Onthophagus tnai Nithya & Sabu

Sathiandran, Nithya & Sabu, Thomas K., 2012, New species, new synonym, and redescription of Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from the Western Ghats, India, Zootaxa 3526, pp. 53-58 : 54-56

Onthophagus tnai Nithya & Sabu , new species

( Figs. 1–3 )

Description. Male (holotype). Body ( Fig. 1 ) shiny black, head and pronotum dark coppery, antennae and tarsi red, body clothed with long yellow setae. Head. Broad, ocular lobes gently rounded laterally; clypeus truncate without sinuation; anterior margin reflexed. Head with backwardly produced, elevated lamina with emargination. Clypeus with large punctures laterally; close punctures on the lobes of emargination on head; middle smooth with sparse, fine punctures. Eyes small, moderately elliptic. Frontal carina absent ( Fig. 2 ). Pronotum. Convex; bearing close punctures; with a small, smooth, shiny elongate patch in the middle of the dorsal surface. Front angles produced anteriorly, hind angles obtuse, base strongly rounded. Anterior side of the pronotum smooth with some punctures. Elytra. Black, shiny, finely striate; intervals flat, bearing setiferous punctures; elytron with 7 reddish-yellow patches, 1 at the shoulder, 1 near the middle of the outer margin, 3 at the apical angle, a pair near the base and the suture. Wings. Hind wings present. Ventral surface. Pygidium basally bordered; shiny; with moderately close, large punctures. Mesosternum and metasternum with scattered punctures except medially. Legs. Profemur unmodified; protibia elongate, quadridentate externally with serration between teeth; mesofemur and metafemur unmodified; mesotarsi and metatarsi as long as tibia. Male genetalia. Parameres angled relative to basal piece and pointed towards the apex ( Fig. 3 ).

Female. Unknown.

Measurements (mm; n = 1: holotype). TL = 7.0, BW = 4.0, PL = 2.0 4, PW = 3.84, EL = 3.3. Paratypes (2 males): TL = 6.75–7.17, BW = 3.9–4.2, PL = 1.95–2.1, PW = 3.3–3.9, EL = 3.3–3.4.

Type material. Holotype: (male, in ZSI- Ca): “ India, Kerala, Palghat, Silent valley National Park, Syrandri, 1000 m, evergreen forest, dung baited pit fall trap, 9.v. 2008, Vinod, K.V.”

Paratypes (2): 1 male in NPC; “ India, Kerala, Panathady, 900 m, semi evergreen forest, dung baited pit fall trap, 3.xii.2007, Shiju, T.R.”, 1 male in SJC; Same data as holotype.

Distribution. India (South Western Ghats montane rain forests ecoregion).

Etymology. This species is named in honor of the doyen of Indian entomology, Prof. T.N. Anathakrishnan (TNA), Chennai, India.

Remarks. Onthophagus tnai has strong similarities to O. kchatriya in having black elytra with yellow markings, a pattern of yellow markings on the elytra, and the presence of a backwardly raised lamina on the head. But O. tnai differs from O. kchatriya in the presence of a punctate pronotum and the absence of horns on the head. Onthophagus tnai is similar to O. lemniscatus with a punctate pronotum and broadly truncate front margin of clypeus. It differs from O. lemniscatus in the presence of black elytra with yellow markings in contrast to yellow elytra with black markings, and the distribution pattern of black markings on the elytra and lack of horns on the head.

Variation. The paratype collected from the same locality as the holotype does not vary in any significant way; the other paratype has two punctate gibbosities on the anterior side of the pronotum, which contrasts with the lack of punctate gibbosities in other two specimens.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Onthophagus tnai (holotype): dorsal habitus (1), head (2), aedeagus, lateral view (3). Scale bar = 1 mm.