Pentodon variolopunctatus variolopunctatus Fairmaire, 1879

Bunalski, Marek & Śmiełowski, Jan, 2020, Review of African Species of the Genus Pentodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Pentodontini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 74 (3), pp. 547-554 : 552

Pentodon variolopunctatus variolopunctatus Fairmaire, 1879 ( Fig. 10 )

Pentodon variolopunctatus Fairmaire 1879: 172 .

Pentodon pygidialis Kraatz 1882: 61 .

Morphology. Length 14–18 mm. Body strongly convex, black, and shiny. Clypeus triangular, very densely and coarsely punctate; anterior margin equipped with two distinct teeth that are very approximate, almost overlapping and creating one entity, lateral margins carinate. Frontoclypeal suture raised, with two approximate tubercles medially. Frons punctured similarly to clypeus; vertex smooth posteriorly. Pronotum carinate along anterior and lateral edges. Disc of pronotum distinctly punctate, densely punctate and wrinkled anteriorly, punctation decreasing posteriorly. Front tibia with four external teeth—two apical teeth and, significantly separated from these, two teeth at tibial midlength; tibial spines poorly delineated. Scutellar shield triangular, smooth. Striae of elytra flat and distinctly punctate, interstriae densely punctate, fine punctation also present.Pygidium triangular, moderately convex, with two tubercles anterior to middle; densely punctate and wrinkled anteriorly, becoming less densely punctate toward apex.

Male Genitalia. Parameres almost rhomboid at the base, broadened in a tubercle-shaped manner at midlength, apices weakly broadened, their posterolateral angles acutely extended backwards ( Fig. 10 ).

Distribution ( Fig. 11H ). MOROCCO: from Oujda and Berguent to Haut Atlas Mts.; ALGERIA: Ain Sefra, Bou Saada, Le Kreider, Oran, Theniet el Had; TUNISIA: Tunis.

Figures

Figs. 6–10. Dorsal view of Pentodon parameres (modified from Baraud 1985). 6) P. bidens punctatus; 7) P. bidens sulcifrons; 8) P. idiota memnon; 9) P. variolopunctatus deserti; 10) P. v. variolopunctatus.

Fig. 11. Distribution of Pentodon species in Africa. D) P. bidens punctatus, E) P. bidens sulcifrons, F) P. idiota memnon, G) P. variolopunctatus deserti, H) P. v. variolopunctatus.