Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) frontalis Raffray, 1877

Ziani, Stefano, Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud Saleh, Aldhafer, Hathal Mohammed & Barbero, Enrico, 2019, An overview of the Onthophagini from the Arabian Peninsula (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae), Zootaxa 4658 (1), pp. 1-36 : 14

Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) frontalis Raffray, 1877

[ Fig. 9 ]

Literature quotes. None.

Material examined. YEMEN: Sana’a Governorate, Wadi Dhahr , 2240 m (1526′43″N 4467′34″E), 15/ 17.xi.2003, D. Král leg. 1 ex. ( NMPC) .

Distribution. Africa: Eritrea, Djibouti (d’Orbigny 1913). Somalia ( Carpaneto & Piattella 1990).

Remarks. First record for the Arabian Peninsula, notably Yemen. The sole specimen examined, a male, has an apical reddish yellow spot on 3 rd /4 th elytral interstria. D’Orbigny (1904) writes: “Dans mon Synopsis des Onthophagides paléarctiques et dans le Supplément (in L’Abeille, XXIX, p. 158 et 294), j’ai confondu cette espèce [ Onthophagus frontalis Raffray, 1877 ] avec parvulus Fabr. qui lui ressemble beaucoup et est décrit de l’Inde. Les exemplaires provenant du Sind: Kurrachee (Maindron) sont bien des parvulus, mais ceux que j’ai signalés d’Obock (Maindron, coll. Muséum de Paris), et de Djibouti (H. Coutière, id.), sont des frontalis . Le parvulus est donc rayer de la liste des espèces africaines” [In my “Synopsis des Onthophagides paléarctiques and in the “Supplementum (in L’Abeille,XXIX, p. 158 et 294), I confounded this species [ Onthophagus frontalis Raffray, 1877 ] with parvulus Fabr. which is very similar to it and is described from India. Specimens from Sind: Kurrachee (Maindron) [ Pakistan] are indeed parvulus , whereas the ones I have recorded from Obock (Maindron, Paris Museum collection) and Djibouti (H. Coutiér, id.) are frontalis . O. parvulus is therefore to be removed from the list of the African species].

After having examined the aedeagus and the internal sac, specifically the lamella copulatrix, of O. frontalis and compared them with those of O. furcatus , the type species of Furconthophagus , we believe that the species should be placed in this subgenus.

Figures

FIGURES 8–13. Onthophagini of Arabian Peninsula. 8, Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) aethiopicus d’Orbigny, 1902: YE (Sana’a) Alharf; 9, Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) frontalis Raffray, 1877: YE (Sana’a) Wadi Dhahr; 10, Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) rugulipennis Fairmaire, 1887: YE (Sana’a) Wadi Dhahar; 11, Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) sellatus Klug, 1845: SA (Riyadh) Deirab; 12, Onthophagus (Furconthophagus) variegatus (Fabricius, 1798): YE (Sana’a) Wadi Dhahr; 13, Onthophagus (Indonthophagus) nitidulus Klug, 1856: OM (Dhofar) Salalah. Photos by Gabriele Fiumi.