Macroderes cederbergensis Abdalla & Deschodt & Scholtz & Sole 2018, new species
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 cederbergensis

description: Macroderes cederbergensis Abdalla & Deschodt, new species
(Figs. 20, 29, 76, 83, 94)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 9FED0DC0-CFF6-424C-A3AE- 092656 B24972
Macroderes minutus Frolov & Scholtz, 2005: 385 (partim).
Type locality. Cederberg Mts, Jeep Track, 32°26'S 19°13'E.
Type material. Holotype, ♂ (TMSA): “ Cederberg Mts / Jeep Track / 32° 26' S 19° 13' E / 1.IX.1981 / groundtraps with faeces and meat bait / 63 days / Endrödy – Younga leg [printed] // HOLOTYPE / Macroderes cederbergensis / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”. Paratypes: 2 ♀♀ (TMSA): “ Cederberg Mts / Jeep Track / 32° 26' S 19° 13' E / 1.IX.1981 / groundtraps with faeces and meat bait / 63 days / Endrody – Younga leg [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes cederbergensis / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”; 1 ♂: “ Cederberg Mts. / Jeep Track / 32° 23' S 19° 24' E / 1.IX.1981 / groundtrap with meat bait / 63 days / Endrödy— Younga leg [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes cederbergensis / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (TMSA): “ Cederberg Mts / Jeep Track / 32° 24' S 19° 10' E / 1.IX.1981 / Redunca rufo [name could not be traced, probably Pelea capreolus (Forster, 1790) or Grey Rhebok] dung / Endrödy—Younga leg [printed] // PARATYPE / Macroderes cederbergensis / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”; 2 ♂♂ (TMSA) with the same data but collected from groundtraps with meat and feaces bait set up for 63 days.
Holotype description. Holotype, ♂ (Fig. 20). Body length 9.4 mm, width 6.8 mm.
Head. Genae right–angled. Frontal suture visible, not raised, strongly curved, no tubercle. Genal sutures barely discernible. Dorsal surface of clypeus behind frontal suture punctate punctures small, irregular and separated by 1– 3 puncture diameters, area between punctures slightly rugose proximally of frontal suture. Dorsal part of eyes clearly visible.
Pronotum. Slightly convex. Anterior lateral angles almost right–angled, posterior lateral angles fairly rounded. No excavation antero-laterally. Lateral border not punctate. Dorsal surface smooth, with regular punctures separated by 0.5–1.5 puncture diameters (Figs. 76, 83).
Elytra. Elytral interstriae 1–8 flat, shagreened, irregularly punctate, punctures irregularly sized, separated by 0.5–3 puncture diameters, margins of punctures not carinate (Fig. 94). Striae punctate with punctures separated by 2–4 puncture diameters. Sutural interstria narrow with single row of irregularly spaced punctures. Elytral stria 9 2/ 3 the length of elytron; interstria 10 about 5 times narrower than interstria 9 in the middle of elytron.
Aedeagus. The sclerite of internal sac is curved, with small lateral process apically (Fig. 29).
Size range. Males length: 7.5–9.0 mm, width: 5.5–6.8 mm; females length: 7.8–9.5 mm, width: 6.0– 6.3 mm.
Female. Female differs from male by having elytral interstriae 1–8 less shagreened; otherwise variation between male and female is very slight.
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Cederberg Range where the species occurs.
Differential diagnosis. It is close to M. soleiana new species but can be separated by having flatter elytral intervals (Figs. 20, 94) and the striae being slightly arcuate and not straight as in M. soleiana new species.
Habitat and distribution. This species was collected on the highest plateau in the Cederberg range (Fig. 2), above 1100 m a.s.l. (metres above sea level), characterised by clay soils and classified as Northern Inland Shale Band Vegetation (Mucina & Rutherford 2006). Macroderes soleiana new species occurs below 1100 m a.s.l.
Remark. See M. minutus for an explanation of the origin of the type series.
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 pages 48-49, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2606164