Ammoecius eli ( PETROVITZ, 1961 ) DellacaSa & DellacaSa, 2002

DellacaSa, M. & DellacaSa, G., 2002, Systematic Redefinition Of Taxa Belonging To The Genera Ahermodontus Báguena, 1930 And Ammoecius Mulsant, 1842, With Description Of The New Genus Vladimirellus (Coleoptera: Aphodiidae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 48 (4), pp. 269-316 : 292-293

Ammoecius eli ( PETROVITZ, 1961) , comb. n.

( Figs 16 , 21 )

Aphodius (Ammoecius) eli PETROVITZ, 1961: 347 ; BARAUD 1971: 67; DELLACASA M. 1988: 231.

Type locality: “ Hilleh , Mesopotam.” [ Iraq.]

Type depository: Muséum d’Histoire naturelle, Geneva .

Description of female – Length 5.0 mm. Short, oval, strongly convex, shiny, glabrous ( Fig. 21 ). Blackish, head and pronotum sides shadowy brown-reddish; legs piceous; antennal club testaceous. Head with cupuliform epistoma distinctly, rather sparsely and subregularly punctured on disc, punctures laterally relatively larger; punctation granulo-rugose in front of short and distinctly raised anterior carina; clypeus angulately sinuate at middle, sharply denticulate at sides; denticles distinctly upturned, rather thickly bordered, border feebly upturned; genae obtusely rounded, elongately ciliate, feebly protruding more than eyes; frontal suture finely impressed; frons regularly distinctly punctured; epipharynx: Fig. 16 . Pronotum moderately transverse, strongly convex, doubly subregularly punctured; larger punctures absent on anterior quarter, denser on sides; latter feebly rounded, distinctly bordered; hind angles widely rounded; base thickly bordered. Scutellum flat, with few fine and sparse punctures on basal half. Elytra strongly convex, regularly oval, with small humeral denticle; striae rather fine and distinctly crenulate to preapical declivity wherein they are deep, not crenulate by large transverse punctures and as wide as interstices; latter faintly convex and sparselypuncturedondisc,narrowerandsubcarinatepreapically.Metasternalplatenearlyflat,finely punctured. Hind tibiae with superior apical spur slightly shorter than first tarsal segment; latter shorter than following two combined.

Male unknown.

Distribution: Known only from type locality of the female holotype.

Remarks – We suspect that this taxon is a junior synonym of Ammoecius lugubris BOHEMAN, 1857 from South Africa, but we refrain from proposing a new synonymy because no male specimens have been studied.

Figures

Figs 15–20. 15 = epipharynx of Ahermodontus bishoffi (VŠETEČKA, 1939), 16 = epipharynx of Ammoecius eli (PETROVITZ, 1961). A. dogueti (BARAUD, 1980): 17 = epipharynx, 18 = apex of

Figs 21–24. Habitus of: 21 = Ammoecius eli (PETROVITZ, 1961) (female, length 5 mm, Iraq: Mesopotam., Hilleh), 22 = A naviauxi (BARAUD, 1971) (male, length 5.5 mm, Syria: Slennfé), 23 = A. dogueti (BARAUD, 1980) (male, length 6.0 mm, Algeria: Djurdjura, Chemin lac Goulmine), 24 = A. elevatus (OLIVIER, 1789) (male, length 7.0 mm, France: Var, S.te-Baume)