Atrichelaphinis (Atrichelaphinis) tigrina (Olivier, 1789)

Rojkoff, Sebastien & Perissinotto, Renzo, 2015, Review of the genera Anelaphinis Kolbe, 1892 and Atrichelaphinis Kraatz, 1898 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), ZooKeys 482, pp. 91-142 : 99

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Scarabaeidae

Atrichelaphinis (Atrichelaphinis) tigrina (Olivier, 1789) Figure 3

Cetonia tigrina Olivier, 1789: 91; Gory and Percheron 1833: 272; MacLeay 1838: 46; Boheman 1857: 27; Schenkling 1921: 304; Antoine 1991: 2; Marais and Holm 1992: 11; Holm and Marais 1992: 197; Antoine 2002: 185.

Cetoninus (Cetonia) tigrina (Olivier) MacLeay, 1838: 46.

Elaphinis tigrina (Olivier) Blanchard, 1850: 12; Ancey 1883: 95; Kraatz 1883: 384; Gerstaecker 1884: 46; Fairmaire 1893: 10; Schoch 1895: 108; Kraatz 1895a: 382; Distant 1897: 576; Péringuey 1907: 449; Schenkling 1921: 304; Holm and Marais 1992: 197; Antoine 2002: 185.

Atrichelaphinis tigrina (Olivier) Moser, 1907: 321; Péringuey 1908: 684; Distant 1911: 266; Schenkling 1921: 304; Marais and Holm 1992: 11; Holm and Marais 1992: 197; Antoine 2002: 185.

Atrichelaphinis furvata (Fabricius) Marais & Holm, 1992: 11.

Cetonia furvata Fabricius, 1798: 130; Thunberg 1818: 420; Boheman 1857: 27; Schenkling 1921: 304; Antoine 1991: 2; Marais and Holm 1992: 11; Holm and Marais 1992: 197; Antoine 2002: 185.

Elaphinis furvata (Fabricius) Burmeister, 1842: 597; Blanchard 1850: 12; Boheman 1857: 27; Harold 1878: 213; Fairmaire 1887: 129; Schenkling 1921: 304; Holm and Marais 1992: 197; Antoine 2002: 185.

Euryomia furvata (Fabricius) Redtenbacher, 1868: 81; Schenkling 1921: 304; Antoine 2002: 185.

Type specimen.

Holotype unknown.

Redescription

(n> 100). Size: length ♂, 8.6-15.2 mm; ♀, 9.6-15.0 mm; width ♂, 5.0-8.8 mm; ♀, 5.3-9.1 mm.

Body. Dorsum orange-brown, matt with black marks well defined and more or less developed, especially on head and pronotum; often with white tomentose spots on pronotum, scutellum and exceptionally on elytra; setae short on vertex, pronotum (mainly on lateral side) and elytral base, extremely short and barely visible on clypeus, elytra and pronotal disc.

Head. Clypeus almost as long as wide, bilobed and upturned on anterior margin, punctures deep, with setigerous punctures becoming confluent laterally and in front.

Pronotum. Angles round, postero-lateral ones sometimes vanishing; posterior margin straight to concave in front of scutellum; with reborded lateral margins.

Scutellum. Variably marked with black markings and white tomentose spots; setae barely noticeable, mainly at margins.

Elytra. Disc exhibiting three pairs of single to double geminate striae, with first two usually complete, third more or less complete; odd costae convex; sutural apex from blunt to protruding.

Pygidium. Black with some light to dark brown areas; lunulate setigerous punctures, sometimes forming a complete ring on the surface but near apex forming more or less horizontal and confluent lines; apex marginated.

Underside. Shiny, black with more or less developed brown areas and white tomentose spots on metasternum and abdomen; setae long, scattered and shorter on mesepimera and abdominal sternites; mesosternal apophysis transverse, sometimes very large, compressed between mesocoxae, usually flat, sometimes showing relief, covered with setae, but not protruding in front of them; metasternum laterally strongly sculptured with wrinkles, median part glabrous and smooth, with longitudinal mediam line; abdomen more densely sculptured laterally with horseshoe punctures; concave in males, sometimes with slight groove, convex in females.

Legs. Long setae particularly dense on femora and tibiae; metatibiae and metafemora thickened, without tomentum; metatibial spur thin and pointed in male, slightly enlarged and blunt in female.

Aedeagus. Parameres subparallel in their apical half, then enlarged; lateral apical angle showing more or less developed hook-like protrusion; downturned part of apex showing incision at middle.

Remarks.

One female from the MNHU (Coll. L.W. Schaufuss, labeled "Cap b. Sp.") exhibits protibiae bidentate, with teeth widely separated. Other female specimens have been observed with the same feature, but no males. This seems to be exceptional and possibly due to wearing during the fossorial action required to lay eggs underground.The species is mainly distributed in the eastern part of South Africa, reaching the Western Cape Province along the southern coastline. There are also occasional reports from Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique ( Holm and Marais 1992). This is a typical flower and fruit feeder that has been observed on a large variety of plants, from grasses to large trees.