Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN 1857
Creators: name: DellacaSa, M.
name: DellacaSa, G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2003
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Ammoecius
Ammoecius lugubris

description: Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN, 1857   (Figs 99, 103–105)  
 Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN, 1857: 364.   
 Ammoecius bidentulus HAROLD, 1871: 19; DELLACASA M. 1988: 97, syn. n.   
 Aphodius (Ammoecius) dentinus PÉRINGUEY, 1901: 410; DELLACASA M. 1988: 119, syn. n.   
 Aphodius (Ammoecius) lugubris: PÉRINGUEY, 1901: 409: SCHMIDT 1922: 69; PETROVITZ 1964: 188; ENDRŐDI 1978: 179; ENDRŐDI & RAKOVIČ 1981: 42; DELLACASA M. 1988: 156.   
Type locality: “ Cap B. Spei ”. [Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.]  
Type depository: Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm.  
 Type material: Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN, 1857: lectotype (female, NRS), herewith designated, bearing the following labels: 1) white, printed: Cap. B Spei; 2) white, printed: Victorin.; 3) white, printed: Type; 4) red, printed: Typus; 5) red, printed: 53; 6) blue, printed: Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm; 7) red, handwritten: Ammoecius lugubris Boheman, 1857, lectotype f, P. Bordat des. 1993.   
 Ammoecius bidentulus HAROLD, 1871: lectotype (male, MNHNP), herewith designated, bearing the following labels: 1) white, handwritten: W; 2) white, handwritten: Schfuss [Schauffuss] N. 26; 3) white, handwritten: Cap. Bon sp.; 4) white, handwritten by Harold: bidentulus (Klug) Harold; 5) white, printed: Ex Musaeo E. Harold; 6) red, handwritten: Ammoecius bidentulus Harold, 1871, lectotype m, P. Bordat des. 1993.   
 Ammoecius dentinus (PÉRINGUEY, 1901): type, from “Potchefstr.” [Potchefstroom, Transvaal] (sex not identified, SAMCT).   
 Description – Length 3.5–5.0 mm. Oblong-oval, convex, shiny, glabrous (Fig. 99). Piceous, clypeal and lateral margin of pronotum more or less distinctly reddish; legs brown-reddish; antennal club dark testaceous. Head with cupuliform epistoma simply, subregularly and rather coarsely punctured to the feebly raised and almost short anterior carina in front of which punctation is finely granulose with mixed small punctures; clypeus triangularly and rather deeply sinuate at middle, strongly denticulate at sides, denticles strongly upturned, very thinly bordered and widely rounded laterally; genae obtusely rounded, rather elongately and sparsely ciliate, protruding more than eyes; frontal suture finely impressed, laterally faint; frons coarsely punctured, punctures somewhat larger than on epistoma; epipharynx: Fig. 103. Pronotum transverse, strongly convex, doubly punctured, small punctures regularly scattered thoughout, large punctures, three to five times larger than small ones, irregularly sparse on disc, denser on sides; latter feebly curved, finely bordered, with maximum width near base; hind angles obliquely subtruncate; base faintly bisinuate, distinctly bordered. Scutellum triangularly elongate, at base as wide as two first elytral interstices, sparsely punctured on basal third. Elytra convex, moderately broadened backward and with very small humeral tooth; striae rather fine and crenulate on disc, deeper, wider, transversely punctured but not crenulate preapically; interstices feebly convex and finely punctured on disc, subcarinate at middle and narrowly explanate at each side near striae at elytral apex. Hind tibiae with superior apical spur somewhat longer than first tarsal segment; latter somewhat shorter than following three combined. Male: inferior apical spurofmiddletibiaeshort,abruptlyinwardlycurvedapically;aedeagus: Figs104–105.Female:inferior apical spur of middle tibiae rather elongate and regularly acuminate toward apex.   
Distribution: South Africa (Western and Southern Cape Province, Transvaal?).  
 Remarks – HAROLD (1871: 19) synonymized Ammoecius terminatus HAROLD, 1869 under Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN, 1857, based only on the original description of A. lugubris. Study of types of both taxa shows that they are two different species. On the other hand, Ammoecius bidentulus, described by HAROLD in the same paper (1871: 19), falls into synonymy with A. lugubris. SCHMIDT (1922) followed HAROLD’ s decision.   
 As Ammoecius terminatus is a good species, notable modifications happen to the interpretation of Afrotropical Ammoecius. For example, PÉRINGUEY (1901: 419), when placing A. terminatus among the species unknown to him or not surely identifiable, noted that it differs from A. lugubris by coarser punctation of head, clypeal carina more raised and not shortened, the elytral striae less convex toward apex and therefore described Aphodius (Ammoecius) dentinus.   
 RecentauthorsdealingwiththesetaxafollowedHAROLD’ smisinterpretation of A. terminatus and A. lugubris and, applying HAROLD’ s incorrect identification key, described several new species consistently increasing the number of Afrotropical Ammoecius taxa.
description: Published as part of DellacaSa, M. & DellacaSa, G., 2002, Systematic Redefinition Of Taxa Belonging To The Genera Ahermodontus Báguena, 1930 And Ammoecius Mulsant, 1842, With Description Of The New Genus Vladimirellus (Coleoptera: Aphodiidae), pp. 269-316 in Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 48 (4) on pages 302-304, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12587419