Onitis brahma Lansberge, 1875

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 : 13-16

Onitis brahma Lansberge, 1875

Figs 5B , 17

Onitisbrahma Lansberge, 1875: 142 (original description).

Onitisbrahma – Preudhomme De Borre 1881: 41 (catalogue). — Arrow 1931: 399 (keys, description). — Janssens 1937: 74 (revision). — Balthasar 1963: 45 (monograph). — Chandra 2000: 360 (distribution). — Chandra & Ahirwar 2005: 149 (distribution); 2007: 286 (distribution). — Sewak 2009b: 61 (distribution, diagnosis). — Chandra et al. 2011: 66 (distribution). — Chandra & Gupta 2012b: 817 (distribution). — Karimbumkara & Rajan 2013: 174 (distribution). — Gupta et al. 2014: 230 (distribution); 2015: 1034 (key, distribution, description). — Schoolmeesters 2022 (online catalogue).

Differential diagnosis

Onitisbrahma belongs to Group VII and is closer to O. crassus and O. castaneus in having a hairy pygidium and punctured pronotum but differs from both in having an interrupted frontal carina and strongly excised clypeus.

Material examined

Holotype

INDIA • ♂; “ Mniszech, Ex-Musaeo Van Lansberge , Muséum Paris ex Coll. R. Oberthür 1952, A. Janssens vid., 1936: Onitisbrahma Lansb.”, MNHN EC4809 .

Additional material (4 specimens)

INDIA • ♂, ♀; Dharwar, Bombay, “ H. Swale. 1913–117”, BMNH (E) 1237157 , BMNH (E) 1237158 • ♂, ♀; Nerbuda Survey , Barra, Bewa State, 8 Mar. 1927; 2700 ft a.s.l.; ZSIM .

Description

MEASUREMENTS (in mm). TL=21–26; BW=11–13.5.

Male

Black or dark brown; clypeus shining, not closely granulate; clypeal margin strongly reflexed, excised in the middle; head finely granulate; frontal carina interrupted in the middle; pronotum shining, pronotum rugose anteriorly and punctured behind; elytra deeply striate, intervals convex, unpunctured, not shining; pygidium sparingly punctured; scanty hairs on pygidium long; metasternum with close reddish hairs, a raised longitudinal ridge in the middle; fore legs elongate, femur bears a blunt anterior process near the extremity, tibia slender, strongly curved towards the tip, armed with four external teeth, a very sharp tooth beneath, before the middle and a long incurved terminal process; mesofemur with a sharp tooth near the middle of its lower edge; hind femur with a sharp outwardly directed tooth at its upper edge near the base and a blunt lobe before middle of the lower edge.

Female

Clypeus more densely granular, not shining; pronotum closely rugose on major part.

Distribution

India: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu ( Chandra 2000; Chandra & Ahirwar 2005, 2007; Sewak 2009b; Chandra & Gupta 2012b; Karimbumkara & Rajan 2013; Gupta et al. 2014, 2015; 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. 17. Map showing the distribution of OnitisassamensisBiswas, 1980; O. bhomorensis sp. nov.; O. bordatiCambefort, 1988; O. brahma Lansberge, 1875 and O. castaneus Redtenbacher, 1848 in the Indian Subcontinent.