Orphnus planicollis Petrovitz, 1971

Frolov, Andrey V., 2013, New and little known species of the genus Orphnus MacLeay (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Orphninae) from the East African Rift, Zootaxa 3710 (3), pp. 297-300 : 297

Orphnus planicollis Petrovitz, 1971

Figs. 1 , 3, 5, 6, 9 , 11

Type material. Holotype, male with a label “ Nyassaland ” ( MHNG).

Additional material. TANZANIA: Iringa Region, Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, above Chita village , 1450 m, 4– 9.xi.1984, pitfall traps, N. Scharff leg., 7 males and 5 females ( ZMUKK) ; Iringa Region, Mafinga , 7–19.i.1996, G. Curletti leg., 6 males and 3 females ( MCSNC) ; “ Upangwa Dtsch. O. Afr.”, 1 female ( ZMHUB) ; “Deutsch-O. Afrika ”, 1 female ( ZMHUB) .

Female. Differs from male in having protibiae with elongate spur; clypeus without horn; pronotum narrower, feebly depressed on disc and without umbones and medial tubercle.

Variability. Body length of examined specimens varies from 6.5–9.0 mm. Clypeal horn of males varies from very short (wider than long) to 3 times longer than wide. Medial tubercle on pronotum and especially umbones are less developed in some specimens.

Distribution. The species was described from “Nyassa-Land” without more precise locality. The two exact localities known (Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve near Chita and Mafinga) are situated in Uzungwa—the southernmost and largest bloc of Eastern Arc Mountains ( Burgess et al. 2007). The other locality, Upangwa, refers to the part of Livingstone Mountains south of Uzungwa. Available data suggest that O. planicollis inhabits mid-altitude afromontane forests and is apparently a litter dweller.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Orphnus, map of known localities. •—O. planicollis; Δ—O. demeyeri.

FIGURES 1, 2. Orphnus, habitus of male. Fig. 1—O. planicollis. Fig. 2—O. demeyeri, holotype.

FIGURES 3–10. Orphnus. Figs. 3, 4—base of pronotum; Figs. 5–8—internal sac sclerite (8—sclerite broken); Figs. 9, 10— aedeagus in lateral view and parameres in dorsal view. Figs. 3, 5, 6, 9—O. planicollis. Figs. 4, 7, 8, 10—O. demeyeri, holotype.