Description of the female of Haematonotus jenisi Krajcik, 2006 and placement of the species within the genus Atrichiana Distant, 1911 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae).

ABSTRACT: The male of Haematonotus jenisi Krajcik, 2006 was described on the basis of a sole holotype specimen. A number of new specimens have recently been collected from the False Bay area of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, including a number of females, thereby allowing the description of this sex for the first time. The new series also reveals that most morphological characters are actually typical for the genus Atrichiana Distant, 1911, rather than Haematonotus Kraatz, 1880. For this reason, it is here proposed that this species be placed within Atrichiana, thus becoming the second species of a genus that was previously regarded as monospecific, represented by the southern African endemic Atrichiana placida (Boheman, 1857). Like Atrichiana placida, Atrichiana jenisi exhibits a remarkable polymorphism, but also sexual dimorphism, particularly expressed at the level of the antennal clubs, which in the male are twice as long as in the female. Unfortunately, all specimens of the recent series were collected dead or drowning on the lake shores and therefore no further information on their life cycle and biology in general could be obtained. It seems that the species may represent a micro-endemism restricted to the Western Shores of Lake St Lucia, with habitat associated to Sand Forest and possibly also Northern Coastal Forest vegetation types.

SUBMITTER: Perissinotto R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4768365 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature