Sisyphus nanniscus Peringuey 1901
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 nanniscus

description: <i>Sisyphus nanniscus</i> Péringuey, 1901 (Figs. 14C, 15B). Péringuey 1901: 107–8; Gillet 1911:23; Arrow, 1909: 519; Arrow 1927: 465; Haaf: 355–6; Montreuil 2017: 3 <i>Sisyphus ocellatus nanniscus</i> Péringuey, 1901 Haaf 1995: 357–8; Ferreira: 1972: 807; <b>Type locality</b>: Durban (South Africa) <b>Size</b>: Male: length: 3.0– 3.8 mm; width: 1.7– 1.5 mm; Female: length: 3.0–4.0 mm, width 1.8– 1.5 mm. <b>Diagnosis</b>: <i>S. nanniscus</i> resembles <i>S. seminulum</i>. However, it can be easily distinguished as it bears large, dense ocellate punctures on the pronotum, unlike in <i>S. seminulum</i> where the punctures are relatively smaller and clearly separated from each other. Additionally, in <i>S. nanniscus</i> the internal margin of the metatibia is weakly dentate whilst, in <i>S. seminulum</i>, it is distinctly serrated. <b>Examined type material</b> <b> <i>Sisyphus nanniscus</i> Péringuey, 1901</b> : (&amp;male; SAM): Lectotype (designated here): handwritten on brown label / <i>Sisyphus nanniscus</i>, type <i>/</i>, red label /type, SAM, ento: 2672/, / Lectotype, det. GM Daniel, 2016 /. (&amp;male; SAM): Paralectotype (designated here): / Durban, x. 1896 leg: undetermined/, (white label) / <i>Sisyphus seminulum</i> Gerstaecker, det. K.M. Paschalidis, 1975/, (handwritten on brown label) / <i>Sisyphus nanniscus</i>, type/, (handwritten on brown label bordered by blue colour) / <i>Ssp.</i> <i>nanniscus</i> Pér /, red label / type /, / Lectotype, det. GM Daniel, 2016 /. <b> <i>Sisyphus seminulum</i> Gerstaecker, 1871</b> : Lectotype (designated here): (1&amp;female; MN- HUB): / Zanzibar /, (brown label) / <i>typus/, /56381/;</i> handwritten on blue label <i>/</i> <i>seminulum</i> Gerst /; (red label) / Syntypus <i>Sisyphus seminulum</i> Gerstaecker 1871, labelled by MNHUB 2016/, /leg: Cooke/; / Lectotype, det. GM Daniel, 2016 /. Paralectotype (designated here): (1&amp;male; MNHUB): / Zanzibar /; brown label / <i>paratypus</i> /, / <i>56381</i> /; handwritten on blue label / <i>seminulum Gerst</i>, det: Muller/, red label / Syntypus <i>Sisyphus seminulum</i> Gerstaecker 1871, labelled by MNHUB 2016/, leg: Cooke, / Paralectotype, det. GM Daniel, 2016 /. (3&amp;male;, 2&amp;female; MCZ): / Zanzibar / C. Cooke/, (red label written) / type/ <i>S. seminulum</i> /, <i>costatus</i>, det. PFS Pereira/ Paralectotype, det. GM Daniel, 2017/. <b>Examined non-type material</b>: See Supplementary information. <b>Distribution</b>: <i>Sisyphus nanniscus</i> is found primarily under shaded vegetation in southern Africa (Fig. 16). <b>Remarks</b>: Type material has been studied of both <i>S. nanniscus</i> and <i>S. seminulum</i>. External morphology and parameres are sufficiently different for separation into two species. Therefore, we support the revalidation and new status of <i>S. nanniscus</i> proposed by Montreuil (2017).
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 39-40, DOI: 10.1163/1876312X-00002195, http://zenodo.org/record/3786629
description: {"references": ["Peringuey, L. (1901) Descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera of South Africa. Transactions of the South African philosophical Society. Cape Town, 12: 1 - 563 (13 - 368).", "Gillet, J. J. E. (1911) Scarabaeidae: Coprinae I. Coleopterorum Catalogus, 38: 1 - 263.", "Arrow, G. J. (1909) On some new species of Coleoptera from Rhodesia and adjacent territories. The Annals and Magazine of natural History, including Zoology, Botany and Geology. London 8 (3): 517 - 523.", "Arrow, G. J. (1927) Notes on the Coleopterous genus Sisyphus. Annals and Magazine of natural History, 9 (19): 456 - 465.", "Montreuil, O. (2017) Nouveaux Sisyphus Latreille africains du groupe seminulum: les complexes seminulum, desaegeri et ocellatus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sisyphini), Catharsius La Revue, 14: 1 - 22.", "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.", "Gerstaecker, A. (1871) Beitrag zur Insektenfauna von Zanzibar III. Coleoptera. Archiv fur Naturgeschichte, 37: 42 - 86."]}