Aphodius (Gilletianus) rajawatorum, Král & Šípek, 2013

Král, David & Šípek, Petr, 2013, Aphodiinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of the Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan (India) with description of Aphodius (Gilletianus) rajawatorum sp. nov., Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 53 (2), pp. 633-648 : 639-643

Aphodius (Gilletianus) rajawatorum sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 2A–D , 3B )

Type locality. NW India, Rajasthan province, 50 km W of Agra, Bharatpur env., 27 ° 12.42′N 77 ° 30.48′E, 220 m a. s. l. ( Fig. 1 ).

Type material. HOLOTYPE and PARATYPES Nos 1–4 (all JJ), labelled: ‘ INDIA bor. occ. / RAJASTHAN province / 50 km W. of AGRA / Bharatpur env.: 220m // INDIA 2002 Expedition / 27 ° 12.42’N 77 ° 30.48’E ; 31.VIII.–5. IX.2002 / P. Šípek & M. Fikáček lgt. [printed] // Aphodius (Gilletianus) / rajawatorum sp. nov., / HOLOTYPUS [or] PARA- TYPUS No. x J / David Král & Petr Šípek det. 2011 [red label, printed]’.

Description. Male (holotype; left metatarsomeres 2–5 missing in the specimen). Total body length 3.3 mm. Body elongately oval, moderately convex, dorsal surface shining; colour brown, anterior and lateral parts of head, sides of pronotum, apical elytron declivity, and ventral surface lighter; subapical darker spots of elytron faintly marked ( Figs 2A–B , 3B ).

Head ( Figs 2A–B , 3B ) semicircular; clypeus almost semicircular, anterior margin only weakly sinuate, not considerably upturned, sides regularly round towards small, right-angled genae, distinctly exceeding large eyes; frontal suture slightly impressed; surface punctures double, fine, superficial, evenly distributed, large punctures about three times larger than small ones.

Pronotum ( Figs 2A–B , 3B ) more or less rectangular, sides regularly round, distinctly bordered, posterior angles obtuse, base without border, surface punctation double, coarse punctures relatively densely distributed, concentrated laterobasally.

Scutellar shield narrowly triangular, impunctate.

Elytra ( Fig. 2A ) suboval, slightly widened toward apex, minutely macrosetaceous apically, striae finely impressed and punctate, punctures separated by more than once their diameter, slightly crenate interval margins, intervals moderately convex in basal half, toward apex becoming completely flat, sutural interval almost flat in whole length, surface punctation superficial, fine and sparse.

Metaventral disc ( Fig. 2B ) shiny, flat, glabrous, with longitudinal line distinctly impressed.

Legs. Femora shining, glabrous ( Fig. 2B ). Protibia considerably narrow, almost parallel, moreover narrowed in basal quarter, with three triangular teeth externally ( Figs 2A–B , 3C ), ventral edge unarmed, terminal spur simply thickened, not strongly bent downward. External carinae and terminal edge of meso- and metatibia fimbriate with macrosetae strongly unequal in length. Tarses long and thin; basimesotarsite hardly longer than exterior terminal spur of mesotibiae, basimetatarsite approximately one quarter longer than exterior terminal spur of metatibiae and equal in lenght to next three tarsites combined ( Figs 2A–B ). Claws feebly arcuate, almost as long as two preceding tarsites combined.

Ventrites shining, impunctate, only with few long erect macrosetae ( Fig. 2B ).

Aedeagus ( Figs 2C–D ). Parameres simple, shorter than phallobasis, with tuft of long, fine macrosetae subapically, almost acute apically.

Female. Unknown.

Variability. Paratypes ( Fig. 2B ) vary only slightly in body length (3.2–3.3 mm).

Differential diagnosis. Aphodius (G.) rajawatorum sp. nov. is classified to the subgenus Gilletianus Balthasar, 1933 , as the subgenus was diagnosed by BALTHASAR (1933), DELLACASA et al. (2001), DELLACASA & DELLACASA (2006b) and OCHI et al. (2010). Within this subgenus it is close to A. (G.) fukiensis Balthasar, 1952 , A. (G.) segmentaroides A. Schmidt, 1909 and A. (G.) therondi Balthasar, 1963 in having distinctly narrow, almost parallel protibia, only very weakly widened in distal part ( Figs 2–3 ). The remaining Gilletianus species known from the Oriental Region possess protibia more or less distinctly triangularly widened distad. These four species are distinguishable from each other by diagnostic characters given in Table 2.

Etymology. The new species is named in honour of the Rajawat family from Gola-Ka-Bas ( India: Rajasthan) who not only hosted me (PŠ) in their house, but also became our second family far from our homes.

Collecting circumstances. Collected from cow dung pad. For brief characteristics of locality see the Localities visited section, localities No. 5a and 5b.

Distribution. India: Rajasthan ( Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Fig. 1. Sketch map of India with marked localities visited (states of Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan).

Fig. 2. Aphodius (Gilletianus) rajawatorum sp. nov., holotype, male. A – habitus in dorsal aspect; B – habitus in ventral aspect; C–D – aedeagus in dorsal (C) and left lateral (D) aspect.

Fig. 3. Head, pronotum and protibia, JJ, dorsal aspect. A – Aphodius (Gilletianus) fukiensis Balthasar, 1952 (China, Fujian: Kuatun; syntype, NMPC), B – A. (G.) rajawatorum sp. nov. (holotype), C – A. (G.) segmentaroides A. Schmidt, 1909 (India, Rajasthan: 50 km W of Agra, Bharatpur, NMPC), D – A. (G.) therondi Balthasar, 1963 (Vietnam: Tonkin, Tam Dao, paratype, NMPC); arrows show diagnostic characters mentioned in the description of the new species and in Table 2.