Onthophagus furciceps Marseul 1869
Creators: name: Ziani, Stefano
name: Gharakhloo, Mohammad Moradi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Onthophagus
Onthophagus furciceps

description: Key to the <i>O. furciceps</i> species group 1. Bristles on elytral disc simple; dorsal surface shining, disc of pronotum barely or not at all microreticulate......................................................................... <b>4</b> – Bristles on elytral disc bifid or trifid, or lancelolate; dorsal surface dull, with distinct microreticulation............................................................................ <b>2</b> 2. Lamellae of antennal club thin and elongate, much longer than in most <i>Onthophagus</i> species, somewhat resembling those of some Melolonthini................................................................................. <b> <i>O. parmatus</i> Reitter, 1892</b> – Lamellae of antennal club normally shaped................................................. <b>3</b> 3. Relatively small species (length 4.8–8.2 mm). Pronotum equally densely punctate on disc and basally. Male: pronotum with four tubercles, the two anteromedian very closely placed and smaller than the two anterolateral; female: pronotum with an anteromedian narrow regularly convex gibbosity............................................................................... <b> <i>O. ponticus</i> Harold, 1883</b> – Relatively large species (length 5.8–9.9 mm). Pronotum densely punctate on disc, punctures gradually more spaced toward base. Male: pronotum with four equidistant tubercles, the two anteromedian more prominent than the two anterolateral; female: pronotum with an anteromedian transverse sunk gibbosity................................................................. <b> <i>O. psychopompus</i> sp. n.</b> 4. Pronotal sides obviously sinuate behind anterior angles; pronotum approximately as long as elytra...................................... <b> <i>O. furciceps</i> Marseul, 1869</b> – Pronotal sides not sinuate behind anterior angles; pronotum longer than elytra............................................................... <b> <i>O. bytinskii</i> Balthasar, 1960</b> In Balthasar (1963), the last taxonomic monograph covering Iranian territory, <i>O. psychopompus</i> sp. n. can be inserted in the key at thesis 24 (21), p. 199, to form a couplet with <i>O. ponticus</i> from which is easily distinguished by the characters mentioned above. Moreover, the shape of the lamella copulatrix, with the right branch, in ventral view, bifurcate, is very characteristic for the new species.
description: Published as part of <i>Ziani, Stefano &amp; Gharakhloo, Mohammad Moradi, 2010, Studies on palearctic Onthophagus associated with burrows of small mammals. IV. A new Iranian species belonging to the furciceps group (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onthophagini), pp. 33-40 in ZooKeys 34</i> on pages 38-39, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.34.272, http://zenodo.org/record/576602
description: {"references": ["Balthasar V (1963) Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der palaearktischen und orientalischen Region. Coleoptera Lamellicornia. Band 2. Coprinae (Onitini, Oniticellini, Onthophagini). Verlag der Tschechoslowakischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Prag, 627 pp., 16 pls."]}