Sisyphus alveatus Boucomont 1935

Daniel, Gimo M., Davis, Adrian Lv., Sole, Catherine L. & Scholtz, Clarke H., 2020, Taxonomic review of the tribe Sisyphini sensu stricto Mulsant, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in southern Africa, including new species descriptions, Insect Systematics & Evolution 51 (1), pp. 1-61 : 17

Sisyphus alveatus Boucomont 1935 ( Figs. 2 , 3G ).

Boucomont 1935: 280; Haaf 1955: 344; Ferreira 1972: 792; Schaefer & Fischer 2001: 49; Montreuil 2015c: 2.

Type locality: Kenya, Uasin Gishu,

Size: Male: length: 5.0– 2.7 mm, width: 2.5– 2.1 mm. Female: length: 5.1– 2.7 mm, width: 2.5–2.0 mm.

Diagnosis: S. alveatus is similar to S. perissinottoi and S. manni . However, it is distinguished by the straight edge between the medial clypeal teeth, unlike in S. perissinottoi and S. manni where this feature is concave. S. alveatus also bears bare patches of setae on the pronotum, whereas in S. perissinottoi and S. manni the setae are uniformly distributed.

Examined type material

Holotype: ( MHNH, through photograph without locality data).

Examined non-type material: See Supplementary information.

Distribution: In southern Africa, S. alveatus is known from forest at Popa Falls in Namibia and from open woodland in Central Mozambique ( Fig. 4 ). It has also been recorded from miombo woodland and moist highland forest in East Africa ( Montreuil 2015c). It is unlikely to occur in South Africa where records for S. alveatus ( Paschalidis 1974, Montreuil 2015c) probably relate to other species, presumably, S. manni .

Figures

Fig. 2. Images of the habitus of the muricatus species-group: A. S. muricatus; B. S. neobornemisszanus; C. S. fasciculatus; D. S. perissinottoi; E. S. manni; F. S. swazi sp. n. G. S. alveatus. I. Fully developed hind wing, which is typical to most of Sisyphus species in southern Africa H. Brachypterous hind wing of S. alveatus. J. Sclerite represents a reduced hind wing of S. swazi sp. n.

Fig. 3. Images of the aedeagi of the muricatus species-group: A. S. muricatus; B. S. neobornemisszanus; C. S. fasciculatus; D. S. perissinottoi; E. S. manni; F. S. swazi sp. n; G. S. alveatus.

Fig. 4. Distribution map for the muricatus species-groups.