Atrichelaphinis (Eugeaphinis) simillima (Ancey, 1883)

Rojkoff, Sebastien & Perissinotto, Renzo, 2015, Review of the genera Anelaphinis Kolbe, 1892 and Atrichelaphinis Kraatz, 1898 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), ZooKeys 482, pp. 91-142 : 115

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Scarabaeidae

Atrichelaphinis (Eugeaphinis) simillima (Ancey, 1883) Figure 15

Elaphinis simillima Ancey, 1883: 94-95; Kraatz 1892: 415; Kolbe 1892a: 136; Schenkling1921: 306; Bourgoin 1930: 15; Müller 1939: 298; Antoine 1991: 2; Marais and Holm 1992: 7.

Anelaphinis simillima (Ancey) Schenkling, 1921: 306; Burgeon 1931: 219; Kolbe 1892a: 136; Müller 1939: 298; Arrow 1940: 4, 6; Marais and Holm 1992: 7.

Atrichelaphinis simillima Müller, 1939: 299.

Type specimen.

Holotype not traced; described from "Abyssinie" (collected by Raffray, with no date but probably ca 1881).

Redescription

(n> 350). Size: length ♂, 9.4-13.4 mm; ♀, 10.3-14.8 mm; width ♂, 5.5-7.8 mm ♀, 6.1-8.7 mm.

Body. Ligth brown, velutinous to shiny with dark markings never covering whole surface, always lighter areas present; mesepimeron with setigerous sculpture in both sexes.

Head. With metallic sheen; vertex velutinous and hairy, sometimes reaching clypeal disc; clypeus transverse, reborded and slightly bilobed in front, sometimes weakly upturned; sculpture dense and deep, simple on disc and more or less confluent in front and latetally; vertex with smooth area and tomentum, large and smooth longitudinal carina extending from vertex to clypeal disc which is convex.

Pronotum. Exhibiting metallic sheen and setae on lateral margins; with lateral angles usually broadly rounded, sometimes almost undistinguished; lateral margin completely reborded, posterior margin weakly concave in front of scutellum, laterally convex towards posterior angles; diffuse tomentose lines along lateral margins, sometimes very reduced, two radial lines on each side of midline usually made of three groups of spots more or less developed; sculpture marked, not dense on disc, more or less confluent laterally; dark green marks sometimes very reduced.

Scutellum. Longitudinal with apex from acute to blunt, without sculpture except near angles, without tomentum; with lateral grooves and sides almost straight or weakly curved inwards.

Elytra. With weak posthumeral emargination, reborded laterally; dark green marks sometimes very reduced or absent, but never covering whole surface; disc without tomentum; sculpture variable in size and intensity, usually vertical series of horseshoe punctures, sometimes confluent; short setae on lateral declivity and apex; apex acute but not protruding backwards.

Pygidium. With short setae occasionally throughout surface.

Underside. Shiny, with metallic sheen; with dense pilosity; mesosternal apophysis transverse, finely punctate and glabrous, not or slightly protruding in front of mesocoxae, not clearly oriented in lateral view; metasternum and abdomen sculpted laterally (horseshoe to striolate punctures) and showing white tomentum usually more developed in male; abdomen concave in male, flat or slightly convex in female.

Legs. Meso- and metatibiae with carina on external side just under middle; metatarsomeres shorter and more robust in female; protibiae enlarged, metatibiae slightly broader and hind spurs enlarged in female; metatibial spurs thin and acute in male, slightly enlarged and less acute but not blunt in female.

Aedeagus. Parameres about twice as long as wide, side from parallel to slightly convergent in front, apex truncate with lateral angles rounded, sometimes weakly bulbous laterally, emarginated at middle of downturning apical part.

Remarks.

All specimens examined originated from Ethiopia. Some are labeled "Shoa-Somali" but without precise locality and were collected during the expedition of V. Erlanger. They were probably also collected within the current borders of Ethiopia. The type of Ancey (1883) could not be traced. Three specimens from the Oberthür Collection, collected in "Abyssinie" by Raffray and identified as Anelaphinis simillima by Antoine (1992), were found at the MNHN. Two of them are "ex-Museo D. Sharp 1890" and "ex-Museo Van Lansberge", respectively. They are both bigger than the size given by Ancey in his description. The third one, labelled "Abyssinie Raffray Voy. 1881" match the description and the sizes indicated by Ancey. It is not known if this specimen is the holotype or a cotype, but a red label indicating this possibility has now been attached to it by Rojkoff (2014). Because both collections of Ancey and Raffray were scattered through different collections, it is virtually impossible to establish the precise status of this specimen. The identification of Atrichelaphinis (Eugeaphinis) simillima was based on specimens (4♂, 4♀) held in the IRSN and carrying the following labels "Comp. par Bourgoin au type" / "Harrar Abyssinie / Juin Juill. 1911 / G. Kristensen", and identified as " Elaphinis simillima Ancey / 1913 Det. A. Bourgoin". Horn et al. (1990: 18) reported that Ancey’s Cetoniinae were in the JM Bédoc /Paris Collection, but they have not been traced since. Some specimens kept in the MNHN collections are labelled "Abyssinie/Raffray", but they cannot be regarded as type material. In the same publication where Atrichelaphinis (Eugeaphinis) simillima was described, Ancey (1883) also included Gnathocera costata Ancey, 1883, the type material of which is housed in the MNHU, according to Marais and Holm (1992: 33).