Cnemargulus alkhubraicus Pittino, 1984

Ziani, Stefano, 2019, A revision of the Aphodiini genus Cnemargulus Semenov, 1903 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae), Insecta Mundi 2019 (689), pp. 1-10 : 3-4

Cnemargulus alkhubraicus Pittino, 1984

( Fig. 1–6 )

Cnemargulus alkhubraicus Pittino 1984: 306 ; Dellacasa 1988: 401; Dellacasa and Dellacasa 2006: 140; Krajcik 2012: 75; Dellacasa et al. 2016: 121.

Type locality. “ Saudi Arabia ( Gasim Prov. ), Al Khubra” [ Saudi Arabia, Al Khubra, al-Qassim prov.].

Type material. Holotype ♀, in NHMB (examined).

Type labelling. 1 st, white, printed in black: “ Saudi Arabia / W. Büttiker ”; 2 nd, white, printed and handwritten in black: “ Al Khubra / 15.X.70 ”; 3 rd, red, handwritten and printed in black: “ Cnemargulus / alkhubraicus ♀ / HOLOTYPUS n. sp. / Det. Pittino 1983”.

Diagnostic features. Length from 5.8 to 7.6 mm. Colour light testaceous, head, pronotum and elytral suture brown; pubescence pale yellow.

Head glossy, convex, epistome granulate, frontal suture strongly tuberculate at middle and with an elongate transverse tubercle at sides, near lateral apex; between frontal suture and anterior clypeal margin, closer to the latter, at middle, with a fourth strong tubercle; vertex coarsely punctate; genae auriculate and elongately ciliate, protruding slightly from eyes; clypeus quadridentate anteriorly, inner teeth clearly longer, narrower, sharper than outer ones, each tooth strongly curved upwards.

Pronotum glossy, transverse, strongly convex, more or less round laterally, closely punctate, punctures separated by one to two diameters on disc in females, wider in male, somewhat sparser along narrow midline area, distinctly completely margined, anterior margin wider than the basal one, lateral margin with sparse long hairs.

Scutellum triangular, distinctly punctate.

Elytra elongate-oval, convex, glossy, moderately dilatate apically in females, more straight in male; striae fine, distinctly impressed, evidently punctate, punctures obviously crenating sides, interstriae nearly flat or only slightly convex on disc, sparsely superficially punctate; sutural interstria strongly narrowed apically; humeral apex of epipleural carina visible from above.

Metasternum almost flat, smooth, shiny, finely sparsely punctate.

Foretibiae with four external teeth, the basal one wide and weak, spur strong, acuminate, downward bent. Meso- and metatibiae barely widened apically, apical setae quite long, almost unequal; mesotibiae with a single extremely long erected seta, about twice as long as other setae; upper spur of metatibiae strong, flattened, slightly curved, reaching half of the second tarsal segment.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 4–5 ) elongate with paramera triangular apically, in dorsal view.

Epipharynx ( Fig. 6 ) transverse, round at sides: epitorma oval; corypha with two stout and protruding apical celtes, and other few very short acropariae.

Variability. The most significant and interesting data are related to the length of the examined specimens, ranging from 5.8 to 7.6 mm in females. Clypeal teeth can be more or less sharp and curved upward, and more or less separated from each other.

Distribution. Saudi Arabia ( Pittino 1984). Herein recorded for the first time from Iran.

Material examined. SAUDI ARABIA: al-Qassim prov., Al Khubra , 15.x.1970, W. Büttiker leg. 1 ♀ (holotype, NHMB) . IRAN: Hormozgan prov., Bandar Abbas env., 5 km Minab road, 3.iii.2017, S. Azadbakhsh leg. 1 ♂ and 5 ♀♀ ( SACB; SZCM) .

Literature records. None.

Discussion. Although it is not simple to do a comparative study with a species described (and known) only from a female, I ascribe, even if doubtfully, the six specimens from Iran to C. alkhubraicus . The only significant difference between the female from Saudi Arabia and females from Iran is in the pronotal lateral margins, straighter, subparallel in the former, round in the latter. Only the study of other specimens collected in Saudi Arabia will clarify if this morphological difference is within an infraspecific variability or rather has a specific value. Genus and species are new to Iran.

Remarks. There are many localities named “Al Khobar”, and localities with related spellings, in Saudi Arabia. As specified in the original description, the type locality of C. alkhubraicus , a small historical village, is in al-Qassim province, therefore in the centre of Saudi Arabia.

Figures

Figures 1–6. Cnemargulus alkhubraicus Pittino, 1984. 1) Habitus of female [holotype]. 2) Habitus of male [Iran, Hormozgan prov., Bandar Abbas]. 3) Head of holotype. 4) Aedeagus, dorsal view [Iran, Hormozgan prov., Bandar Abbas]. 5) Aedeagus, lateral view [Iran, Hormozgan prov., Bandar Abbas]. 6) Epipharynx [holotype]. Photos by Augusto Degiovanni, drawings by Ivo Gudenzi.