Onitis castaneus Kollar, 1844

Karimbumkara, Seena Narayanan & Priyadarsanan, Dharma Rajan, 2024, Study on the genus Onitis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of the Indian Subcontinent, with three new species from India, European Journal of Taxonomy 956, pp. 1-61 : 16-17

Onitis castaneus Kollar, 1844

Figs 5C , 11A–D , 17

Onitiscastaneus Kollar, 1844: 517 (original description).

Onitis castaneus – Lansberge 1875: 144 (revision). — Arrow 1931: 398 (keys, description). — Balthasar 1935: 92 (monograph); 1963: 46 (monograph). — Janssens 1937: 74 (revision). — Chandra 2000: 360 (distribution). — Mittal 2005: 46 (list). — Bezděk & Krell 2006: 159 (describing author, year correction). — Chandra & Ahirwar 2007: 287 (distribution). — Sewak 2009b: 61 (distribution, diagnosis). — Singh et al. 2010: 1394 (distribution). — Gupta et al. 2015: 1037 (checklist). — Bezděk 2016: 179 (describing author, year correction, distribution). — Ghosh et al. 2020: 238 (distribution). — Schoolmeesters 2022 (online catalogue).

Differential diagnosis

Onitiscastaneus is similar to O. brahma and O. crassus in having a hairy pygidium and it differs from them in having tubercle on the clypeo-frontal carina while the tubercle is placed behind the clypeo-frontal carina in both the latter species. It differs from O. brahma in the frontal carina being entire; the clypeal margin being straight while the carina is interrupted and the clypeal margin is slightly excised in O. brahma . Onitiscastaneus differs from O. crassus in having longer hairs on the pygidium while the latter has short setae.

Material examined

Syntype (3 specimens)

INDIA • ♂, 2 ♀♀; “Kaschmir, Hügel”; NHMW.

Additional material (17 specimens)

INDIA • ♂; “ Kheri Forest , U.P. India ., Jan’ 16 HGC; H.G. Champion Coll., B.M. 1953-156.; Onitis castaneus, Redt. G. J. Arrow det.”; BMNH (E) 1237151 • ♀; “ Gazighat, Multan Div. Punjab , 15. 2. 28., C.F.C. Beeson; ex coll. Dehradun, B.M. 1928-472., ex Cattle dung;” BMNH (E) 1237152 • ♀; “ Pilani , Rajasthan; 1957; Coll: H.L. Khandu, Det: T. G. Vazirani ”; ZSIM • 10 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀; Assam, Tezpur, under Kolia bhomora bridge; hand-picked, cattle dung; 19 Dec. 2018; Rajkamal Goswami leg.; AIMB / Co/ Sc1000023 to 1000036 .

Description

MEASUREMENTS (in mm). TL=16–19; BW=9.5–12; PL=6.5–7.5; PW=9–11; EL= 8.5–10; HL=4. 5–5.5; HW =5–6.

Male

Dark chestnut brown; head with strongly elevated frontal carina acuminate in the middle; clypeal margin strongly reflexed, straight in the middle, with long transverse arcuate carina, frontal carina straight, rugulose in front, with tubercle behind; vertex strongly excavated; pronotum unevenly punctured, strongly rugulose anteriorly, tuberculate between the basal foveae; front angles rather blunt, deep basal foveae closely placed; elytra opaque, finely striate, intervals flat, feebly punctured; pygidium sparsely hairy; metasternum closely tuberculate, hairy with a longitudinal median groove; front legs long, slender, strongly curved, armed with four short teeth externally, profemur with a strong oblique spine near the middle of anterior edge, middle tibia with two strong processes at its outer edge.

AEDEAGUS (in mm) ( Fig. 11A–D ). LP=3.03, Lp =2.78; BP=1.32, BpB=1.07, BpT=0.43. Parameres shorter than phallobase, dorsal side of parameres straight at the base, tip broader and curved and tip blunt.

Female

Protibia short, broad bearing four strong external teeth; clypeus more rounded in the middle than male; frontal tubercle more prominent.

Distribution

India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. Other countries: Nepal; Pakistan ( Chandra 2000; Mittal 2005; Bezděk & Krell 2006; Chandra & Ahirwar 2007; Sewak 2009b; Singh et al. 2010; Gupta et al. 2015; Bezděk 2016; Ghosh et al. 2020; Schoolmeesters 2022).

Figures

Fig. 5. A. Onitis bordati Cambefort, 1988, holotype, ♂, MNHN EC1187, (image: Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN). B. O. brahma Lansberge, 1875, ♂, BMNH (E) 1237157, (image: BMNH). C. O.castaneus Redtenbacher, 1848, syntype, (image: Harald Schillhammer, NHMW). D. O. crassus Sharp, 1875, holotype, ♂, MNHN EC4813, (image: Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN). E. O. excavatus Arrow, 1931, lectotype, ♂, BMNH (E) 1237173, (image: BMNH). F. O. falcatus (Wulfen, 1786), ♂, AIMB/Co/ Sc1000070, (image: AIMB).

Fig. 11. Aedeagus, lateral, dorsal, ventral and apical views. A–D. Onitiscastaneus Kollar, 1844, AIMB/ Co/Sc1000027. E–H. O. feae Felsche, 1907, AIMB/Co/Sc1000188. I–L. O. lama Lansberge, 1875, AIMB/Co/Sc1000307. (Images: AIMB).

Fig. 17. Map showing the distribution of OnitisassamensisBiswas, 1980; O. bhomorensis sp. nov.; O. bordatiCambefort, 1988; O. brahma Lansberge, 1875 and O. castaneus Redtenbacher, 1848 in the Indian Subcontinent.