Catharsius haroldi Takano 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Takano, Hitoshi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Catharsius
Catharsius haroldi

description: Catharsius haroldi sp. nov. (Figs. 6–9)
Catharsius harpagus sensu Ferreira, 1960 (nec Harold): 225; 1964a: 7; 1967: 234; 1972: 270; Génier & Josso, 2016: 335.
Type material.
Holotype, ♂ (BMNH):“ MOZAMBIQUE, 2m, Transect 4, / Maputo Special Reserve, / (Hygrophilous Grassland, 100m / from Sand Forest Ecotone) / 26°29’8.3”S, 32°45’8.9”E / 5.XII.2016. Human Dung Pitfall / Aristophanous, M., Cristóvão, J., / Laszlo, G., Miles, W. leg. / BMNH (E) 2016–262 / Trip Ref: MZ–001 (ANHRT 22) // NHMUK010367768 [QR code]”.
Paratypes (16♂♂ 20♀♀):
MOZAMBIQUE: MAPUTO: Maputo Special Reserve, 2m (26°29’S, 32°45’E), 4–5.vi.2017, M.Aristophanous, G. László, W. Miles & A. Vetina (1♂ 3♀♀ BMNH); Maputo Special Reserve, Transect 4, 2m (26°29’S, 32°45’E), 5.xii.2016, M. Aristophanous, J. Cristóvão, G. László & W. Miles (5♂♂ 6♀♀ BMNH); Maputo Special Reserve, Transect 5, 2m (26°29’S, 32°45’E), 5.xii.2016, M. Aristophanous, J. Cristóvão, G. László & W. Miles (2♂♂ 5♀♀ BMNH); Maputo Special Reserve, Transect 6, 2m (26°29’S, 32°45’E), 5.xii.2016, M. Aristophanous, J. Cristóvão, G. László & W. Miles (6♂♂ 4♀♀ BMNH); Maputo Special Reserve, West Gate, 22m (26°30’S, 32°43’E), 21– 30.xi.2016, M. Aristophanous, J. Cristóvão, G. László & W. Miles (2♂♂ 2♀♀ BMNH).
Description. Male holotype (Figs. 6–7). Size: Length 25 mm, width 17 mm. Colour: Black with a reddish undertone; pubescence light brown. Head: Anterior clypeal edge evenly arcuate with continuous clypeal margin. Clypeal surface rugose anteriorly, becoming more granulose posteriorly; genal edge rounded and acutely angled, surface with granules disappearing and becoming glabrous internally. Clypeogenal suture well-defined to base of cephalic horn. Cephalic horn long and straight, wide in basal third, edges of basal portion converging slightly; apicolateral angles rounded and obtuse. Cephalic suture laterally well-defined from base to apex. Pronotum: Anterior margin continuous, obliquely orientated anteriorly on each side of eyes. Lateral edges broadly arcuate. Pronotal disc with short but sharply pointed horns anteriorly, gently diverging and curved upwards, placed evenly between midline and lateral margin; apices of horns in line with edge of clypeogenal suture. Pronotal disc with continuous margin posteriorly; surface of disc covered in fine granules except for a glabrous oviform region on each side of midline; lateral declivity with fovea; surface completely granulate. Surface of anterior declivity glabrous; in frontal view, glabrous area extends from horns to anterior margin. Elytra: Carinate basally; elytral striae welldefined, with weak punctures encroaching slightly on intervals; surface of interstriae glabrous except for 2 mm portion basally of fine alutaceous microsculpture; carina on ninth interval very short. Pygidium: Transverse, fully margined, glabrous centrally, becoming more alutaceous towards edges; fine oviform punctures throughout. Legs: Protibia tridentate; spur curved gently apically; three longitudinal striae ventrally. Metatibial spur long, truncate apically. Aedeagus: Parameres almost as long as phallobase, laterally arcuate, with shallow concavity anteriorly (Fig. 8).
Female paratype (Fig. 9). Head: Anterior clypeal edge evenly arcuate with continuous clypeal margin. Clypeal surface transversely rugose anteriorly, becoming more granulose posteriorly; genal edge rounded and acutely angled, surface with granules disappearing and becoming glabrous internally. Clypeogenal suture welldefined to base of clypeal carina. Clypeal carina raised, broadly triangular in frontal view and weakly tridentate, central point slightly bifurcate. Pronotum: Anterior margin continuous, obliquely oriented anteriorly on each side of eyes. Lateral edges broadly arcuate. Pronotal disc with short carina anteriorly, arcuate and medially emarginate; carina no longer than distance between eyes. Surface of disc completely granulose except for a small glabrous region on either side of midline; glabrous area rounded internally, tapering to a point laterally. Lateral declivity with fovea; surface completely granulate. Surface of anterior declivity completely granulate. Elytra: Carinate basally; elytral striae well-defined, with weak punctures encroaching slightly on intervals; surface of interstriae glabrous except for 2 mm portion anteriorly of fine alutaceous microsculpture; carina on ninth interval very short. Pygidium: Transverse, fully margined, glabrous centrally, becoming more alutaceous towards edges; fine oviform punctures throughout. Legs: Protibia tridentate; spur curved gently apically; three longitudinal striae ventrally. Metatibial spur long, truncate apically.
Variation. Length: male 20–25 mm, female 21–26 mm. In smaller males the anterior declivity is completely granulose; the pronotal horns are reduced to tubercles and the cephalic horn is reduced to a broad equilateral triangle in frontal view.
Derivatio nominis. This species is named after the coleopterist Edgar von Harold (1830–1886), who described Catharsius harpagus, the species with which subsequent authors have confused this new species.
Diagnosis. This species, although very distinctive, might be confused with the smaller C. tricornutus (De Geer, 1778) with which it is found sympatrically. In the males of the latter, the more conical pronotal horns are longer, placed nearer the midline and diverge strongly. In the females, the clypeal carina of C. tricornutus is strongly bifurcate medially giving it a quadridentate appearance in frontal view, and the pronotal carina is straight, weakly produced and shorter than the clypeal carina.
Distribution. Mozambique and South Africa (e.g., Van Rensburg et al. 1999).
description: Published as part of Takano, Hitoshi, 2021, Taxonomic notes concerning the genus Catharsius Hope, 1837 (Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae), pp. 280-286 in Zootaxa 5052 (2) on pages 283-284, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5052.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/5568728