Scarabaeus sakalava Montanaro & Tarasov, 2024

Montanaro, Giulio & Tarasov, Sergei, 2024, Beyond natural language: an ontology-based description of a new Scarabaeus dung beetle from Madagascar (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae), Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 134364-e 134364 : e134364-

Scarabaeus sakalava Montanaro & Tarasov sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15827 ; recordedBy: I. Hanski group; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 16BD880A-0D65-5B0E-909A-A3DDD3A4D1A8; Taxon: taxonID: urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_names:275502; scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Ambadira-Morondava ; verbatimLocality: Ambadira-Mormdava; decimalLatitude: - 19.8299; decimalLongitude: 44.6403; georeferenceRemarks: coordinates inferred from locality name; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: cattle dung; eventDate: 12-2006; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15828 ; recordedBy: I. Hanski group; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 54A6436B-20BF-5615-9B08-048D138D820E; Taxon: taxonID: urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_names:275502; scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Ambadira-Morondava ; verbatimLocality: Ambadira-Mormdava; decimalLatitude: - 19.8299; decimalLongitude: 44.6403; georeferenceRemarks: coordinates inferred from locality name; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: cattle dung; eventDate: 12-2006; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15818 ; recordedBy: Ilkka Hanski; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 341C47FD-A05B-53A0-99AB-30725CE58997; Taxon: taxonID: urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_names:275502; scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Marofandilia ; decimalLatitude: - 20.1327; decimalLongitude: 44.5503; georeferenceRemarks: coordinates inferred from locality name; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: fish baited trap; eventDate: 04-2004; habitat: dry deciduous forest corridor; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15817 ; recordedBy: Ilkka Hanski; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: F6002F94-267E-5CBB-802A-F519E4BEC873; Taxon: taxonID: urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_names:275502; scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Marofandilia ; decimalLatitude: - 20.1327; decimalLongitude: 44.5503; georeferenceRemarks: coordinates inferred from locality name; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: fish baited trap; eventDate: 04-2004; habitat: dry deciduous forest corridor; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15816 ; recordedBy: Ilkka Hanski; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 7722D749-3E83-50B3-BB60-38B86F7F2477; Taxon: taxonID: urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_names:275502; scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Marofandilia ; decimalLatitude: - 20.1327; decimalLongitude: 44.5503; georeferenceRemarks: coordinates inferred from locality name; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: fish baited trap; eventDate: 04-2004; habitat: dry deciduous forest corridor; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.57485 ; recordedBy: Sergei Tarasov; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 2E216A5E-330D-5C21-9711-BB32E3B096D8; Taxon: scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Morondava, Kirindy station ; verbatimElevation: 71 m; verbatimCoordinates: - 20.066805, 44.657255; decimalLatitude: - 20.066805; decimalLongitude: 44.657255; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: eventID: MG 22-29 a; samplingProtocol: human dung traps; eventDate: 03/ 07-03-2022; habitat: dry forest; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.57486 ; recordedBy: Sergei Tarasov; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 055DDC5A-D731-5DB6-9A9C-B4359C2E84C5; Taxon: scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Morondava, Kirindy station ; verbatimElevation: 71 m; verbatimCoordinates: - 20.066805, 44.657255; decimalLatitude: - 20.066805; decimalLongitude: 44.657255; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: eventID: MG 22-29 a; samplingProtocol: human dung traps; eventDate: 03/ 07-03-2022; habitat: dry forest; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.57487 ; recordedBy: Sergei Tarasov; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 64E02FAA-3180-51C1-9ACC-C9E42D0C3020; Taxon: scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Morondava, Kirindy station ; verbatimElevation: 71 m; verbatimCoordinates: - 20.066805, 44.657255; decimalLatitude: - 20.066805; decimalLongitude: 44.657255; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: eventID: MG 22-29 a; samplingProtocol: human dung traps; eventDate: 03/ 07-03-2022; habitat: dry forest; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.57488 ; recordedBy: Sergei Tarasov; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 42053262-8E9F-5379-AD6C-6A6A57AA3507; Taxon: scientificName: Scarabaeus sakalava ; genus: Scarabaeus ; specificEpithet: sakalava ; scientificNameAuthorship: Montanaro & Tarasov; Location: country: Madagascar; stateProvince: Toliara; locality: Morondava, Kirindy station ; verbatimElevation: 71 m; verbatimCoordinates: - 20.066805, 44.657255; decimalLatitude: - 20.066805; decimalLongitude: 44.657255; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Giulio Montanaro; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: eventID: MG 22-29 a; samplingProtocol: human dung traps; eventDate: 03/ 07-03-2022; habitat: dry forest; Record Level: institutionID: http://grbio.org/cool/2vmj-fp0v; institutionCode: MZH; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Fig. 2 a , b

male organism Catalog Number http://id.luomus.fi/GZ.15827

male organism has role in modeling TU denotes species species Parent Name Usage ID https://www.gbif.org/species/9074838 species Taxon ID http://zoobank.org/ 7AD8F87F-E7C1-4094-BD63-7662F167E9CB

male organism: ovate;

male organism, chitin-based cuticle chitin-based cuticle, lateral side encircles cuticular seta: red brown; chitin-based cuticle, ventral side encircles cuticular seta: red brown; chitin-based cuticle: black; chitin-based cuticle: glistening;

male organism, antenna with 9 antennomeres antenna with 9 antennomeres, antennal club antennal club, flagellomere 5: present; antennal club, flagellomere 6: present; antennal club, flagellomere 7: present; antenna with 9 antennomeres: red brown;

male organism, insect leg encircles cuticular seta: red brown;

male organism, genal margin genal margin, posterior region: right angle to; genal margin, anterior region anterior region: protruding; anterior region: acute angle to;

male organism, head margin at genoclypeal sulcus: notched;

male organism, lateral clypeal tooth 1: acute angle to;

male organism, lateral clypeal tooth 2: acute angle to;

male organism, clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1 clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1: acute angle to; clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1: notched;

male organism, clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1 and 2 clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1 and 2: acute angle to; clypeal margin between clypeal teeth 1 and 2: notched;

male organism, frons frons, cuticular carina cuticular carina: bilaterally paired; cuticular carina: transverse orientation; cuticular carina: decreased length; frons: protruding;

male organism, vertex, granulated cuticle: present;

male organism, gena gena, medial region, granulated cuticle: present; gena, lateral region: wrinkled;

male organism, clypeus, anterior region: wrinkled;

male organism, glossa: present;

male organism, epipharynx: present;

male organism, insect maxilla: present;

male organism, maxillary palpus with 4 palpomeres: present;

male organism, labial palpus with 3 palpomeres: present;

male organism, pronotum pronotum, dorsal region: convex; pronotum, lateral margin: curved; pronotum, posterior margin: curved; pronotum, row of punctures coincident with posterior margin pronotum: width larger than length of pronotum

male organism, anterolateral pronotal angle anterolateral pronotal angle: sharp; anterolateral pronotal angle: lateral orientation;

male organism, lateral pronotal carina lateral pronotal carina, row of punctures: present; lateral pronotal carina: serrated;

male organism, pronotal disc, punctate cuticle, cuticular puncture: sparse;

male organism, elytron with 9 striae elytron with 9 striae, dorsal region: microreticulate; elytron with 9 striae, elytral interstria elytral interstria, punctate cuticle, cuticular puncture: sparse; elytral interstria, granulated cuticle, cuticular granule cuticular granule: decreased size; cuticular granule: flattened;

male organism, elytral interstria 8, proximal region, cuticular carina adjacent to elytral stria 7 of male organism

male organism, elytral interstria 9, proximal region, cuticular carina adjacent to elytral stria 8 of male organism

male organism, scutellar shield: concealed;

male organism, hind wing hind wing: present; hind wing: normal;

male organism, abdomen with 8 sternites: present;

male organism, abdominal sternite VIII, cuticular groove cuticular groove adjacent to postero-lateral margin of abdominal sternite VIII cuticular groove: bilaterally paired;

male organism, abdominal tergite VIII abdominal tergite VIII, cuticular puncture cuticular puncture: multiple; cuticular puncture: sparse; abdominal tergite VIII, anterior groove of tergite VIII: present; abdominal tergite VIII, anterior carina of tergite VIII: present; abdominal tergite VIII, distal border of tergite VIII, posterior region: increased length; abdominal tergite VIII: convex; abdominal tergite VIII: microreticulate;

male organism, protarsus with 5 protarsomeres: present;

male organism, mesotarsus with 5 mesotarsomeres: present;

male organism, metatarsus with 5 metatarsomeres: present;

male organism, protibia protibia, dorsal protibial cuticular tooth 1: present; protibia, dorsal protibial cuticular tooth 2: present; protibia, dorsal protibial cuticular tooth 3: present; protibia, dorsal protibial cuticular tooth 4: decreased size; protibia, ventral margin: serrated; protibia, ventral margin, proximal region: serrated; protibia: curved;

male organism, dorsal protibial margin between protibial teeth 1 and 2: scalloped;

male organism, dorsal protibial margin between protibial teeth 2 and 3: scalloped;

male organism, dorsal protibial margin between protibial teeth 3 and 4: scalloped;

male organism, profemur, antero-ventral margin, distal region, cuticular spine: flattened;

male organism, mesotibia mesotibia, distal region, cuticular spine in homology relationship with mesotibial spur; mesotibia, dorsal region, proximal region, mesotibial carina: length larger than length of mesotibial carina of medial region of dorsal region

male organism, metatibia metatibia, distal region, cuticular spine in homology relationship with metatibial spur; metatibia, dorsal region, metatibial carina: length similar in magnitude relative to length of metatibial carina of dorsal region of metatibia

male organism, mesofemur mesofemur, anterior region, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: multiple; mesofemur, ventral margin, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: multiple; mesofemur, dorsal margin, distal region, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: multiple;

male organism, mesotibial posteroventral carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, mesotibial anteroventral carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, mesotibial anterodorsal carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, mesotibial posterodorsal carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, metafemur metafemur, anterior region, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present; metafemur, dorsal margin, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: multiple; metafemur, ventral margin, proximal region, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: multiple;

male organism, metatibial posteroventral carina, row of punctures row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present; row of punctures, distal region, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: amount larger than amount of simple setigerous cuticular puncture of proximal region of row of punctures

male organism, metatibial anteroventral carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, metatibial anterodorsal carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, metatibial posterodorsal carina, row of punctures, simple setigerous cuticular puncture: present;

male organism, parameres parameres, dorsal margin: concave; parameres, ventral margin: obtuse; parameres, distal region distal region, ventral margin: concave; distal region, dorsal margin: straight angle to; distal region: dorso-ventrally flattened; parameres: asymmetrical;

male organism, left paramere, ventral margin, cuticular protrusion: present;

male organism, frontolateral peripheral endophallite frontolateral peripheral endophallite, distal region: notched; frontolateral peripheral endophallite: flattened; frontolateral peripheral endophallite: elongated;

male organism, axial endophallite: present;

male organism, subaxial endophallite: present;

male organism, superior right peripheral endophallite, lateral region: ring shaped;

male organism, raspula, cuticular spine cuticular spine: multiple; cuticular spine: elongated;

male organism, posterior longitudinal hypomeral carina: absent;

male organism, anterior hypomeral carina: absent;

male organism, lamella copulatrix: absent;

male organism, length = 23.0, unit: millimeter;

Sexual dimorphism

Females differ from males by the following external characters: i) absence of head frontal carinae, which are replaced by a medial tubercle sinuate dorsally; ii) ventral and anterior margins of protibiae not serrated; iii) setae of posteroventral carina uniformly distributed, without denser rows distally; iv) abdominal tergite VIII shorter and 7 th abdominal sternite longer.

Variation

Body length ranges from 18.0 to 23.5 mm. The spines on ventral and anterior margins of male protibiae are more developed in larger individuals.

Holotype labelling

The holotype bears the following labels (slashes separate different lines on the same label). 1 st label, white cardboard printed in black: " MADAGASCAR / Ambadira-Mormdava / Dec. 2006 / Cattle dung / I. Hanski-group leg. ". 2 nd label, white cardboard printed in black, including a QR-code: " http://id.luomus.fi/ / GZ. 15827 / XII. 2006 ". 3 rd label, red cardboard printed in black: " Scarabaeus (sensu lato) / sakalava sp. nov. / HOLOTYPE / Montanaro & Tarasov det. 2024 "

Diagnosis

Scarabaeus sakalava sp. nov. (Fig. 2 a , b ) is very similar to Scarabaeus viettei ( Paulian, 1953) (Fig. 2 c , d ), from which it can be distinguished by the tip of the anterolateral pronotal angles, projecting laterally in S. sakalava (Fig. 3 a ) and obliquely forward in S. viettei (Fig. 3 b ). Females can be readily separated by the shape of the cephalic tubercle, sinuated medially in the new species (Fig. 3 c ) and conical in S. viettei (Fig. 3 d ). Males can be distinguished by the shape of parameres, which are shorter and whose apex is more strongly bent ventrally in S. sakalava (Fig. 4 a ) than in the other species (Fig. 4 b ) and by the shape of the protibia, less slender and with the ventral margin more dilated in the new species (Fig. 3 e ) than in S. viettei (Fig. 3 f ). Lastly, the two species can be immediately distinguished from S. radama by the much shallower and sparse integument punctuation and from S. sevoistra by the normally-shaped elytra and hind wings (modified due to flightlessness in the latter species).

Etymology

The new species is named after the Sakalava people inhabiting western Madagascar, where the species occurs. The name sakalava probably means " long ravines / valleys ", denoting the relatively flat landscapes of western Madagascar. The Sakalavas descend from a mix of Austronesian and Bantu people and founded kingdoms that flourished in the west of the country, especially during the 18 th century ( Wikipedia 2024). They primarily rely on pastoralism for their livelihood, therefore providing an arguably significant part of the sustenance consumed by new species. The epithet is a noun in apposition.

Distribution

S. sakalava is found in a restricted area in central western Madagascar, in Toliara Province (Fig. 5 ).

Ecology

S. sakalava inhabits dry deciduous forests, a relatively unusual habitat specialisation for Scarabaeus species, which are, for the greatest part, found in open habitats ( Mostert and Scholtz 1986). It is attracted to human and cattle dung and to rotten fish. These ecological aspects are very similar to those of its sister S. viettei ( Rahagalala et al. 2009) , which seems to be its vicariant in north-western Madagascar (Ankarafantsika Forest).

Conservation

The known distribution of the species falls within the Menabe-Antimena Protected Area, which should, for now, guarantee the protection of this taxon.

Figures

Figure 5. Distribution map of Malagasy Scarabaeus annotated with ecoregions.

Figure 2 a. S. sakalava sp. nov., male (holotype);

Figure 2 b. S. sakalava, female (paratype);

Figure 2 c. S. viettei (Paulian, 1953), male;

Figure 2 d. S. viettei, female.

Figure 3 a. S. sakalava sp. nov. (holotype), anterolateral pronotal angle;

Figure 3 b. S. viettei (Paulian, 1953), anterolateral pronotal angle;

Figure 3 c. S. sakalava (paratype), female frontal tubercle;

Figure 3 d. S. viettei, female frontal tubercle;

Figure 4 a. S. sakalava sp. nov.;

Figure 4 b. S. viettei (Paulian, 1953);

Figure 3 e. S. sakalava (holotype), male protibia;

Figure 3 f. S. viettei, male protibia.