Ochodaeus meandrus Paulsen 2019, new species
Creators: name: Paulsen, M. J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Ochodaeidae
Ochodaeus
Ochodaeus meandrus

description: Ochodaeus meandrus Paulsen, new species
Type material. Holotype male (CASC; Fig. 3), labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, Vohiparara, / at broken bridge, el 1110 m / 8–15 April 2002 / 21° 13.57′ S, 47° 22.19′ E ” b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise trap in high altitude / rainforest, MA-02-09A-24”; c) “CASENT / 8055264”.
One male, two female paratypes labeled: a, b as holotype; c) “CASENT / #” (# = 8055260, 8055262, 8055300). One female paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, Vohiparara, / at broken bridge, el 1110 m / 6–15 December 2001 / 21° 13.57′ S, 47° 22.19′ E ” b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise trap in high altitude / rainforest, MA-02-09A-06”; c) “CASENT / 8055632”. One female paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, Vohiparara, / at broken bridge, el 1110 m / 19–26 March 2001 / 21° 13.57′ S, 47° 22.19′ E ” b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise trap in high altitude / rainforest, MA-02-09A-21”; c) “CASENT / 8055999”. Two male paratypes labeled: a) “ Two male paratypes labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, Vohiparara, / at broken bridge, el 1110 m / 19–26 March 2001 / 21° 13.57′ S, 47° 22.19′ E ” b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise trap in high altitude / rainforest, MA-02-09A-22”; c) “CASENT / 8055999”. Two male, two female paratypes labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fian- arantsoa, Parc National /Ranomafana, radio tower / at forest edge, elev 1130 m / 19–26 February 2002 / 21° 15.05′ S, 47° 24.43′ E ”; b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise, mixed tropical / forest MA-02-09B-17”; c) “CASENT / #” (# = 8055520, 8055521, 8055522, 8055544). One male paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, radio tower / at forest edge, elev 1130 m / 20 Sept–5 Oct 2006 / 21° 15.05′ S, 47° 24.43′ E ”; b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise, mixed tropical / forest MA-02-09B-160”. One female paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Parc National / Ranomafana, radio tower / at forest edge, elev 1130 m / 1–11 November 2006 / 21° 15.05′ S, 47° 24.43′ E ”; b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise, mixed tropical / forest MA-02-09B-163”. One male paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, Ranomafana / JIRAMA water works / 21–24 December 2001 / 21° 14.91′ S, 47° 27.13′ E ”; b) “coll: M. Irwin, R. Harin’Hala / California Acad of Sciences / malaise trap near river / elev 690 m, MA-02-09D-08”; c) “CASENT / 8056011”. One female paratype labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR: Province / Fianarantsoa, SE of Fandriana, / Ranomena, 5 March, 2000 / 20° 23′ 37″ S, 47° 39′ 09″ E ”; b) “ M.E. Irwin & E. I. Schlinger / California Acad. of Sciences / el. 1345 m coll. code: SI-010”; c) “CASENT / 8003859”. One paratype (NHM; on glueboard, unsexed) labeled: a) “ MADAGASCAR, 2007 / Ranomafana Nat. Park / near Ranomafana vill. / M. Trýzna leg., 26.-31.i (sic)”; b) “ BMNH (E) / 2016-44 / M. Trýzna ”.
All paratypes (n = 6 male, 9 female, 1 unsexed) with label: on yellow paper, “ Ochodaeus / meandrus / Paulsen / PARATYPE ”.
Description. Holotype male (Fig. 3a). Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Ochodaeidae. Length: 7.4 mm. Width: 3.9 mm. Color: Everywhere uniformly dark reddish brown; surface nitid. Head: Surface lacking tubercles, irregularly punctate; punctures mixed, moderately large and setose, separated by 1–2 diameters. Eyes large, globose; lacking ventral projection of canthus. Antennal club large, subequal to eye in size. Mandibles broadly scooped, shortened (shorter than head), apices falcate; left mandible with large triangular, subacute internal tooth; right mandible with complimenting tooth obsolete, second tooth larger, subacute. Frons weakly convex; surface punctate behind frontoclypeal suture. Clypeus flat with disc relatively long (1/4 as long medially as wide), subtrapezoidal; anterior margin beaded, bead roughly circular but wavy (Fig. 18). Mentum flat emarginated by round fovea in apical half (Fig. 6). Pronotum: Form convex. Surface densely punctate, appearing smooth between punctures laterally, disc with slight indication of tiled granules; punctation mixed, predominantly large setose punctures with few smaller glabrous punctures interspersed. Elytra: Form convex, relatively elongate, elytra together longer than wide. Surface with striae moderately impressed, punctate, surface smooth between punctures (except sutural stria with connecting groove); strial punctures large, separated by 2 diameters, lacking setae. Intervals irregularly punctate; punctures small, setose, with tubercle anteriorly. Legs: Protibia tridentate externally, internal side with short, ventrally directed pollex <1/3 length of apical spur (Fig. 3b). Profemur with strong apical tooth. Mesofemur and metafemur with isolated subapical tooth not strongly connected to apex. Venter/Abdomen: Metasternum and abdominal segments sparsely punctate; punctures large with long, erect, golden setae. Pygidium roughly punctate. Stridulatory peg short, capitate (Fig. 12). Male genitalia: Internal sac with narrow arrowhead-shaped patch of sclerites between parameres (Fig. 9).
Paratype variation. Sexual dimorphism is not readily apparent in this species. The acute, apical tooth on the profemur is not present in females or smaller males, and the subapical tooth on the mesofemur is also obsolete on most female specimens. The subapical tooth on the metafemur may be reduced but is present on all specimens.
Remarks. This species may be confused with smaller males and females of O. polypollicatus. The much shorter, ventrally-directed pollex, less furrowed mentum, and isolated subapical tooth on the metafemur are all consistent differences and diagnostic. Males of this species lack the setal patch on the last abdominal segment, and second pollex of most male O. polypollicatus. The best character for specimens of both sexes of O. meandrus is the wavy appearance of the clypeal bead when viewed from directly above. Positioning the specimen in the correct plane so that the light reflects on the crest of the bead is necessary to best see the wavy form. The clypeal bead of O. modopunctatus may also appear wavy, but that species has no indication of granules on the pronotum and a mentum with a furrow that becomes acute posteriorly.
Etymology. The name is formed from “meandrus”, a noun in apposition derived classically from the Meandros River of antiquity and used then figuratively for ‘a wavy border’ in embroidery and continuing into modern usage as ‘meandering’. It is a reference to the wavy margin on the clypeus that is the most recognizable character of the species.
Distribution. The species is known only from the vicinity of Ranomafana National Park (Fig. 20).
description: Published as part of Paulsen, M. J., 2019, Three new Madagascan species of Ochodaeus Dejean (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Ochodaeidae), pp. 1-14 in Insecta Mundi 684 on pages 8-11, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3662832