Phoberus sulcatus (Thunberg, 1787)

(Figs 1–5, 18, 21, 24)

Throx sulcatus Thunberg, 1787: 38 (original description); Wallin & Wallin 2001: 10, 32, 43, 57 (type catalogue).

[ Throx; Herbst in Füessly, 1783: 12, incorrect subsequent spelling, not an available name (no statement of intention), not in prevailing usage (Article 33, ICZN 1999). The spelling was corrected to Trox in the translations of this work into French (Herbst 1794) and English (Herbst 1795).

Throx auctorum: Thunberg 1787: 38; Thunberg 1794: 134; Megerle von Mühlfeld 1803: [14]; Gory & Percheron 1834: 118; Duméril 1860: 240; Gobin 1884: 248; Jacobson 1912: XI; Böving & Champlain 1920: 591.]

Trox sulcatus Thunberg: Thunberg 1818: 449–450 (redescription); Eschscholtz 1822: 118 (as synonym of Trox luridus Fabricius, 1782, now Phoberus luridus); Harold 1869: 1089 (catalogue, as synonym of Trox luridus); Harold 1872: 41, 45–47 (systematics, revision); Burmeister 1876: 267 (checklist); Preudhomme de Borre 1886: 77 (catalogue); Péringuey 1901: 455, 463 (misidentification) (key, redescription, localities) [Péringuey (1901) confused Trox squamiger Roth, 1851 (now Phoberus squamiger) for Trox sulcatus — Figure 11 on his Plate XXXIX (= Plate IX) depicts the aedeagus of Trox angulatus Fåhraeus in Boheman, 1857, a synonym of Phoberus squamiger, synonymy by Haaf 1953: 326]; Arrow 1912: 62 (catalogue); Haaf 1953: 315, 327, 331, 332–333, 335, 336 (systematics, revision); Haaf 1959: 478 (checklist, localities); Scholtz 1979: 183, 193–194, 199, 200 (senior synonym of Trox instabilis, redescription, illustrations, distribution) [material examined are actually Phoberus erwinhaafi Strümpher, sp. nov.]; Muller & Rookmaaker 1992: 105 (list); Browne et al. 1993: 199–200 (phylogenetics, illustrations); Browne & Scholtz 1996: 160–161 (phylogenetics, illustrations); Picker et al. 2002: 198–199; 2004: 198–199 (field guide); Krajcik 2012: 261 (checklist); Picker et al. 2019: 238–239 (field guide).

Trox (Trox) sulcatus: Scholtz 1980: 22, 66, 68, 85, 89–90 (revision, illustrations, distribution); Scholtz 1982: 7 (catalogue).

Trox (Phoberus) sulcatus: Zidek 2013: 11, 17 (checklist).

Phoberus sulcatus: Strümpher et al. 2016: 57 (phylogeny), 79 (new combination); Zídek 2017: 102, 109 (checklist); Strümpher & Stals 2021: 549, 553–554 (taxonomy, images, see erratum below).

Phoberus cf. sulcatus: Strümpher & Stals 2025: 4, 7 (ecology).

Trox sulcatus Olivier, 1789: 11, Pl. 2, Figs 10a, b (original description, illustrations), not Thunberg, 1787, junior primary homonym: Illiger 1802: 13 (description, German translation of Olivier 1789); Sturm 1803: 4, Pl. 55, Figs 11–12 (description, illustrations); Latreille 1804: 154 (diagnosis); Schönherr 1806: 120 (catalogue, with footnote “ An hujus generis.? ” [“Is it of this genus? ”]); Harold 1872: 187 (treated as species inquirenda; stated that it cannot be a Trox species; speculated that it may be Bolitophagus reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1767) ( Tenebrionidae) or a related species).

Rhyssemus sulcatus (Olivier, 1789), in Aphodiinae, Psammodiini: Rakovič et al. (2016: 165). Type locality: Paris vicinity, France. Currently valid combination enacted by Bedel (1911: 90).

Type locality. South Africa, Western Cape province, Klaarstroom 18 km N, Zwartskraal Farm, 33°10′S 22°32′E; verbatim as in neotype label data below. This place lies in the very south of the Great Karoo, at an estimated elevation of 890–920 m above mean sea level.

Type material examined. Neotype ♂, here designated (TMSA, aedeagus extracted) (Figs 1–5): Rectangle, white, with printed text: “S.Afr., Cape-Karoo | Zwartskraal farm | 33.10′S-22.°32′E [33°10′S 22°32′E]” || Rectangle, white, with printed text: “ 1.2.1979;E-Y:1545 | groundtraps [pitfall traps], 29 days | leg. R. Oostrhuizen [recte Oosthuizen]” || Rectangle, white, with printed text: “groundtraps with | meat bait” || Rectangle, white, with printed text: “ TROX | sulcatus | Thunberg | det C.H.Scholtz ” || Rectangle, white, with printed text: “ Phoberus sulcatus | (Thunberg, 1787) | det. WP Strümpher, 2022” || Rectangle, red, with printed text: “NEOTYPE: Phoberus | sulcatus (Thunberg, 1787) | des. W.P. Strümpher, 2025 ” || Small rectangle, white, with printed text: “[QR Code] | WORLD | TROGIDAE | DATABASE | WTD0000934 ”.