Macroderes undulatus Preudhomme de Borre 1880
Creators: name: Abdalla, Ishtiag H.
name: Deschodt, Christian M.
name: Scholtz, Clarke H.
name: Sole, Catherine L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Macroderes
Macroderes undulatus

description: Macroderes undulatus Preudhomme de Borre, 1880
(Figs. 16, 56, 68)
Macroderes undulatus Preudhomme de Borre, 1880: 10; Péringuey 1901: 303; Janssen 1939: 27; Ferreira 1969: 323; Frolov & Scholtz 2005: 386. Macroderes westwoodi Preudhomme de Borre, 1880: 9; Frolov & Scholtz 2005: 386 (junior synonym of M. undulatus).
Type locality. Cape of Good Hope.
Type material examined. None. Type series is deposited in IRSNB (Frolov & Scholtz 2005).
Additional material examined. 10 ♀♀ (SANC): “VILLIERSDORP / SW. C P / (15 Km SE) / 13. VIII. 79 / Davis & Payton leg // Macorderes sp / det. CSIRO DBRU”; 3 ♀♀ (SANC): “VILLIERSDORP / SW. C P/ (15 Km SE) / 29. VI. 79 / stony sandy loam / Fallow crop field C / Davis & Payton // Macorderes sp / det. CSIRO / DBRU”; 1 ♀ (SANC): “WORC ESTER / C P / (5 min NW) / 16. X. 71 / Bornemissza & Kirk // ex coll. CSIRO / Div / Entomology / S. AFRICAN STATION”; 1 ♀ (SANC): “SWELLENDAM / CP / (29 Kms E) / 3. V. 76 / 250 m / Davis & Aschenborn // Ex Coll. CSIRO / Div / Entomology / S. AFRICAN STATION // Macorderes sp / det. CSIRO / DBRU”; 1 ♀ (UPSA): “ Macroderes undulatus / P. d / Borre / Frolov det”; 1 ♀ (SAMC): “ Riversdale Mountains // SAM-Col-A043 226”; 1 ♀ (SAMC): “ Rietpol [Rietpoort] / C.P / Nov. 1937 / Macroderes undulatus Borre // SAM-Col- A0432118”.
Size range. Females length: 10.0– 11.7 mm, width: 7.2–8.1 mm.
Differential diagnosis. This unique species can be separated from its congeners by the presence of a small tubercle in the middle of the frontal suture (Fig. 56), elytra having smooth, elevated areas in the middle of each interstria with sparse punctuation (Fig. 68) and metasternum lacking any punctuation.
Habitat and distribution. The species was collected from uncertain localities in the southern part of the Western Cape Province (Fig. 2), however, in general the southern part of the Western Cape as described by Olsen et al. (2001) is a moist coastal hilly area delimited by the lowland Fynbos biome and Renosterveld eco-region in the north and the coast of Renosterveld in the east.
Remarks. According to Frolov & Scholtz (2005), the types of M. westwoodi and M. undulatus are curated for in the same collection (J. Thompson’s collection) and they might even have been collected from the same uncertain locality. The observations of Frolov & Scholtz (2005) on these two species emphasise their similarity in many morphological aspects; they are similar in general body shape, the presence of a tubercle on the frontal suture, the same pronotal punctures and weakly distinct punctures on the metasternum, although they are different in elytral sculpture. As we have not seen the types of M. westwoodi and M. undulatus, we agree with Frolov & Scholtz (2005) in synonymising M. westwoodi with M. undulatus as their reasoning stated above, regarding the subject is sound.
The species has been listed as threatened in the IUCN red list under the B1ab criterion due to it is limited and vulnerable range (Davis 2013).
description: Published as part of Abdalla, Ishtiag H., Deschodt, Christian M., Scholtz, Clarke H. & Sole, Catherine L., 2018, An update to the taxonomy of the genus Macroderes Westwood 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with descriptions of new species from South Africa, pp. 41-75 in Zootaxa 4504 (1) on page 70, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2606164