Scoriaderma Fairmaire, 1894

Foley, Ian A. & Ivie, Michael A., 2008, A phylogenetic analysis of the tribe Zopherini with a review of the species and generic classification (Coleoptera: Zopheridae), Zootaxa 1928 (1), pp. 1-72 : 21-23

Genus Scoriaderma Fairmaire

Figs. 15–16 , 20–21

Scoriaderma Fairmaire, 1894a : C. Gebien, 1936: 670. Doyen and Lawrence, 1979: 345. Ṡ lipi ń ski and Lawrence, 1999:15. (Type species Scoriaderma comoriense Fairmaire 1894 , by monotypy).

Diagnosis: Similar in general appearance to Nosoderma echinatum from Cuba, with a dense tomentose vestiture and lobed lateral pronotal margins, but Scoriaderma is distinguished from Nosoderma by having a sinuate channel near the apical margin of the pronotum ( Fig. 20 ), a lateral bridge between the suprantennal ridge and subgenal ridge that encloses the antennal insertion apically ( Fig. 15 ), the labial palpal insertions concealed by the mentum ( Fig. 21 ), the micro-setose field of the last antennomere depressed and emarginate at the apex ( Fig. 5 ), a well developed but incomplete antennal cavity on the hypomeron, and lack of femoral nodules in the male.

Notes: For such a small genus, with so little literature, Scoriaderma is plagued with a surprisingly high amount of taxonomic/nomenclatural error, confusion and uncertainty. The problems revolve around a pair of papers published by Leon Fairmaire (1894a, 1894b), one in the Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France, and the other in the Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. Because these papers appeared in the same year, and were printed in different journals, it was critical to establish which paper actually appeared first in order to determine the type species of Scoriaderma , and details of the original texts, and their interpretation by subsequent workers, further complicates the issue.

The cover of the Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 1894, deuxieme et troisieme trimesters, which includes the Bulletin des Séances that includes the pages of Fairmaire’s 1894a paper, bears the mailing date of 25 November 1894. The Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique issue 12 for 1894, which includes pages of his 1894b paper includes the minutes from the Assemblee Mensuelle of 01 December 1894, so that the earliest possible (although improbable) date of mailing is 02 December 1894. However, as pointed out by Evenhuis (2002), there was a second version of the Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France from 1873–1894, known informally as the “Bulletin Bimensuel.” It had the same pagination as, but was issued twice-monthly, and in advance of, the version issued quarterly with the Annales. Thus, Scoriaderma Fairmaire 1894 was validated upon the mailing of issue 8 of the Bulletin Bimensuel, on 05 May 1894 ( Evenhuis 2002).

In that note, Fairmaire (1894a) explicitly described the genus for his new species Scoriaderma comoriense Fairmaire 1894 from the Comoro Islands. In the subsequent paper, he (1894b), described Scoriaderma congolense , but did not mention S. comoriense at all. In both papers, he mentioned the east African Nosoderma cordicolle Waterhouse, 1880 when diagnosing the new species. In the first (1894a), he suggested that N. cordicolle might belong in Scoriaderma . In the second (1894b), clearly after more study, he stated that it did indeed belong in Scoriaderma . With the establishment of the fact that the 1894a paper was published first, the type species of Scoriaderma must be taken from species included in that paper.

Yet, interpretation of the text has lead to disagreement about the correct type species. Fairmaire did not designate a type species. However, Gebien (1936), citing Fairmaire (1894a) as the validation of the generic name, designated N. cordicolle as the type species, which would constitute a subsequent designation, but Ṡ lipi ń ski and Lawrence (1999) listed Scoriaderma comoriense , citing monotypy. The legitimacy of these designations rests on whether Fairmaire included one or two species in the original paper. The dispute here revolves around the interpretation of the following paragraph:

“Ce curieux insecte ressemble beaucoup à Nosoderma echinatum , de Cuba. J’en dois la communication à notre collègue M. R. Obenthür. Déjà M. Waterhouse a signalé un Insecte de ce groupe trouvé dans les montagnes de l’Afrique orientale et qu’il a rapporté au genre Nosoderma , N. cordicolle (...). It est intéressant de voir ce genre américain passer, en se modifiant, de la Californie dans l’Amour (…), puis dans le Japon (…), et franchir les presqu’iles indiennes pour retrouver en Afrique. L'insect de M. Waterhouse doit appartenir tres probablement au nouveau genre.” ( Fairmaire 1894a: CI)

[English translation by MAI, corrected and validated by Rolf Aalbu] “This curious insect much resembles Nosoderma echinatum of Cuba. I owe the communication of it to our colleague Mr. R. Obenthür. Earlier Mr. Waterhouse described an insect of this group, found in the mountains of Eastern Africa, and referred it to the genus Nosoderma , N cordicolle (...). It is interesting to see this American genus passing, while changing, from California to the Amur (...), then in Japan (...), and jumping over the Indian peninsula to be found again in Africa. The insect of Mr. Waterhouse most probably belongs to this new genus.”

Does “probablement” constitute inclusion in the genus? ICZN (1999) Article 67.2.5 expressly excludes from eligibility any species “doubtfully or conditionally included” in the original genus. As such, Gebien’s designation is invalid, and Scoriaderma comoriense Fairmaire 1894 is indeed the type species, by monotypy.

Not to be outdone, Waterhouse managed to double-publish the name Nosoderma cordicolle as well ( Waterhouse 1880a, 1880b). The species was validated either by a description in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, or by indication ( ICZN 1999, Art. 12.1, 12.2.7), the name accompanying an illustration on plate iii of Westwood’s “Aid to the Identification of Insects.” The date of publication of the journal article is 01 March 1880 ( Evenhuis 2003), that of the plate is unknown to us. Luckily in this case, the order does not affect the stability of the name, as both the description and the indication are based on the same specimen. Given that the known publication date is early in the year, we have arbitrarily chosen the journal article as the validation, and list the plates as a subsequent use. Should reversal of this become necessary by future scholarship, it will not affect the interpretation of the name.

Not even Scoriaderma congolense escaped problems, as the label data on the type were misinterpreted by Fairmaire (1894b), and that Mexican species was placed in the African genus based on geography, not characters. It is here placed as a synonym of Verodes scabrosus (Solier) (see below under Verodes ). This restricts Scoriaderma to the drier upland forests of Eastern Africa and possibly the Comoro Islands (see below).

The now-monotypic genus Scoriaderma is grouped in the strict consensus tree ( Fig. 73 ) with the 2 species in the Cuban endemic Nosoderma . It is tempting to synonymize the 2 genera based on the small number of species and the overall similarity of the groups. However, since the generic name is already available, we will continue to recognize it for the time being.

Scoriaderma shares several characters with one or both of the basal Zopherus and Zopherosis (Ṡ lipi ń ski and Lawrence 1999). These include: absence of femoral nodules on all femora in the male (also homoplastic with Sesaspis emarginata and Verodes aequalis ), labial palp insertions concealed by the mentum, sensilla area at apex of last antennomere recessed and emarginate, and antennomere 3 transverse (also occurs in Sesaspis emarginata ). The lateral bridge between the suprantennal ridge and subgenal ridge that encloses the antennal insertion apically ( Fig. 15 ) is probably an synapomorphy for the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 73. Strict consensus tree of 4 shortest trees found using PAUP.

FIGURES 14–15. 14. Noserinus furcatus epipleuron. 15. Scoriaderma cordicolle. Prothoracic hypomeron. Scale bars = 1mm.

FIGURES 16–19. Dorsal habiti. 16. Scoriaderma cordicolle, Tanzania; 17. Sesaspis denticulata, Mexico, Nuevo Leon; 18. Sesaspis ashei, Mexico, Hidalgo; 19. Sesaspis doyeni, Mexico, Nuevo Leon. Space bar = 5mm.

FIGURES 20–21. Scoriaderma cordicolle. 20. Dorsal surface of head and pronotum; 21. Ventral surface of head and prosternum. Scale bars = 1mm.

FIGURES 1–5. 1–3. Antennal clubs. 1. Zopherus nodulosus; 2. Sesaspis sylvatica; 3. Zopherosis georgei. 4–5. Apex of last antennomere. 4. Nosoderma echinatum; 5. Scoriaderma cordicolle. Scale bar = 1 mm.