Phaeaphodius pupillus Balthasar 1961
Creators: name: Dellacasa, Marco
name: Dellacasa, Giovanni
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Aphodiidae
Phaeaphodius
Phaeaphodius pupillus

description: Phaeaphodius pupillus (Balthasar, 1961)
(Figs. 39–43)
Aphodius (Phaeaphodius) pupillus Balthasar, 1961: 361; Balthasar 1964: 284; Dellacasa & Dellacasa 2006: 133. Phaeaphodius pupillus: Dellacasa & Dellacasa 2016: 144.
Type locality. Kandahar-Kuna, 950 m, Afghanistan.
Type repository. Zoological Institute and Museum Akexander König. Bonn, Germany (paratype examined).
Redescription. Length 4.0– 4.5 mm; subcylindrical, strongly convex, shiny, glabrous. Head and pronotum piceous, clypeal margin and anterior angles of pronotum shadowy red; elytra reddish brown; legs dark testaceous; antennal club pale testaceous. Head with epistoma convex and sparsely subregularly punctate on disc; distally densely, unequally, subrugosely punctate; anteriorly feebly carinate and abruptly depressed toward clypeal margin. Clypeus feebly sinuate at middle, round on sides, thinly bordered, edge glabrous and faintly upturned; genae widely round, sparsely setose, protruding from the eyes; frontal suture distinctly impressed with vestiges of tubercles; front irregularly, distantly punctate. Pronotum moderately transverse, strongly convex, dually punctate; large punctures five to six times larger than small punctures, very sparse and irregularly scattered, a little denser on sides, lacking on disc; small punctures distant and rather sparsely distributed; sides feebly arcuate, rather thinly bordered, edge sparsely setose; hind angles distinctly truncate, truncation somewhat inwardly sinuate; base finely but distinctly entirely bordered. Scutellum trinagularly elongate, flat, coarsely punctate on basal half. Elytra elongate, feebly widened posteriorly, finely striate; striae feebly impressed, superficially punctate, weakly crenulate; interstriae flat, nearly imperceptibly sparsely punctate. Metatibiae superior spur slightly longer than first metatarsomere; latter somewhat shorter than following 3 metatarsomeres combined. Male: protibiae spur shorter, stouter, and downward abruptly bent; frontal suture feebly tuberculate at middle; pronotum more transverse, less densely punctate; metasternal plate feebly excavate but distinctly grooved medially and somewhat sparsely punctate; aedeagus Figs. 42–43. Female: protibiae spur slender, more elongate and nearly straight; pronotum somewhat narrower apically; metasternal plate almost flat, faintly grooved and sparsely punctate.
Distribution. Afghanistan, Uzbekistan.
Material examined. AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar-Kuna, 950 m, 21.II.1953, Klapperich J. leg. (2 specimens, paratypes, MNHN); UZBEKISTAN: Buchara, Collection Reitter (1 specimen, MNHN).
Bionomics. Unknown.
Remarks. It is possible that this species is a junior synonym of P. dauricus but, due to the limited material at our disposal, it is maintained as a valid species.
description: Published as part of Dellacasa, Marco & Dellacasa, Giovanni, 2016, Systematic revision of the genus Phaeaphodius Reitter, 1892 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), pp. 143-163 in Zootaxa 4162 (1) on pages 155-156, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4162.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/254692