Onitis falcatus ( Wulfen, 1786 )

Karimbumkara, Seena Narayanan & Priyadarsanan, Dharma Rajan, 2024, Study on the genus Onitis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of the Indian Subcontinent, with three new species from India, European Journal of Taxonomy 956, pp. 1-61 : 21-23

Onitis falcatus ( Wulfen, 1786)

Figs 5F , 6H , 18

Scarabaeus falcatus Wulfen, 1786: 14 (original description).

Onitishimaleyicus Redtenbacher, 1844: 518 (synonym).

Onitis kiuchii Masumoto 1995: 88 (synonym).

Onitisfalcatus – Lansberge 1875: 126 (monograph). — Boucomont & Gillet: 1921: 17 (distribution). — Arrow 1931: 392 (key and description). — Balthasar 1935: 93 (monograph); 1963: 33 (monograph). — Janssens 1937: 44 (revision). — Paulian 1945: 142 (revision). — Biswas & Chatterjee 1985: 158 (distribution); 1991: 260 (distribution). — Chandra 2000: 360 (distribution); 2005: 150 (distribution). — Mittal 2005: 46 (list). — Rajan 2006: 108 (key, distribution). — Bezděk & Krell 2006: 159 (distribution). — Chandra & Ahirwar 2007: 276 (distributional). — Sewak 2009a: 36 (diagnosis, distribution); 2009b: 58 (diagnosis and distribution). — Singh et al. 2010: 1395 (distribution). — Sabu et al. 2011: 34 (list). — Chandra et al. 2012a: 52 (distribution). — Karimbumkara & Rajan 2013: 174 (distribution). — Gupta et al. 2015: 1037 (checklist). — Bezděk 2016: 179 (distribution). — Ghosh et al. 2020 (distribution). — Schoolmeesters 2022 (online catalogue).

Differential diagnosis

Onitisfalcatus is similar to O. excavatus in having a minutely punctured pronotum but differs in the nature of rugosity on the clypeus, the presence of longitudinal groove on the pronotum and also in the shape of the body. (Also see remarks under Onitisexcavatus.)

Type material examined

Syntypes (2 specimens)

INDIA • 2 ♀♀; “ O. himaleyicus ; TYPUS (Red card); Hugel: 170; Himaleyicus K. Redt. ”; Kashmir; specimen number not assigned; NHMW.

Additional material examined (125 specimens)

INDIA • ♂, ♀; “ Darjiling, Singla , 1500 ft, Lord Carmichael’s collection, May 1913 ”; ZSIM • 27 ♂♂, 16 ♀♀; Karnataka, BRT Tiger Reserve: Gombegallu evergreen forest; 6 Jun. 1999; 11°55ʹ54.6 N, 77°11ʹ3.48″ E; AIMB / Co/Sc1000064 to 1000106 • 6 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Karnataka, BRT Tiger Reserve: Kanneri moist deciduous forest; 28 May 1999; 11°53ʹ43.62″ N, 77°8ʹ9.48″ E; open cow dung bait traps; Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000107 to 1000117 • ♀; Karnataka, BRT Tiger Reserve: Purani dry deciduous forest; 18 May 1999; 12°1ʹ55.2″ N, 77°7ʹ52.68″E; open cow dung bait traps; Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000118 • 9 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀; Karnataka, BRT Tiger Reserve: Honnametti Shola ; Apr. 1998; 11°53ʹ26.52″ N, 77°12ʹ4.98″ E; open cow dung bait traps; Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000119 to 1000134 • 13 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Karnataka, BRT Tiger Reserve: Gummane Shola ; May 1998; 12°1ʹ10.2″ N, 77°10ʹ30.66″ E; open cow dung bait traps; Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000135 to 1000152 • 2 ♂♂, ♀; Kerala, Wayanad , arecanut plantation; 14 Nov. 2010; open cow dung bait trap; Nisha, P. V. leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000153 to 1000155 • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; Kerala, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary , grassland; 8 May 2009; 08°51ʹ41.8ʺ N, 77°08ʹ00.5ʺ E; open cow dung bait traps; Kishore A. leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000156 to 1000162 • ♂, ♀; Kerala, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary , degraded forests; 3 Dec. 2009; 08°55ʹ05.6ʺ N, 77°05ʹ44.7ʺ E; open cow dung bait traps; Kishore A. leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000163 to 1000164 • ♂, Kerala, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary , rubber plantation; 5 May 2009; 08°51ʹ41.8ʺ N, 77°08ʹ00.5ʺ E; open cow dung bait traps; Kishore A. leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000165 • ♀; Kerala, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary , teak plantations; 8 Oct. 2008; open cow dung bait traps; Seena Narayanan Karimbumkara leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000166 • ♀; Mizoram, Pasighat, Kawlbem, Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary ; 23°52ʹ16.6404ʺ N, 93°18ʹ22.2408ʺ E; elev. 1500 m a.s.l.; 14 Apr. 2019; cow dung baited pitfall trap; Harsha Malhotra and team leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000167 • 5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; Arunachal Pradesh, agricultural field, Rani Village ; 27°58ʹ10.6068ʺ N, 95°19ʹ26.1156ʺ E; elev. 131 m a.s.l.; 30 Sep. 2018; hand-picked from cow dung; Harsha Malhotra and team leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000168 to 1000175 • ♂, ♀; Arunachal Pradesh, community forest, Pasighat, Rani Village ; 27°58ʹ9.0156ʺ N, 95°19ʹ18.9804ʺ E; elev. 133 m a.s.l.; 30 Sep. 2018; cow dung baited pitfall trap; Harsha Malhotra and team leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000176 to 1000177 • ♂; Arunachal Pradesh, Darak / Larmuk Pottom forest, West Siang ; 28°12ʹ12.6576ʺ N, 94°35ʹ45.546ʺ E; elev. 434 m a.s.l.; 18 Nov. 2019, mithun dung baited pitfall; Harsha Malhotra and team leg.; AIMB / Co/ Sc1000178 • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Arunachal Pradesh, Kaying forest, West Siang ; 15 Nov. 2019; cow dung, Harsha Malhotra and team leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000179 to 1000183 • ♀; Nagaland, Bongkolong village, near Intanki National Park , open ground; 15 Apr. 2021; hand-picked from cow dung; Seena Narayanan Karimbumkara leg.; AIMB / Co/Sc1000184 .

MALAYSIA • ♀; “ PERAK, F.M.S., Sep. 1907, Coll.; Ex. F.M.S. Museum., B.M. 1955–354; Onitis falcatus J. Gillet det. Wulf. 1923, S.E. Asia ”; BMNH (E) 1237166 .

Description

MEASUREMENTS: TL: 16–23 mm; BW: 8–12 mm.

Male

Black, smooth, shining; clypeus elliptical, feebly excised in middle, moderately closely, finely rugulose; frontal carina widely interrupted, a short clypeal carina; pronotum finely and sparsely punctured without a median groove; elytra finely striate, 1 st, 3 rd and 5 th intervals raised, striae very shallow, irregular punctures on sutural intervals; pygidium opaque, smooth, unpunctured; metasternal shield smooth, feebly punctured, hairy anteriorly; protibia elongate with two or three minute teeth before the middle of the lower surface, a sharp incurved terminal process, a minute tooth near the end of the lower edge of the mesofemur.

AEDEAGUS (in mm) ( Fig. 6E–H ). LP= 2, Lp=1.75; BP=1, BpB =0.5, BpT=0.25. Parameres shorter than phallobase, straight above and slightly curved below and hooked at the tip.

Female

Pronotum with stronger punctures; protibia uniformly curved with an articulated spur at the tip.

Distribution

India: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, West Bengal. Other countries: Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; China; Laos; Myanmar; Malay Peninsula; Nepal; Pakistan; Philippines; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam ( Biswas & Chatterjee 1985; Chandra 2000; Mittal 2005; Rajan 2006; Bezděk & Krell 2006; Chandra & Ahirwar 2007; Sewak 2009a, 2009b; Singh et al. 2010; Sabu et al. 2011; Chandra et al. 2012a; Karimbumkara & Rajan 2013; Gupta et al. 2015; Bezděk 2016; Ghosh et al. 2020; Schoolmeesters 2022).

Figures

Fig. 5. A. Onitis bordati Cambefort, 1988, holotype, ♂, MNHN EC1187, (image: Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN). B. O. brahma Lansberge, 1875, ♂, BMNH (E) 1237157, (image: BMNH). C. O.castaneus Redtenbacher, 1848, syntype, (image: Harald Schillhammer, NHMW). D. O. crassus Sharp, 1875, holotype, ♂, MNHN EC4813, (image: Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN). E. O. excavatus Arrow, 1931, lectotype, ♂, BMNH (E) 1237173, (image: BMNH). F. O. falcatus (Wulfen, 1786), ♂, AIMB/Co/ Sc1000070, (image: AIMB).

Fig. 6. Aedeagus, lateral, dorsal, ventral and apical views. A–D. Onitisexcavatus Arrow, 1931, AIMB/Co/Sc1000037. E–H. O. falcatus (Wulfen, 1786), AIMB/Co/Sc1000070. I–L. O. bhomorensis sp. nov., NIM/NBAIR/COL/ONIT/H-271023A. M–P. O. punctatostriatus Janssens, 1937, AIMB/ Co/Sc1000492. (Images: AIMB).

Fig. 18. Map showing the distribution of Onitis crassus Sharp, 1875; O. excavatus Arrow, 1931; O. falcatus(Wulfen, 1789); O. feae Felsche, 1907; O. humerosus (Pallas, 1771) and O. kethai sp. nov. in the Indian Subcontinent.