Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) mahuto Obořil, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Obořil, Martin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Anthaxia
Anthaxia mahuto

description: Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) mahuto sp. nov.
Figs 1, 4–5, 6–7, 13, 22, 27–28
Type locality: South Africa, Limpopo prov., 10, 5 km NE of Titibe, 23°39'27"S 29°52'52"E.
Type material. Holotype (♂), labelled: ‘ SOUTH AFRICA Limpopo / prov. 10.5 km NE of Titibe / 22.–23.xi. 2021. 1252m / 23°39'27"S; 29°52'52"E / Martin Obořil lgt. [printed white label] // HOLOTYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]ʼ (NMPC). Paratypes: 1 ♀, labelled: ‘ SOUTH AFRICA Limpopo / prov. 10.5 km NE of Titibe / 22.–23.xi. 2021. 1252m / 23°39'27"S; 29°52'52"E / Martin Obořil lgt. [printed white label] // ALLOTYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (MOOC); 3 ♂♂ 3 ♀♀, labelled: ‘ SOUTH AFRICA Limpopo / prov. 10.5 km NE of Titibe / 22.–23.xi. 2021. 1252m / 23°39'27"S; 29°52'52"E / Martin Obořil lgt. [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (MOOC); 21 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, labelled: ‘ SOUTH AFRICA, Limpopo prov. / 10, 5 km NE of Titibe, / 23°39'27"S; 29°52'52"E / 17.–19.xi.2022 1252m / Mahuto env. M.Obořil lgt. [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (20 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀ MOOC, 1 ♂ NHMUK); 7 ♂♂ 4 ♀♀, labelled: ‘R.S.A Limpopo prov. 12 km SW Ga-Sekgopo, / 23°39'27"S 29°52'52"E / ex larva Acacia sp. / 24.11.2021 lgt. R.Rejzek [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (RRPC); 19 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, labelled: ‘R.S.A Limpopo prov. 12 km SW Ga-Sekgopo, / 23°39'27"S 29°52'52"E / 19.XI.2022 lgt. R.Rejzek [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (RRPC); 1 ♀, labelled: ‘ SOUTH AFRICA North West pr. / 16 km E Stella / 24.xi.2024. 1356m / 26°35'45"S; 25°1'51"E / Martin Obořil lgt. [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (MOOC); 1 ♀, labelled: ‘R.S.A., North West prov. / 16 km E Stella, 1356 m / 26°35'45"S; 25°1'51"E / 17. XI. 2024 / lgt. R. Rejzek [printed white label] // PARATYPE / Anthaxia / (Haplanthaxia) / mahuto sp. nov. / M. Obořil det. 2024 [printed red label]’ (RRPC).
Diagnosis. Large species (8.0–10.0 mm), convex, wedge-shaped, black with slight bronze tint on lateral margins of elytra. Antennae bicolorous, antennomeres 1–3 bronzy black, outer halves of antennomeres 4–11 yellowish orange. Dorsal surface asetose, frons with short, white, dense, semi-erect pubescence. Ventral surface coppery, with short, sparse, white pubescence.
Description of the male holotype. Head large, as wide as anterior pronotal margin. Labrum black with green tint, anterior margin with two small semicircular processes. Frontoclypeus green, margins with red tint, anterior margin with wide triangular emargination. Eyes relatively small, reniform with strongly S-shaped inner margins, slightly projecting beyond outline of head. Frons black with green tint, red along antennal insertions, slightly regularly convex, 2.5 times as wide as transverse diameter of eye. Vertex black, as wide as width of eye. Sculpture of frons consisting of small, dense, polygonal and oval cells with small central grains. Antennae relatively short, robust, barely reaching middle of lateral pronotal margins when laid alongside; scape claviform, slightly bent, three times as long as wide; pedicel subcylindrical, 1.25 times as long as wide; antennomere 3 slightly triangular, 1.25 times as long as wide, antennomere 4 obtusely triangular, 1.5 times as wide as long, antennomeres 5–11 widely trapezoidal to lobate, about twice as wide as long.
Pronotum transverse, 1.8 times as wide as long, convex, slightly impressed medially; anterior margin with median lobe convex, posterior margin with median lobe very slightly rounded; lateral margins regularly rounded with maximum width at basal third. Lateroposterior depressions shallow, slightly longitudinal, posterior angles obtuse. Sculpture of disc consisting of fine transverse rugae which are corrugated medially; lateral parts of pronotum with small, dense, polygonal cells with small central grains. Scutellum obtusely pentagonal, slightly concave, covered by microsculpture, 1.2 times as wide as long.
Elytra 1.9 times as long as wide, widely wedge-shaped, convex, uneven; each elytron with shallow, oblique, posthumeral depression and indistinct longitudinal carina from humeral swelling to elytral apex; transverse basal depression shallow, not reaching scutellum, interrupted by small elevation near humeri. Posterior third of elytral margins distinctly serrate, elytral apices separately rounded. Humeral swellings small but well-developed. Epipleura narrow, parallel, not reaching elytral apex. Sculpture consisting of small, irregular punctures fusing into short, transverse rugae in humeral part and along suture.
Ventral surface with small, dense, simple punctures; prosternal process flat, strongly enlarged posterior to procoxae, sharply pointed apically. Anal ventrite (Fig. 27) wide, subtrapezoidal, apical margin transversely cut, apical half of lateral margins densely serrate. Legs robust, pro- and mesotibie rather strongly curved, metatibiae almost straight with large tooth in posterior fourth of inner margin. Tarsal claws small, thin, hook-like, slightly enlarged at base.
Aedeagus (Fig. 13) long, tapering posteriorly, parameres with two large, blister-like elevations on ventral surface.Apices of parameres anvil-like, ventrally with large lobe-like process. Median lobe sharply pointed apically, with indistinct lateral serration.
Sexual dimorphism. The female differs from the male by the not enlarged antennae, straight mesotibiae, unmodified metatibiae and in the rounded and notched anal ventrite (Fig. 28).
Measurements. Males: length 8.0– 9.2 mm (holotype 8.0 mm), width 2.8–3.5 mm (holotype 2.8 mm); females: length 8.7–10.0 mm, width 3.0– 3.6 mm.
Variability. Rarely, antennae of males are unicolorous (Fig. 7).
Differential diagnosis. Males of Anthaxia (H.) mahuto sp. nov. are similar to males of A. (H.) nigroaenea Bílý & Sakalian, 2014 from which they differ in smaller head, green and distinctly flatter frons, smaller body size, and less strongly wedge shaped body. Lateral margins of pronotum are moderately regularly rounded and pronotum is widest at basal third in A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. while lateral margins of pronotum are unevenly rounded and pronotum is widest in middle in A. (H.) nigroaenea. Pronotal surface is covered with uniform rugae over the whole disc in A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. while the rugae cover only basal two-thirds of pronotal disc in A. (H.) nigroaenea. Elytra of A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. with less pronounced lateral longitudinal depressions than in A. (H.) nigroaenea. Anal ventrite of males of A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. is wide, subtrapezoidal, with wide transverse apical margin, while in males of A. (H.) nigroaenea anal ventrite is subtriangular with narrow transverse apical margin (Figs 27, 29). Moreover, males of A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. also differs from other species of the A. (H.) thunbergi species-group by the shape of the metatibia (Figs 18–26) and the shape of the aedeagus (Figs 9–17).
Females of Anthaxia (H.) mahuto sp. nov. are very similar to females of A. (H.) thunbergi Laporte & Gory, 1839. The females of both species can be distiguished by the colour of antennae (bicolorous in A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov., unicolorous in A. (H.) thunbergi) and by the shape of anal ventrite (deeply notched in A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov., shallowly notched in A. (H.) thunbergi, Figs 28, 30). Another character is the fine rugae on the whole pronotal disc in A. (H.) mahuto sp. nov. while the pronotum of A. (H.) thunbergi has rugae only in basal half of pronotum.
Etymology. Named after Mahuto Lodge placed on the road R81 between Polokwane and Louis Trichardt where the first specimens were collected.
Bionomy. Development is confirmed in trees of the genus Vachellia sp. During the day, the beetles were caught by beating of branches and individual collection on Vachellia sp. but at night the beetles were not observed at all. Some of the beetles were subsequently reared from the collected branches.
Distribution. Republic of South Africa (Limpopo prov.).
description: Published as part of Obořil, Martin, 2025, Redefinition of Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) thunbergi species-group (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), with description of a new species from the Republic of South Africa, pp. 61-68 in Zootaxa 5604 (1) on pages 63-67, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5604.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/15012575