Bolbaoeer mozambiquensis, Gussmann & Scholtz, 2001

Gussmann, S. M. V. & Scholtz, C. H., 2001, Systematic revision of the Afrotropical genus BolbaOEer Vulcano, Martinez and Pereira (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Bolboceratidae: Bolboceratinae), with descriptions of eight new species, Journal of Natural History 35 (7), pp. 1013-1084 : 1069-1072

BolbaOEer mozambiquensis sp. nov.

(®gures 4k, n, 22a±h, 25)

Description male holotype

Body length 23.6 mm. Colour dark brown. Outer margin of mandible rounded. Clypeus with bituberculate, feebly arcuate transverse posterior carina; tubercles in line with clypeo-frontal transition; posterior carina as long as anterior carina. Frons feebly depressed posterior to posterior clypeal carina. Antennal club with glabrous area of basal segment about one-half of exposed surface. Pronotum with anterior margin medially raised, in dorsal view slightly projecting over frons and with feebly bisinuate curvature; with one pair of outer and one pair of inner inward curved horns along posterior margin (®gure 4k); outer horns slightly longer than inner horns; disc with ®ne, well-spaced punctures, these interspersed by fairly densely spaced large punctures; ®ne punctures increasingly replaced by large, often conūent punctures towards sides and along anterior margin of pronotum. Scutellum with surface coarsely punctate. Elytron with strial punctures separated by three to ®ve puncture diameters; intervals with approximately ®ve to six punctures between two striae. Protibia six-dentate. Protibial spur about as long as ®fth tarsomere, acuminate. Metatrochanter of unmodi®ed shape; surface with dense, moderately long setation, but setae sparse in apical area. Metafemur in ventral view in posterior third with line of densely spaced, moderately long and long setae; with dense, moderately long and long setae in basal area and basal third along posterior margin; with fairly dense, long setae in anterior third and apical area; remaining areas with sparse, long setation. Metatibia in lateral view with subapical carina bilobed; with unmodi®ed spurs. Underside with sternites 4, 5 and 6 strongly modi®ed (®gure 22a±d); process on sternite 4 broad and with rounded apex (®gure 22a, b, d); posterior margin of sternite 5 medially with two small spines (®gure 22b); apex of pygidium rounded or possibly medially feebly emarginate (not visible); median suture line on pygidium absent. Genitalia with aedeagus as in ®gure 22e±g; genital capsule apically with moderately long setation.

Description female allotype

Body length 25.1 mm. Colour mid-brown with head and pronotum slightly darker. Outer margin of mandible rounded. Clypeus unarmed. Frons with distinctly raised bituberculate, transverse carina; carina positioned between eye-canthi, slightly anterior to postero-lateral genal angle; carina straight and slightly shorter than anterior clypeal carina. Pronotum with anterior margin medially raised, in frontal view slightly bisinuate (as in ®gure 4n), in dorsal view feebly arcuate; with transverse distinctly carinate swelling at median portion of disc; carina in frontal view as in ®gure 4q, in dorsal view distinctly bisinuate; swelling with sparse ®ne and small punctures; area anterior to swelling (shaded area in ®gure 4n) with very densely spaced small, deep punctures; on feebly swollen areas lateral to densely punctate area and also along posterior margin with large, densely spaced punctures; otherwise with very densely spaced, partially conūent, large punctures.

Scutellum and elytron as in male. Protibia ®ve-dentate. Protibial spur as in male. Metatrochanter of unmodi®ed shape; with fairly dense, moderately long setation in basal half and along posterior margin; remaining surface asetose. Metafemur in ventral view in posterior third with line of fairly dense, moderately long and long setae; with fairly dense and long setae in anterior third and apical area; with fairly dense, moderately long setae along posterior margin; remaining areas almost asetose. Metatibia as in male. Underside with sternite 5 postero-medially feebly but discernibly swollen (not illustrated); apex of sternite 6 in posterior view rounded and medially with thickened, strongly sclerotized margin (®gure 22h); thickened margin in ventral view slightly protruding (not illustrated); broad apex of pygidium sharply triangularly incised (®gure 22h); median incision dividing approximately apical sixth of pygidium; no suture line present from incision to base of pygidium (®gure 22h).

Distribution (®gure 25). Only known from Maputo and a second, unknown locality in Mozambique.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE l[diss.]:` Delagoa Bay [Baia de Maputo, 26.00S 32.40E], J. Muir. 1901.’ / Sharp Coll. 1905-313.’ ( BMNH) ; ALLOTYPE m:`Mozambique’ [handwritten] /`semblabl e aÁ un individu de la collection Felsche etiq.: atavus cotype’ [handwritten and translating to:`similar to a specimen from the Felsche collection, labelled: atavus cotype’] /`MuseÂum Paris, 1936, Coll. A. Boucomont’ [printed on blue label] ( MNHN) .

Etymology. Named after the country of origin.

Comments. There is no doubt that the single male and female specimens of B. mozambiquensis constitute a new species. The presence of a process on sternite 4, the modi®cations on sternites 5 and 6, the absence of a hooked metatibial spur, the pronotal punctation and the aedeagal type place the male in the B. abyssinicus species-group. The pronotal armature (®gure 4k), the speci®c shape of the processes on sternite 4 and 5 (®gure 22a±d), the speci®c modi®cations on the posterior margin of sternite 5 (®gure 22b) and the particular shape of the aedeagal parameres (®gure 22e±g) distinguish the male of B. mozambiquensis easily from other male members of the B. abyssinicus species-group as well as other congeneric species.

The combination of the pronotal punctation, the apically strongly sclerotized margin of sternite 6 and the medially incised apex of the pygidium clearly link the female to the B. abyssinicus species-group but also separate it from all congeneric species. The pronotal shape and armature in frontal view is not illustrated because the specimen was only discovered after completion of this study. However, with no obvious diOEerences in pronotal shape and armature between females of B. mozambiquensis and B. sasakii , the illustration of the latter (®gure 4n) can also be used for the former. We were at least able to include an illustration showing the modi®cations on sternite 6 and pygidium in posterior view. These modi®cations are most similar to those in B. namibiensis females (compare ®gure 22h with 23o, p). The only diOEerences are: broader shape of the pygidium, lack of a suture on the pygidium and the apex of the sternite 6 medially strongly sclerotized and slightly protruding in B. mozambiquensis versus a very feebly sclerotized, feebly incised or narrowly truncate apex of the sternite 6 in B. namibiensis .

We are convinced that the allotype of B. mozambiquensis is the matching sex to the holotype. Up to date no other BolbaOEer species , in particular no other members of the B. abyssinicus species-group, have been collected in Mozambique. At most B. princeps can be expected to occur sympatrically in Mozambique. Similar, mirroring patterns of modi®cations on sternite 6 and pygidium in male and female members of the B. abyssinicus species-group, for example an unmodi®ed pygidium in both sexes of a species or a bilobed pygidium in both sexes of a species, suggest that the pygidium of the male B. mozambiquensis should have a small, apical emargination like its female counterpart. Unfortunately, the poor condition of the holotype makes it impossible to discern this character state.