Neosisyphus kuehni ( Haaf, 1955 )

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 : 53-54

Neosisyphus kuehni ( Haaf, 1955) ( Figs. 26 , 27B )

Montreuil 2015: 28.

Sisyphus kuehni Haaf, 1955

Haaf 1955: 345; Montreuil 2015: 28.

Type locality: Natal (Griqualand), South Africa.

Size: Male: length: 13.5–10; width: 6.5–5.5; Female: length: 13.0–11; width: 6.5–5.6.

Diagnosis: N. kuehni bears a gibbosity apically on the metafemur, which is lacking in the closely-related N. quadricollis . The projecting metatrochanter in males of N. kuehni is also longer, comprising over half of the total length of the metafemur. Unlike in N. quadricollis , the elytra in N. kuehni are not laterally emarginate.

Examined non-type material: See Supplementary information.

Distribution: N. kuehni occurs in highland grassland under the moist to wet conditions of the eastern escarpment of South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga) ( Fig. 28 ).

Conservation status: N. kuehni was assessed as a Data Deficient species for the IUCN Red Date List ( Davis 2013g). Further collecting and monitoring is required to accurately assess the conservation status of this species.

Figures

Fig. 26. Image of habitus of the quadricollis species-group: A. N. quadricollis, arrow showing the main diagnostic feature of the species-group; B. N. kuehni.

Fig. 27. Images of the aedeagi of the quadricollis species-group: A. N. quadricollis; B. N. kuehni.

Fig. 28. Distribution map for the quadricollis species-group.