Stiptopodius peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt, 2020

Daniel, Gimo M., Deschodt, Christian M., Davis, Adrian L. V. & Sole, Catherine L., 2020, The enigmatic dung beetle genus Stiptopodius Harold, 1871 (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) revisited: new species descriptions from southern Africa, Zootaxa 4763 (3), pp. 394-404 : 395-396

Stiptopodius peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt , new species

( Figs. 1A , 2 E–F, 4)

Type locality: Richard’s Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Type material. Holotype, male: SOUTH AFRICA, KZN [KwaZulu-Natal] | Richard’s Bay || 28° 36’ 57.6” S | 32° 17’ 35.4” E | 27.i.2000 | Davis & Delport || dung-baited pitfall trap | CP13 (Cattle [& pig] composite) | +/-6 yr, Stand 6, 1995 [year that the rehabilitation of the forest started] | Open shrubland & | thicket | Site 2, Trap 1 || HOLOTYPE: Stiptopodius | peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt | 2020 [printed on red card] TYPH02476 ( SANC). Paratype, male: SOUTH AFRICA, KZN [KwaZulu-Natal] | near Lake Nhlabane | 25km NE of Richards Bay | 28° 38’ S; 32° 16’ E | 1992, M. Vogt || University of Pretoria Project | Richards Bay Minerals | Dune forest rehab. Survey || National Coll. of Insects | Pretoria, S. Africa || Dichotomini | det. J. duG. Harrison 2013 || SANC-Pretoria | Database No: | COLS 35796 | PARATYPE: Stiptopodius | peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt | 2020 [printed on red card] ( SANC) .

Description. Holotype, male. Length: 4.0 mm, width: 1.8 mm.

Colour. Brown to very dark brown.

Head. Incision between medial clypeal teeth deeply concave; latero-clypeal edges not sinuate; genae with external protrusion sharply triangular; surface of head shiny with punctation varying from fine to large, ocellate and setiferous; punctation dense on genae and sparse on vertex; clypeo-frontal carina visible, clypeal-genae suture present, vertex bearing carina slightly sinuate medially and situated immediately behind the anterior edge of eyes, never forming two cephalic tubercles. Antennae with eight antennomeres, labium with few well-developed setae.

Pronotum. Convex, wider than long; base of pronotum marginate; anterior edge wider than posterior; in lateral view, weakly sinuate before postero-lateral angles; surface shiny metallic brown, punctation ocellate, very short setae laterally, central disc glabrous.

Elytra. Lateral margin fairly straight, somewhat convex distally and concave proximally; sparsely and finely punctate in the last four striae with the rest apunctate; interstriae punctate, punctures on the side and posterior part sparsely setose.

Pygidium. Convex, punctation ocellate with setae emanating centrally.

Abdominal ventrites. Prosternum with well-developed setae, anterior angles slanted forward and inward. Mesoventrite dull, setose and densely punctate. Metaventrite shiny with long setae anteriorly, glabrous and sparsely punctate mid-posteriorly. Abdominal ventrites shiny, setigerous with ocellate punctures, strong setae arranged in lateral rows, glabrous medially, last ventrite narrowed medially (male character).

Legs. Profemora sparsely punctate, bearing well-developed setae, external edge strongly marginate, internal margin slightly marginate. Meso- and metafemora with external and internal edges sparsely setigerous and punctate; surface between external and internal margin glabrous and apunctate, strongly marginate in both edges (external and internal). Protibiae crenulate with four teeth on external margin, a line of setae around teeth in dorsal view; in ventral view, with two carinae, internally punctate and pilose. Protibial spur long, curved inwardly. Meso- and metatibiae triangular and strongly widened apically. Protarsi 5-articulated, protarsomere V at least 2x longer than others (each one individually), connected to a clearly visible pair of claws at distal tip. Meso- and metatarsomeres I–IV triangular, wider than long, with line of strong setae marginally (external and internal); tarsomeres widened apically, strongly concave medially with external and internal edges bearing a lobe distally; metatarsomere V rectangular and longer than others, followed by pair of very tiny apical claws.

Aedeagus. Parameres symmetrical (see Figs. 2 C–D).

Distribution. The species is only known from the type locality, Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was collected in a six-year-old rehabilitating forest.

Etymology. The specific name is in honour of Dr. Louis Albert Péringuey (1855–1924), a French-South African entomologist and former director of the Iziko Museums of South African, who contributed immensely to the knowledge of African insects.

Diagnosis. Stiptopodius peringueyi new species can be distinguished from the other two species in the S. doriae species-group ( S. doriae and S. longipedis ) by having a distinctive brown metallic sheen on the pronotum. S. doriae has a very elongate body, unlike the short and wide body of S. peringueyi new species. The meso- and metatarsomeres I to IV of the new species are triangular and wider than long, while in S. longipedis meso- and metatarsomeres I and II are much longer than wide. Furthermore, the latter species lacks meso- and metatarsomeres IV and V and meso- and metatarsal claws.

Remarks. In South Africa, S. peringueyi new species can be misidentified as S. singularis because both are roughly the same size. However, the two species belong to different species groups (see Introduction). Furthermore, the new species bears a carina on the head divided into two tubercles, which is lacking in S. singularis (see Figs.1A, D ).

Conservation status and potential threats. The species was collected on coastal dunes in a six-year-old stand comprising a monoculture of Vachellia kosiensis (P.P.Sw. ex Coates Palgr.) Kyal. & Boatwr that replaced the cleared dune forest after dredge-mining. The trees were spaced about one meter apart and were about two to three meters tall with a 100% closed canopy (CMD, personal observation). It is unclear if this species would prefer an open forest habitat and or if its occurrence was affected by mining strategies. The extent of occurrence of this species is not known and it should thus be assessed as Data Deficient.

Figures

FIGURES 1A–D. Habitus of Stiptopodius Harold, 1871 species, holotypes. A, Stiptopodius peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt, new species; B, Stiptopodius savuti Daniel & Deschodt, new species; C, Stiptopodius muellerae Daniel & Deschodt, new species; D, Stiptopodius singularis (Péringuey, 1901). Scale bar = 2.0 mm.

FIGURES 2A–F. Aedeagi of Stiptopodius Harold, 1871 species in dorsal (A, C, E) and lateral (B, D, F) views. A, B, Stiptopodius muellerae Daniel & Deschodt, new species; C, D, Stiptopodius peringueyi Daniel & Deschodt, new species; E, F, Stiptopodius singularis (Péringuey, 1901). Scale bar = 1.0 mm.