Sisyphus sordidus Boheman 1857
Creators: name: Daniel, Gimo M.
name: Davis, Adrian Lv.
name: Sole, Catherine L.
name: Scholtz, Clarke H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Sisyphus
Sisyphus sordidus

description: <i>Sisyphus sordidus</i> Boheman, 1857 (Figs. 5, 6E). Boheman 1857: 194; Harold 1869:985; Péringuey 1902: 106–7, Arrow 1927: 465; Haaf 1955: 362–4; Schaefer-Fischer 2001: 54; Schaefer-Fischer, 1992: 123 <i>Sisyphus natalensis</i> Balthazar, 1968 (<b>syn. n</b>) Balthasar 1968: 954 <i>Sisyphus bornemisszanus</i> Endrödi, 1983 (pars) (<b>syn. n)</b> Endrödi 1983:207–210; Daniel et al 2016: 67 <b>Type locality</b>: Caffraria (South Africa). <b>Size</b>: Male: length: 6.6– 4.7 mm, width: 4.3– 2.7 mm; Female: length: 6.4–4.0 mm, width: 3.0– 2.5 mm. <b>Diagnosis</b>: <i>S. sordidus</i> is similar to <i>S. caffer</i> and <i>S. genierorum</i>. However, <i>S. sordidus</i> is distinguished from the other two species by the thicker setae on the elytra, which are distributed in non-single rows and form bunches. Although <i>S. sordidus</i> is smaller than <i>S. genierorum</i>, in both species, the pronotal setae originate from the centre of ocellate punctures, whilst in <i>S. caffer</i>, the pronotal setae are inserted between or on the posterior edges of ocellate points. <b>Examined type material</b> <b> <i>Sisyphus sordidus</i> Boheman, 1857</b> : Holotype (photograph): (&amp;male; NHRS): / Pt. Nat /, / leg: Tarnier /, /310: 72/, /246: 73/, brown label (handwritten): <i>sordidus</i> Bohm /, /9401: E92 +/, /white label (handwritten) / TYPE: <i>Sisyphus sordidus</i> Boh, det. J. Ferrer / NHRS- SRAH 000000218 //. Paratypes: (&amp;female; NHRS): /type/, /Caffraria/, /leg: J.Wahlb /, /309: 72/, /245: 73/, red label: /typus/, white label (handwritten): / <i>Sisyphus sordidus</i> Boh, det. KM. Paschalidis, 1975/, /Naturhistoriska, Riksmuseet Stockholm; loan 38/90/, /9386 E92+/, /NHRS-SRAH 000000219 /. <b> <i>Sisyphus natalensis</i> Balthazar, 1968</b> : Holotype (&amp;male; HNHM): Natal, Sta. Lucia, Patium, 19–25.ii.1960, leg: Heiia, brown label (handwritten) / <i>Sisyphus (s. str) natalensis</i> n. sp. Balth, Holotypus /, red label (handwritten): / Holotypus, 1966, <i>Sisyphus natalensis</i> Balth <i>/,</i> white label (handwritten): / <i>Sisyphus sordidus</i> Boh, det. KM Paschalidis 1975/; (&amp;female; HNHM): Paratype, with the same data. <b> <i>Sisyphus bornemisszanus</i> Endrödi, 1983</b> : Holotype (1&amp;male; TMSA): SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, St. Lucia 28.22°S 32.25°E, / 7.xii.1975, E-Y: 957, groundtraps, 11 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga /, / Holotypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): <i>Sisyphus bornemisszanus</i> Endrodi /. Paratypes: (1&amp;male;, 2&amp;female; TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, / Zululand, Mfabeni dunes, 28.08°S 32.2°E /, / 16. xii.1975, E-Y: 981, groundtraps, 3 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga/, / paratypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): <i>Sisyphus bornemisszanus</i> Endrodi /. (1&amp;female; TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, St. Lucia 28.22°S 32.25°E, / 7.xii.1975, E-Y: 957, groundtraps, 11 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga /. (1&amp;female; TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, Mission Rock 28.16°S 32.29°E, / 9.xii.1975; E-Y: 963, groundtraps, hippo dung, leg: Endrödy-Younga/, / Paratypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): <i>Sisyphus bornemisszanus</i> Endrodi /. <b>Examined non-type material</b>: See Supplementary information. <b>Morphological variation</b> <b>Clypeus</b>. Between the medial teeth, the clypeal edge is mostly concave but, in some specimens, it is somewhat straight. There is a deep notch between the medial and lateral teeth although, in some cases, individuals bear a broad and shallow excavation. Specimens from Gauteng northwards, and inland in KwaZulu Natal, bear a distinct indentation on the lateral clypeal margin, whereas, individuals restricted to the Indian Ocean coastline bear a distinctly smooth clypeus. <b>Pronotum</b>. Three depressions are visible, particularly for those specimens from Nylsvley Nature Reserve northwards (24.04°S; 28.42°E). <b>Colour</b>. Coastal populations show black setae whereas inland populations show brown setae. <b>Distribution</b>: <i>S. sordidus</i> has been recorded from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Along the coastline, <i>S. sordidus</i> has been recorded in grassland and open woodland on dunes from Maputaland (Davis et al. 2002b; Jacobs et al. 2010) up to Sofala Bay (25.11°S; 33.73°E) in Mozambique. Inland in South Africa, it has been recorded in Lowveld savanna vegetation (KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo). In Mozambique, the species has been collected in Gorongosa National Park and Quirimbas National Park under unshaded vegetation (GMD, <i>personal observation</i>) (Fig. 7). <b>Remarks</b>: Peringuéy (1902) regarded <i>S. sordidus</i> as a junior synonym of <i>S. goryi,</i> whereas it was considered to be a junior synonym of <i>S. crispatus</i> by Gillet (1911), Haaf (1955) and Ferreira (1972). Based on the examined type material and the original description, we provide the above diagnosis, which suggests <i>S. sordidus</i> should be revalidated at species level. An additonal study was conducted on the type material of <i>S. natalensis</i> and <i>S. bornemisszanus.</i> The holotypes match the diagnosis of <i>S. sordidus</i>. Therefore, <i>S. natalensis</i> and <i>S. bornemisszanus</i> are proposed as new synomyms of <i>S. sordidus</i>. It should be noted that synonymy of <i>S. bornemisszanus</i> is based solely on the holotype and some paratypes as the allotype and half of the paratypes comprise <i>S. neobornemisszanus</i> Daniel &amp; Davis, 2016 (see Daniel et al. 2016).
description: Published as part of <i>Daniel, Gimo M., Davis, Adrian Lv., Sole, Catherine L. &amp; Scholtz, Clarke H., 2020, Taxonomic review of the tribe Sisyphini sensu stricto Mulsant, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in southern Africa, including new species descriptions, pp. 1-61 in Insect Systematics &amp; Evolution 51 (1)</i> on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.1163/1876312X-00002195, http://zenodo.org/record/3786629
description: {"references": ["Boheman, C. H. (1857) Insecta Caffrariae annis 1838 - 1845 a JA Wahlberg collecta. Pars. II. Coleoptera (Scarabaeides). Holmiae: Offieina Nordstedtiana. - 395 pp, 1.", "Harold, E. von (1869). Scarabaeidae. Gemminger, M. and Harold, E. Catalogus Coleopterorum. bucusque descriptorum, synonymicus et systematics, autotribus, 4: 976 - 1346. http: // www. iucnredlist. org / static / categories _ criteria _ 3 _ 1 access on 2017.03. 23.", "Arrow, G. J. (1927) Notes on the Coleopterous genus Sisyphus. Annals and Magazine of natural History, 9 (19): 456 - 465.", "Haaf, E. (1955) Uber die Gattung Sisyphus Latr. (Col. Scarab.). Entomologische Arbeitenaus dem Museum G. Frey, 6 (1): 341 - 381.", "Schafer, P. &amp; Fischer, E. (2001) Zur Scarabaeidenfauna Rwandas, Zentralafrika 2, Gymnopleurini und nachtrag Sisyphini, Mitteilungen des internationalen entomologischen Vereins supplement 9: 1 - 93.", "Schafer, P., &amp; Fischer, E. (1992) Zur Scarabaeiden-Fauna Rwandas, Zentralafrika. Sisyphini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Lamellicornia). Senckenbergiana biologica, 72 (1 - 3), 119 - 137.", "Balthasar, V. (1968) Neue Scarabaeiden-Arten, 129. Beitrag zur kenntnis der Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera). Beitrage zur Entomologie, 18: 953 - 958.", "Endrodi, S. (1983) Sisyphus bornemisszanus sp. n. from South Africa (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae): Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationali S Hungarici (74): 207 - 210.", "Daniel, G. M., Davis, A. L. V, &amp; Scholtz, C. H. (2016) Three new Sisyphus species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from shaded vegetation in southern Africa. Zootaxa, 4147 (1): 67 - 74.", "Davis, A. L. V., Van Aarde, R. J., Scholtz, C. H., &amp; Delport, J. H. (2002 b). Increasing representation of localized dung beetles across a chronosequence of regenerating vegetation and natural dune forest in South Africa. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 11 (3): 191 - 209.", "Jacobs, C. T., Scholtz, C. H., Escobar, F., &amp; Davis, A. L. V. (2010) How might intensification of farming influence dung beetle diversity (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Maputo Special Reserve (Mozambique)? Journal of Insect Conservation, 14 (4): 389 - 399.", "Gillet, J. J. E. (1911) Scarabaeidae: Coprinae I. Coleopterorum Catalogus, 38: 1 - 263.", "Ferreira, M. C. (1972) Os Escarabideos de Africa (sul do Saara). Revista de Entomologia de Mocambique, 11 (1968 - 1969): 5 - 1088."]}