Macroderes soleiana Abdalla & Deschodt & Scholtz & Sole 2018, new species
Creators: name: Abdalla, Ishtiag H.
name: Deschodt, Christian M.
name: Scholtz, Clarke H.
name: Sole, Catherine L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Macroderes
Macroderes soleiana

description: Macroderes soleiana Abdalla & Deschodt, new species
(Figs. 21, 38, 80, 88, 98)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: AA590F0F-72AF-45A6-ADCD-FC18609AF982
Macroderes nitidus Harold, 1877: 384 (partim, sensu Frolov & Scholtz 2005)
Type locality. South Africa, Western Cape Province, Cederberg Range, east track, 32°29'S 19°22'E.
Type material. Holotype, ♂ (TMSA): “ South Africa / Western Cape Province / Cederberg Range / east track / 800 m / 32° 29' S 19° 22' E / 21.VIII.1983 / groundtrap with feaces bait / 66 days / Endrödy–Younga and Penrith leg [printed] // HOLOTYE / Macroderes soleiana / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”. Paratypes: 3 ♂♂ and 2 ♀♀ (TMSA), same data as holotype; 26 specimens with the same data as holotype but coordinates and elevation: 1 ♂♂ and 8 ♀♀ (TMSA): 32° 24' S 19° 25' E / 650 m, 1 ♂ and 2 ♀♀ (UPSA), 6 ♀♀ (TMSA); 2 ♂♂ and 3 ♀♀ (TMSA): 32° 27' S 19° 23' E / 1 / 100 m; 4 ♂ and 5 ♀♀ (TMSA): 32° 23' S 19° 24' E / 650 m; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀♀ (TMSA): 32° 22' S 19° 24' E / 650 m; 7 ♂♂ and 6 ♀♀ (UPSA): “ South Africa / Ramakraal / S 32. 41883° E 019.43167° / 17. 0 8. 2015 / C. Deschodt & W. P. Strümpher leg [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes soleiana / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 / [red label, printed]”; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀♀ (UPSA): “ South Africa / Western Cape Province / Leopard Rock / S32.45506° E019.40608° / 17. 0 8. 2015 / C. Deschodt & W. P. Strümpher leg [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes soleiana / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 / [red label, printed]”; 1 ♂ (UPSA): “ Kleinlee [uu] lak / Matjiesrivier / NR / 32° 29' 01.0'' S 19° 21' 36.5'' E / 21-08-2015 [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes soleiana / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 / [red label, printed]”. 1 ♀ (UPSA): “ Perdewater / Matjiesrivier / NR / S 32° 26' 41.9'' S 19° 21' 05.3'' E [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes soleiana / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 / [red label, printed]”.
Holotype description. Holotype, ♂ (Fig. 21). Body length 8.8 mm, body width 6.2 mm.
Head. Genae sharp angled and sutures indistinct. Frontal suture distinct, angulate medially. Dorsal surface of clypeus rugose anterior of frontal suture, punctate posteriorly. Area between punctures shagreened.
Pronotum. Convex, anterior angles rounded, posterior angles rounded. Lateral border not punctate. Dorsal surface regularly punctate punctures close together, separated by less than one puncture diameter (Figs. 80, 88).
Elytra. Elytral interstriae 1–8 slightly raised, punctate, punctures shallow, punctures separated by 1–2 puncture diameters, each puncture with short associated seta. Elytral margins not carinate. Area between punctures shagreened. Striae clearly bordered, faintly shagreened, punctures very faint (Fig. 98). Stria 9 disjunct, anterior 1/5 medially between stria 8 and 10, second 2/3 very close to stria 10, interstria 10 almost covered by stria 9 in the anterior 1/3.
Aedeagus. The sclerite of internal sac elongate and strongly curved, without lateral process (Fig. 38).
Size range. Males length: 8.2–12.3 mm, width: 5.0–8.0 mm; females length: 10.0– 12.5 mm, width: 7.0– 8.1 mm.
Female. Beside the body length variations, female differs from male by having less developed frontoclypeal suture as well as the pronotal laterl marigins more clear in dorsal view than in male.
Etymology. This species is named after our colleague Prof. Catherine L. Sole of the Department Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, in recognition of her leadership and her molecular work on the African dung beetles, lacewings and Baboon spiders.
Differential diagnosis. This species is most similar to M. nitidus and M. cederbergensis new species. It differs from the former in being more shagreened and less shiny on the elytral interstriae (Fig. 98) and from the latter by being larger and having the pronotal punctures smaller and farther apart (Figs. 80, 88).
Habitat and distribution. Cederberg Mountains (Fig. 2). Specimens have been collected between 600 and 1000 m a.s.l. and mainly in the Swartruggens Quartzite Fynbos vegetation type. This area receives between 200– 620 mm of precipitation per year. The soils are sandy but skeletal (Mucina & Rutherford 2006).
Remark. Frolov & Scholtz (2005) used specimens from this species for their redescription of M. nitidus. Please, refer to the redescription of M. nitidus for more detailed explanation.
description: Published as part of Abdalla, Ishtiag H., Deschodt, Christian M., Scholtz, Clarke H. & Sole, Catherine L., 2018, An update to the taxonomy of the genus Macroderes Westwood 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with descriptions of new species from South Africa, pp. 41-75 in Zootaxa 4504 (1) on pages 68-69, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2606164