Epidrepanus nyika Roggero, Stanbrook, Josso, Barbero

Palestrini, Claudia, 2017, hips of Epidrepanus within the subtribe Drepanocerina (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Oniticellini), with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 4320 (1), pp. 1-24 : 8-9

Epidrepanus nyika Roggero, Stanbrook, Josso, Barbero , and Palestrini, new species

( Figs. 26–28 , 30 , 34 )

Material examined. Holotype. Male , “ MALAWI: Rumphi Dis., Nyika N.P., 2500m 14.xii.2014 leg. Josso Juhel Minetti, escr. humains” (slide EPI_11) [ MNHN].

Paratype. Male, “ MALAWI: Rumphi Dis., Nyika N.P., Juniper Ft 2168m 10°45’ S 33°53’ E 12–13.xii.2014 leg. Josso Juhel Minetti, escr. humains” (slide EPI_09) [ JFJC]

Diagnosis. A detailed list of the identification characters is given in Table 3.

Description. Length 4.5–5.5 mm. Blackish brown, with head, pronotum, and elytra shiny, pygidium and ventral side matt; legs and antennal club black.

Head clypeal margin reflexed; genae angulate anteriorly; eyes small; punctation deep and dense, close on vertex; vertex with straight and distinct carina, half as long as the interocular distance; surface with reddish-brown, scattered, long setae. Pronotum convex often greatly protruding in posterior half, with a distinct depression on sides; fore angles apically rounded; surface covered by wide, and rather dense punctures, with brown, long, thick, spatulate setae. Elytral surface bearing scattered, reddish-brown, thick, clavate setae, shorter than those of pronotum. Rough elytral microsculpture with small, imbricate, and thick punctures. Hindwing, see Fig. 30 . Pygidium carinate, with two ovalar depressions on sides, the surface with distinct microsculpture and sparse, large, setigerous punctures. Metasternal disc bearing a longitudinal, weak carina on the anterior half and an ovalar hollow posteriorly. Superficial, wide, dense punctures; scattered, spatulate, yellow setae. Abdominal segments with a rough surface covered by large, deep, merging punctures. Male genitalia, see Figs. 27–28 . Female genitalia, unknown. Epipharynx, see Fig. 34 .

Distribution. The species was collected in Malawi ( Fig. 25 ), which is within the known range of the genus Epidrepanus ( Roggero et al. 2015) .

Ecological notes. As the other Drepanocerina, the species feeds on dung. The holotype was collected in the grassland just at the border of a juniper forest; the paratype was collected near the top of the Nyika Plateau, and the trap was within the same grassland habitat (J.-F.J., personal observation).

Etymology. The species was named after the collection locality in Malawi. The name should be treated as a noun in apposition.

Figures

FIGURE 25. Map of the distribution of Epidrepanus caelatus (green dots), E. nyika new species (purple rhomb), E. kenyensis new species (blue rhomb), E. pulvinarius (orange triangles) and E. schimperi (red star).

FIGURES 26 – 28. Epidrepanus nyika. 26, habitus of the holotype, Malawi Rumphi District, Nyika National Park, Juniper Forest, scale bar = 2.0 mm. 27, aedeagus (scale bar = 0.5 mm), with the side view of the parameres (scale bar = 0.2 mm). 28, lamellae of endophallus, with the detail of the lamella copulatrix (scale bar = 0.2 mm).

FIGURES 29 – 33. Hindwing (scale bar = 1.0 mm). 29, Epidrepanus caelatus. 30, E. nyika. 31, E. kenyensis. 32, E. pulvinarius. 33, E. schimperi.

FIGURES 34 – 35. Epipharinx (scale bars = 0.2 mm). 34, Epidrepanus nyika. 35, E. kenyensis.