Title:

New dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) taxa from arid south-western Africa

Publication Year:
2011
Abstract:

In this paper we describe new dung beetle taxa (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) and discuss others previously described from arid south-western Africa. Descriptions are provided for a new monotypic genus (Versicorpus Deschodt, Davis and Scholtz gen.n.) and three new species, Versicorpus erongoensis Deschodt, Davis and Scholtz sp.n., Namakwanus endroedyi Deschodt, Davis and Scholtz, sp.n., and Scarabaeus (Kheperkalaharicus Davis, Deschodt and Scholtz, sp.n. The type material of Scarabaeus (ScarabaeushottentorumPéringuey is examined and spelling errors on the labels are discussed. Inconsistencies between the published type locality, type locality labels, and the known geographical range are also discussed. The recently described Kheper namibicus Krajcik 2006 is synonymised with Scarabaeus (Khepercupreus (Castelnau 1840). Distribution records are provided for the new species described here while some closely related species are discussed. Keywords: Kalahari, Species, synonymy, Namaqualand, Namibia, description, genus.

Publication Title:

Insect Systematics and Evolution

Volume:
42
Issue:
3
Pages:
277-294
Item Type:
Journal Article
Language:
en

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