Sisyphus caffer 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 caffer

description: <i>Sisyphus caffer</i> Boheman, 1857 (Figs. 5, 6B). Boheman 1857: 195–6; Harold 1869: 984; Péringuey 1902: 106–7; Haaf 1955: 362–4; Ferreira 1972: 82, Schäfer &amp; Fischer 1992:121; Schäfer &amp; Fischer 2001:53 <b>Size</b>: Male: length: 7.8– 6.9 mm, width: 4.4– 3.5 mm. Female: length: 7.6– 7.1 mm, width: 4.5–3.0 mm. <b>Type locality</b>: Caffraria (South Africa). <b>Diagnosis</b>: <i>S. caffer</i> is close in appearance to <i>S. sordidus</i> Boheman, 1857. However, they can be separated morphologically by the following features: <i>S. caffer</i> bears much finer elytral setae, which are distributed in single rows; <i>S. sordidus</i> bears thicker elytral setae, which are distributed in non-single rows forming bunches. In <i>S. caffer</i>, pronotal setae are inserted between ocellate punctures (Fig. 5F), whereas in <i>S. sordidus</i>, the setae originate from the centre of ocellate punctures (Fig. 5H). Furthermore, <i>S. sordidus</i> occurs in unshaded lowland vegetation associated with warm temperatures whereas <i>S. caffer</i> is associated with highland grassland under cooler conditions. <b>Examined type material</b> Holotype (photograph): (1&amp;male; NHRS): /type/; /Caffraria/; /leg: J.Wahlb /; /309; 72/; /244; 73/; / <i>S. caffer</i> Bohm /; red label: /typus/; white label (handwritten): /TYPE <i>Sisyphus caffer</i> BOHEMAN, det. J. Ferrer /; /Naturhistoriska, Riksmuseet Stockholm; loan 37/90/; /9385 E92+/; /NHRS-SRAH 000000221/. <b>Examined non-type material</b>: See Supplementary information. <b>Distribution</b>: <i>S. caffer</i> occurs in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Bostwana. The species has been recorded in upland and highland grasslands under cooler conditions (Davis et. al. 2005) in both South Africa and Lesotho (29.7°S 27.4°E). In South Africa, the localities extend northwards from the Eastern Cape and eastern Free State to the latitude of Pretoria (28.19°E 25.80°S) and also along the eastern escarpment of KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga. The lowlands beyond the northern Gauteng Mountains of the Witwatersrand (24.54°S 27.08°E) may act as barriers, although the species is also found in isolated uplands further to the northwest, such as the Blouberg. <i>S. caffer</i> has also been recorded in unshaded vegetation at the margins of its range in Kneneng (Botswana) (23.78°S 25.27°E) and in a dry upland outlier in the north of Namibia (Kaoko Otavi) (Fig. 7). Kaoko Otavi represents a disjunction in the distribution of <i>S. caffer</i> from its main range on the Highveld of South Africa. It is noteworthy that <i>N. macrorubrus</i> and <i>Proagoderus lanista</i> (Castelnau, 1840) also show similar disjunct occurrences on the South African Highveld and as rarities in north Namibia (Davis 1997). <b>Remarks</b>: We cannot confirm or refute the validity of <i>S. crispatus</i> because the type specimen has been lost. Furthermore, the original description and image presented by Gory (1833) are imprecise and insufficient to determine the identity of the species. <i>S. crispatus</i> was described from the same imprecise type locality (Caffraria) as two other species (<i>S. caffer</i> and <i>S. sordidus</i>). Under these circumstances, we are not confident to state which of the two species might be a junior synonym of <i>S. crispatus.</i> According to the ICZN, article 75.5 “when an author considers that the taxonomic identity of a nominal species-group taxon cannot be determined from its existing name-bearing type, its name is a <i>nomen dubium</i> ”. Therefore, we propose <i>S. crispatus</i> as a <i>nomen dubium</i>.
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 20-21, 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.", "Haaf, E. (1955) Uber die Gattung Sisyphus Latr. (Col. Scarab.). Entomologische Arbeitenaus dem Museum G. Frey, 6 (1): 341 - 381.", "Ferreira, M. C. (1972) Os Escarabideos de Africa (sul do Saara). Revista de Entomologia de Mocambique, 11 (1968 - 1969): 5 - 1088.", "Schafer, P., &amp; Fischer, E. (1992) Zur Scarabaeiden-Fauna Rwandas, Zentralafrika. Sisyphini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Lamellicornia). Senckenbergiana biologica, 72 (1 - 3), 119 - 137.", "Schafer, P. &amp; Fischer, E. (2001) Zur Scarabaeidenfauna Rwandas, Zentralafrika 2, Gymnopleurini und nachtrag Sisyphini, Mitteilungen des internationalen entomologischen Vereins supplement 9: 1 - 93.", "Davis, A. L. V. (1997) Climatic and biogeographical associations of southern African dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae s. str.). african Journal of ecology, 35 (1): 10 - 38.", "Gory, M. (1833) Monographie du genre Sisyphe. Mequignon-Marvis pere et fils, Paris. 1 - 15 p."]}