Eriopeltastes ntinini Ricchiardi

Ricchiardi, Enrico & Perissinotto, Renzo, 2013, Description and ecology of a new species of Eriopeltastes Burmeister & Schaum, 1840 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Trichiini), from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Zootaxa 3630 (2), pp. 379-384 : 379-380

Eriopeltastes ntinini Ricchiardi , new species

( Fig. 2 )

Type series. Holotype male, South Africa KZN, Ntinini Game Reserve , 18 XI-2010, Renzo Perissinotto & Adrian Armstrong legit ( ISAM). 3 male paratypes, same data as the holotype (1 DMSA, 1 PCRP, 1 PCER).

Holotype description. Length: 11.2 mm; width: 7 mm. Head. Black, wider than long, densely punctate, shiny, with centre of clypeus covered with scattered, testaceous setae; eye canthus covered with long, scattered, testaceous setae; clypeus tea-spoon shaped, with sides sharp, anterior margin rounded, with central depression; frons covered with long, dense, erected, testaceous setae pointing backwards; antennae testaceous, club straight, more than twice as long as clypeus. Pronotum. Black, opaque, covered with large, rounded, shallow punctation, becoming less dense towards central and apical areas; shape trapezoidal, with sides ridged but not crenulated; basal corners rounded, basal margin laterally sinuate, ridged basolaterally only; sides with white tomentum band approximating basal corner; surface entirely covered with dense, long, testaceous setae pointing backwards. Scutellum. Black, glabrous, semicircular in shape, enlarged; shiny, covered by dense, rounded punctation, except on narrow marginal band all around. Elytron. Testaceous, glabrous, anterior shiny and opaque from middle to apex, apex rounded; with juxtascutellar area black, enlarged centrally (up to third striae) to form a semi-oval black area; striae marked by faint, round punctures, interstriae neither elevated nor punctured; apex slightly crenulated centrally. Pygidium. Semicircular, much larger than long, slightly constricted at sides; black, medially shiny, glabrous but with short, erect, scattered setae on the disc; white tomentum covering sides, but area from middle of disc to apex glabrous. Ventral surface. Black, covered with dense, long, flattened, testaceous setae, much less dense on sternites; abdominal sternites (except sixth and anal) covered by white tomentum interrupted in the middle and at centre of sides; tergites covered with white tomentum except at posterior edge; mesosternal protrusion absent. Legs. Black, shiny, covered by scattered, locally denser, long, erect, testaceous setae; metafemura with large white tomentum area in the middle of disc; protibiae with two external teeth; first protarsomere slightly longer than second.

Type series variability. The paratypes are virtually identical to the holotype, apart from one that has a small tomentose spot on the first and second elytral interstriae, behind the disc.

Diagnosis. Eriopeltastes ntinini is most similar to E. evansi Ricchiardi, 1997 , from which it can be easily distinguished by the following characteristics: a) absence of substantial white tomentose areas on scutellum and elytra (not always present in E. evansi ); b) anterior clypeal margin with central depression; c) different tomentose ornament on pygidium; d) different apical shape of aedeagal parameres (frontal view); and e) presence of large, central black area on elytra. The female is unknown, but presumed to be brachypterous and completely black to dark brown, as are the few females that are currently known in the genus ( Ricchiardi et al. 1999).

Etymology. The species is named after the type locality.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Zungeni Hill (northern face) in the Ntinini Game Reserve (top); top of Zungeni Hill (1296 m), with the typical habitat of E. ntinini (bottom). Photograph by Lynette Clennell.