Leucocelis (Leucocelis) adspersa ( Fabricius, 1801 )

Perissinotto, Renzo, 2023, New taxa of Leucocelis Burmeister, 1842 from Namibia, and revision of L. (L.) adspersa s. l. (Fabricius, 1801) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), Fragmenta entomologica 55 (2), pp. 195-214 : 202-203

Leucocelis (Leucocelis) adspersa ( Fabricius, 1801)

( Figs 8-12 )

Cetonia aspersa Fabricius, 1801: 154 ; Mannerheim 1838: 136; Gory & Percheron 1833: 66, 297 (actually representing Oxythyrea marginalis ).

Leucocelis adspersa (F.). Burmeister 1842: 426; Schoch 1895: 111; Péringuey 1907: 477, 480; Schenkling 1921:328.

Oxythyrea adspersa (F.); Schein 1960: 105; Sakai & Nagai 1998: 315, 392.

Cetonia attalica Schönherr, 1817: 138 ; Burmeister 1842: 426 ( = adspersa ); Péringuey 1907: 480 ( = adspersa ); Schenkling 1921: 328 ( = adspersa ).

Cetonia verreaux Gory & Percheron, 1833: 66 , 296; Péringuey 1907: 481 ( verreauxi erratim); Schenkling 1921: 328.

This was among the earliest described species in the genus, from material collected in the Cape Town area (“Cap: bon: sp:”), and should therefore represent the typical form occurring throughout the south-western parts of the current Western and Northern Cape provinces. Unfortunately ,

Brinkman leg. (SAMC-COL-A067950); 1 ind., Coboop- duine, 28°45ʹS. 19°21ʹE, 16-25.iii.1988, Preserv. Pitf. traps, J Irish & E. Marais ( SMWN) ; 7 inds, Soutrivier, 29°37’S 21°17’E, E. Marais & J. Irish ( SMWN) . ZAF: 1 ind., Natal [locality most probably erroneous] ( ZMHB) .

Remarks. Specimen size ranges between 9.6-12.1 mm in total length and 4.5-6.3 mm in maximum width. This species exhibits an extraordinary degree of variability in its elytral colour and ornamentation. These range from testaceous, brown, purple, reddish-orange, to light-green, dark green, blue and even polychromatic background colour with variable extent of white maculation superimposed on it (cf. Beinhundner 2017: 420, figs 1-12). A similar degree of variability is also observed on the pronotum, which however often exhibits a median, longitudinal dark band or macula. Also, there is a complete absence of white maculation on its surface ( Figure 1A, C ); a character that can be used in complex cases as diagnostic of the species.

Females differ from males by having stockier bodies, shorter protarsi, slightly enlarged protibias ( Figure 1C ) and a lack of concavity in the middle of their abdominal sternites. There is however no significant difference in the extent of white dorsal maculation between the two sexes.

Adults of this species emerge promptly only after major summer rainfall events, and are typically floricolous, having been recorded feeding on flowers of Acacia (= Vachellia ) sp., Catophractes alexandri , Ziziphus mucronata and other Gory & Percheron (1833), Burmeister (1842) and Péringuey (1907) all confused its identification, first by providing a description of the superficially close Oxythyrea marginalis (cf. Gory & Percheron 1833: 297; plate 57, fig. 7; Holm & Marais: 1992: 279), then by including the reddish pronotal margins among its key characters ( Burmeister 1842: 426 “ pronoti margine externo anoque rubido ”), and finally by using the invalid synonym of L. verreauxi to refer to the typical form of L. adspersa , in the belief that the latter was actually the eastern form with brownish-orange pronotal margins (cf. Péringuey 1907: 380).

Further confusion was generated by Schönherr (1817) with the use of the name Cetonia attalica in his synonymic work. The two type specimens of Schönherr actually represent two different subspecies of L. (L.) adspersa , but unfortunately none of them carry the LT designation mentioned for instance in Holm & Marais (1992: 280) and in Beinhundner (2017: 406). Since Schönherr in his list- ing of this taxon referred specifically to “ Cet. adspersa ” earlier described by Fabricius (1801) from the Cape of Good Hope (“Cap. bon. Spei.”), it seems appropriate to assume that the correct LT of C. attalica is the specimen with the black/coppery pronotum, typical of the nominal subspecies from the southwestern Cape. As the second specimen exhibits brownish-orange margins on the pronotum, it almost certainly originated from further afield, in the eastern part of the then Cape Colony, and should consequently be regarded as a PT of the new subspecies, L. (L.) a. orientalis subsp. nov., described here below ( Figs 8 and 9 ).

Leucocelis giannatellii Antoine, 2002 , described on the basis of a comparative analysis with L. franki is actually also a subspecies of L. adspersa s.l., as it exhibits all the key characters of this species, but also an extreme reduc- tion in white dorsal maculation and a marked darkening of its background colour, ranging from ferrugineous, to dark olive-green and even brown.

So, apart from the two subspecies currently recognised within this species, another two are added here, either as rectification of old descriptions or as result of new analyses.

Figures

Fig. 8 – Left: Leucocelis (L.) adspersa orientalis subsp. nov., Klein- poort, Cacadu, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Oct 27, 2021 15:18 (Photo: Felix Riegel). Right: Leucocelis (L.) adspersa. Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, Northern Cape, South Africa, Dec 31, 2013 8:12 (Photo: Johan Heyns).

Fig. 9 – Distribution range of the four subspecies of Leucocelis (L.) adspersa within the southern and East African regions. (Map: Google Earth Pro with image from Landsat/Copernicus 12/14/2015).

Fig. 10 – Leucocelis (Leucocelis) adspersa orientalis subsp. nov.: A, HT♂ dorsal habitus; B, HT♂ ventral habitus; C, HT♂ lateral habitus; D, HT♂ clypeus; E, HT♂ pygidium; F, HT♂ parameres, dorsal view; G, HT♂ parameres, lateral view. Photos: Lynette Clennell.

Fig. 11 – Examples of dorsal habitus variability among the different subspecies of Leucocelis (Leucocelis) adspersa s.l. Leucocelis (L.) a. adspersa: 1, Cetonia adspersa, Fabricius LT (“Cap: bon: sp:”); 2, Cetonia verreaux Gory LT (“Cap. b. sp.”); 3, ♂, ZAF-WC, Cederberg; 4, ♀, ZAF-WC, Elandsberg. Leucocelis (L.) a. giannatellii: 5, ♀, ZAF-NC, Steinkopf-Springbok; 6, ♀, ZAF-NC, Near Kamieskroon; 7, ♂, ZAF-NC, Kamieskroon; 8, ♂, ZAF-NC, Nieuwoudtsville.Leucocelis (L.) a. orientalis: 9, ♂, ZAF-ZN, Mt Currie; 10, ZAF-EC, Fort Brown; 11, ♂, ZAF-EC, Willowmore; 12, ♀, ZAF-EC, East London. Leucocelis (L.) a. umtalina: 13, ♂, ZIM Kwekwe; 14, ♀, ZIM Masvingo; 15, TAN Lindi-Masasi; 16, MAL Cape Maclear. (Photos:1, Michael Kuhlmann; 2, Giulio Cuccodoro; 3,4, 7-12, Lynette Clennell; 5,6, 13-16, Gerhard Beinhundner).

Fig. 12 – Leucocelis (L.) adspersa umtalina Péringuey, 1907 in its typical habitat. Left: Mashovhela, Morning Sun Nature Reserve, Soutpansberge near Louis Trichard, appr. 500 m NN, 10 Feb 2010 (Photo: Hanna Roland); right:Tsindi Ruins, Murehwa, Zimbabwe, 7 Dec 2022 15:58 (Photo: Glenn Stockil).

Fig. 1 –Leucocelis (Leucocelis) claveaui claveaui sp. et subsp. nov.: A, HT♂ dorsal habitus; B, HT♂ ventral habitus; C, PT♀ dorsal habitus; D, HT♂ lat- eral habitus; E, HT♂ clypeus; F, HT♂ pygidium; G, HT♂ parameres, dorsal view; H, HT♂ parameres, lateral view. Photos: Lynette Clennell.