or head and pronotum dark coppery or metallic green. Elytra black with yellow spots or yellow with black spots or patches.

Upper surface shiny and body clothed with setae. Clypeus deeply or shallowly emarginate anteriorly or truncate with anterior margin reflexed. Head with ocular lobes gently rounded. Pronotum coarsely and closely punctate, granulate, or punctate behind granules. Elytra finely striate, bearing scattered punctures or granules in double rows. Pygidium distinctly punctate, clothed with setae. Metasternum smooth in the middle with lateral punctures ( Arrow 1931).

Geographical distribution: India (Jharkand: Chota Nagpur; Karnataka: Bangalore; Kerala: Nilambur, Ranipuram, Shendurney, Silent valley, Thekkady, Wayanad; Orissa; Tamilnadu: Anamalai hills, Nilgiri hills, Yercaud); Sri Lanka: Kandy ( Arrow 1931, Balthasar 1963, Sabu et al. 2011).

Remarks: All species in this group are brightly colored, setose, and are rare in collections. They are predominantly high altitude species as seven of the nine species are found in the montane rain forest ecoregion of the moist south Western Ghats in south India and Sri Lanka; four species ( O. lemniscatus Gill , O. madoqua Arrow , O. devagiriensis Schoolmeesters & Sabu , and O. tnai Nithya & Sabu ) are endemics to the Western Ghats and one species ( O. militaris Boucomont ) endemic to Sri Lanka ( Sabu et al. 2011).