Macroderes oreatus 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 oreatus

description: Macroderes oreatus Abdalla & Deschodt, new species
(Figs. 19, 36, 78, 86, 96)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D2AC74D3-5FC1-4996-9F28-0C4C8BBA3D66
Macroderes sp.: Sole & Scholtz 2010: 636.
Type locality. Armmanshoek, Richtersveld NP, 28.41756°S 17.07902°E.
Type material. Holotype: ♂ (TMSA): “Armmanshoek / Richtersveld NP / S28.41756° E17.07902° / 13.iv.2005 / 623 m / C. Deschodt & A. Deschodt [printed] // HOLOTYPE / Macroderes oreatus / Abdalla & Deschodt / 2018 [red label, printed]”; Paratypes: 5 ♀ f #, same data as holotype, 1♀ (TMSA), 2♀♀ (UPSA), 2♀♀ (SANC).
Holotype description. Holotype, ♂ (Fig. 19). Body length 7.2 mm, width 4.9 mm. Specimen is teneral.
Head. Genae right-angled. Frontal suture very distinct, curving slightly, no tubercle. Genal sutures barely discernible. Dorsal surface of clypeus behind frontal suture punctate punctures small, irregular and separated by 1– 3 puncture diameters, gradually becoming rugose proximally.
Pronotum. Convex, lateral margins round. Anterior lateral angles almost right-angled, posterior lateral angles rounded. No excavation anterolaterally. Lateral border not punctate. Dorsal surface shagreened to matte, with regular punctures separated by 1–2 puncture diameters (Figs. 78, 86).
Elytra. Elytral interstriae 1–8 even, shagreened, irregularly punctate, punctures irregularly sized, separated by 0.5–2 puncture diameters, margins of punctures not carinate (Fig. 96). Striae punctate with punctures separated by 2–4 puncture diameters. Sutural interstria narrow with single row of punctures up to apex, all other elytral interstriae wider, with 2–3 very irregular rows of punctures. Stria 9 long, 3/4 the length of elytron; interstria 10 is 2–3 times narrower than interstria 9 in the middle of elytron.
Aedeagus. Sclerite of the internal sac straight, with weakly developed lateral process. (Fig. 36)
Size range. Females length: 7.0– 7.2 mm; width: 4.5–4.9 mm.
Female. Female differs from male by having less developed frontal suture as well as the elytral striae 1–8 being less shagreened and shinier than in males.
Etymology. Oreads are Greek mythological mountain nymphs.
Differential diagnosis. Superficially similar to species from the M. minutus group but can be separated by the more oval body shape (Fig. 19) and by having a longer elytral stria 9.
Habitat and distribution. This species was collected in an isolated, mesic ravine (Armmanshoek) in the Vanderster Mountains in the Richtersveld National Park, South Africa (Fig. 2). Mucina & Rutherford (2006) classify this area as the Stinkfonteinberge Quartzite Fynbos vegetation type. The soils are predominantly loamy. It receives approximately 200 mm rain per year. Coastal fogs occur between 10 and 20 days a year.
Remarks. Three specimens were sequenced for five gene regions (A, cytochrome oxidase I; B, 16S ribosomal RNA; C, 28S rRNA domain 2; D, 28S rRNA domain 3; and E, the CPSase region of CAD (carbamoyl–phosphate synthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamylase, and dihydroorotase)). The sequences can be found in GenBank (submitted by Sole & Scholtz 2010) with the following accession numbers: specimen 1, A: GQ290039 B:
GQ289687 C: GQ289821 D: GQ289905 E: GQ289974; specimen 2, A: GQ290040 B: GQ289688 C: GQ289822 D: GQ289906 E: no sequence; specimen 3, A: GQ290041 B: GQ289689 C: GQ289823 D: GQ289907 E: GQ289975. A label with GenBank accession numbers has been added to each of the three specimens. Specimens were dissected during DNA extraction and are kept in ethanol.
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 66-67, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2606164