Parelaphinis drakensbergica Perissinotto 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Perissinotto, Renzo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cetoniidae
Parelaphinis
Parelaphinis drakensbergica

description: Parelaphinis drakensbergica sp. nov.   
(Figs 35–42)  
 Type material. Hඈඅඈඍඒඉൾ: J, RSA, Free State Prov., Harrismith Dist., Platberg 2315 m, 28°15′14″ S, 29°11′18″ E, 5 Dec 1988, Dr. L. Coetzer leg. (ISAM). Pൺඋൺඍඒඉൾඌ: SOUTH AFRICA: 2 JJ, same data (RPGS); 1 ♀, RSA, Dirkiesdorp, 5 Dec 1988, I. Coetzer (Hඈඅආ & Pൾඋංඌඌංඇඈඍඍඈ 2004: 88). ESWATINI: 1 J, Swaziland, Sidwashini, 13 Nov 1994, ʻ Parelaphinis moesta (G&P)ʼ, N.J. Duke (TMSA-CPH2088).   
 Description of holotype male (Figs 35–42). Body. Matte, with black head, pronotum, scutellum and legs, but testaceous to brick-red elytra; all surfaces exhibiting white tomentose maculation, forming longitudinal midline and lateral eye shapes on pronotum; with dense round sculpture on head, becoming scattered and horse-shoe shaped on pronotum, scutellum and elytra; with scattered, long to medium size, pale-yellow to tawny setae on entire head surface, becoming extremely short and sparse on pronotal and elytral declivities, and virtually disappearing on pronotal and elytral disc as well as scutellum (Figs 35, 37).   
 Size. Total length = 10.9 mm; maximum width = 6.4 mm.   
 Head. Black with extensive white tomentum across lateral areas, leaving longitudinal black band at centre; clypeus deeply concave and broadly bilobate with marked and angulate indentation at apex, with lateral margins smoothly angulate anteriorly; all margins sharply upturned and reflexed; entire surface covered in dense round punctures; pale-yellow setae distributed along entire surface, generally shorter and more scattered on clypeus and frons, becoming much longer and denser on vertex; antenna black to dark brown, with club approximately as long as flagellum and pedicel combined; thin light setae scattered across flagellum, becoming thicker and denser on pedicel (Fig. 38).   
 Pronotum. Black and matte, with widespread white tomentose maculation, forming in particular two symmetric lateral eye-shaped patterns and one longitudinal midline briefly interrupted towards posterior margin; without any tubercle or ridge in central apical area of anterior margin; exhibiting very scattered and shallow round to horseshoe punctures across entire surface, becoming denser on declivities; with few short light setae distributed along lateral margins and declivities, becoming extremely sparse on disc; shape smoothly rounded along lateral and posterior margins, with abrupt angulation only at antero-lateral margins (Fig. 35).   
 Scutellum. Black, matte and glabrous, with tomentose maculation on two basal corners, extending laterally towards apex; round to horseshoe punctures regularly spaced along entire perimeter, denser around base but absent on disc; broadly equilateral triangular in shape with acute apex and lateral margins inwardly arcuate; lateral grooves rather wide and deep, except on peri-basal portions (Fig. 35).   
 Elytron. Testaceous to brick-red, with darker areas around margins and along suture; with dense and variously shaped white tomentose maculation across entire surface; costae obsolete to weakly produced and barely visible; humeral callus protruding outwards and subhumeral arch deeply sinuate; posterior margin smoothly rounded without projections or upturning at apex; wide crescent to horseshoe punctures scattered across disc, becoming larger and denser towards basal margin but smaller and more sparse on lateral and apical declivities; surface generally glabrous, with few scattered minute setae on lateral and apical declivities (Figs 35, 37).   
 Pygidium. Triangular in shape, with smoothly rounded, domed apex and marked depressions on baso-lateral corners; exhibiting symmetric set of three wide and oblong white tomentose maculae on each side; with dense but shallow rugulose sculpture across entire surface, not visible in areas of white maculae; few short light-yellow setae scattered throughout disc, becoming longer and finer along lateral margins and apex (Fig. 39).   
 Legs. Black and coarsely sculptured, with tips and edges often brown; tarsal segments moderately elongate, with apical ones longer than preceding units and all claws smoothly arcuate; tibiae with coarse longitudinal rugulose sculpture, covered with sparse and short light-yellow setae, becoming longer and denser on inner margins; protibia tridentate, with teeth decreasing gradually in size from apical (longest) to proximal (shortest); mesotibia with prominent and sharp medio-dorsal spine, spurs brown and moderately elongate, thin and blunt; metatibia with outer carina bearing one small but sharp medio-distal tooth, spurs brown substantially more elongate than in mesotibia and sharp or rounded at apex (Figs 35–37).   
 Ventral surface. Black with white tomentum markings very widespread across entire surface, except central and posterior areas of abdominal ventrites, mesometasternal region and femoral bases; covered in dense and long light-yellow to tawny setae, except on central metafemoral surface, abdominal ventrites and mesometasternal region, where setae become shorter and very scattered; mesosternal lobe flattish, smoothly rounded and covered by long tawny setae on anterior margin, not protruding either forward or downwards; metasternal lobe covered in deep but rather sparse round punctures and exhibiting wide concavity at centre of median sulcus; abdominal ventrites with slight concavity at centre (Fig. 36).   
 Aedeagus. Parameres with dorsal lobes laterally constrained at centre, expanding then slightly in apical half and abruptly rounded at apex (Fig. 40); apical area with flat surface in frontal view exhibiting dense and fine long pubescence extending posteriorly to about mid length of ventral lobes (Figs 41–42); club-shaped dorsal flat surface elongate and extending towards basal attachment by two-thirds of total lobe distance; ventral lobes protruding laterally but visible in dorsal view only in basal half of their total length (Fig. 40). Variability. This species is generally smaller than P. moesta, with size in the range of 10.5–10.9 mm in total length and 6.1–6.4 mm in maximum width. The dorsal ornamentation varies little in extent in the few specimens currently known, with white markings covering most of the head, scutellar and elytral surfaces in extreme cases. In the eSwatini specimen, the colour of the elytral maculation is greyish-pink, but this appears to be a discolouring effect due to oil impregnation of the cuticle during preservation. Similar discolouring patterns have been observed in Elaphinis cinereonebulosa, E. matatiele sp. nov. and even in P. umtamvuna sp. nov. (cf. respective descriptions above and below). The female of P. drakensbergica sp. nov. is not known yet, but it is expected to be slightly broader than the male, with wider protibiae and shorter protarsi, reduced tomentose ornamentation on the dorsum, pygidium protruding beyond elytral apices and slight convexity on abdominal ventrites.   
 Differential diagnosis. Specimens belonging to this species have previously been included with some hesitation under P. moesta, as the genus was believed to be monotypic (cf. Hඈඅආ & Pൾඋංඌඌංඇඈඍඍඈ 2004). However, new material and more in depth analyses have now revealed that there are at least three species currently recognizable, all within South Africa with one partly in Lesotho and another in eSwatini too. In particular, the north-eastern populations already highlighted in Hඈඅආ & Pൾඋංඌඌංඇඈඍඍඈ (2004) as distinct in having smaller, more rounded bodies and elongated and merging spots on pronotum, typically represent P. drakensbergica sp. nov. This species lies at one extreme of the gradient in morphological characters observed across the series, exhibiting the broadest body shape and the most extensive tomentose ornamentation among the three species (Figs 35, 44, 53). Other diagnostic characters can be observed at the level of clypeal shape, protibial denticles development and aedeagal parameres morphology. More specifically, in P. drakensbergica sp. nov. the clypeus shows the widest apical sinuation and also the only sign of angulation along its lateral margins among the three species (Figs 38, 47, 56). The three protibial denticles are clearly visible in all three species, but they are most developed in P. drakensbergica sp. nov. and least in P. moesta (Figs 35, 44, 53). Finally, the aedeagal parameres of P. drakensbergica sp. nov. are the shortest, but also widest among the three species. Their dorsal lobes exhibit a flat to gently inward sloping club-shaped area, which in this species extends all the way from just behind the apex to about one third of its total distance above the base, while it is restricted to the apical half in P. moesta and becomes even shorter and narrower in P. umtamvuna sp. nov. (Figs 40, 49, 58). In frontal view, the apical region of the lobes is approximately equally rounded in all three species, but the downward bend is minimal in P. drakensbergica sp. nov., intermediate in P. moesta and extreme in P. umtamvuna sp. nov. (Figs 42, 51, 60).   
 Etymology. The species is named after the Drakensberg Escarpment of southern Africa, where all specimens currently known originate from. The specific epithet is an adjective in the nominative singular.   
 Bionomy. So far, adult activity has been recorded only in late Austral spring and no other information is available on the biology of this species.   
 Distribution. This species appears to be restricted to high altitude areas (approximately 1500–2300 m) of the Drakensberg Escarpment, from the Platberg above Harrismith in the Free State (Fig. 43) to Dirkiesdorp in Mpumalanga and Sidwashini in eSwatini (Fig. 66). This area experiences a substantially higher annual rainfall (1000–2000 mm) than the western interior of South Africa, where the annual average can range between 100 and 1000 mm (Cඈඅൾ et al. 2018), with a gradient decreasing rapidly towards the semiarid karooid region. Thus, P. drakensbergica sp. nov. and P. moesta are allopatric and separated by the big geological, climatic and vegetation divide represented by the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountain Centre (Cൺඋൻඎඍඍ 2019).
description: Published as part of Perissinotto, Renzo, 2022, Review of the genera Elaphinis and Parelaphinis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) with description of three new species from South Africa, pp. 35-55 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 62 (1) on pages 45-47, DOI: 10.37520/aemnp.2022.004, http://zenodo.org/record/7161157