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Some new records of scarab beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, with a checklist
Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate, Banani Mukhopadhyay, Sonal Vithal Pawar & Vighnesh Durgaram Shinde
26 January 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 1 | Pages: 17580–17586 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5695.13.1.17580-17586
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Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17580–17586 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5695.13.1.17580-17586
#5695 | Received 10 January 2020 | Final received 04 October 2020 | Finally accepted 21 December 2020
NOTE
Some new records of scarab beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, with a checklist
Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate 1 , Banani Mukhopadhyay 2 , Sonal Vithal Pawar 3 & Vighnesh Durgaram Shinde 4
1,2 Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Vidya Nagar, Sector-29, P.C.N.T. (PO), Rawet Road, Akurdi, Pune, Maharashtra 411044, India. 3,4 Abasaheb Garware College, 1214-1215, Sadashiv Peth, Pune, Maharashtra India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], 4 [email protected]
Latreille in 1802 established the genus Onthophagus. animals, which they partally decompose (Fischer 2006), It belongs to the tribe Onthophagini of the subfamily and helps in increasing the nutrient content, texture and Scarabaeinae, and family Scarabaeidae. It is comprised structure of soil. They are paracoprid nesters (tunnelers) of nearly 2,200 described species (Schoolmeesters 2016) with biparental care, an important phenomenon of the from the world, making it a very diverse genus in the genus Onthophagus, wherein the female digs branched subfamily representng almost 38% of the Scarabaeinae tunnel with a brood chamber under the dung pat and beetles (Rossini et al. 2018) with cosmopolitan males move the porton of dung to the entrance of these distributon (Tarasov & Kabakov 2010). Approximately, tunnels and then, female makes pieces, put it in the 182 species have been reported from Indian mainland brood chamber and lay one egg in each chamber (Sowig (Arrow 1931; Balthasar 1963; Löbl & Smetana 2006; 1996). Sathiandran & Sabu 2012). From Maharashtra, nearly The Western Ghats is one of the important 25 species are reported by Arrow (1931) and Jadhav & biodiversity hotspots of the world (Myers 2003), with Sharma (2012). high level of endemism and species richness. The Beetles from Scarabaeinae are being considered northern Western Ghats ecoregion is dominated with as important biological indicators due to their higher drier dipterocarp (Sabu et al. 2011), harbouring a vast sensitvity to the changing climatc conditons (Rossini diverse fauna along with endemic species. The Oriental et al. 2018). Beetles of the genus Onthophagus are Onthophagus fauna is inadequately studied (Tarasov coprophagous and some are scavengers (carrion feeders). & Kabakov 2010). Also, Tarasov & Kabakov (2010) and The main food source of these beetles is the faeces of Sathiandran & Sabu (2012) stated that the taxonomic
Editor: V.P. Uniyal, Wildlife Insttute of India, Dehradun, India. Date of publicaton: 26 January 2021 (online & print)
Citaton: Kalawate, A.S., B. Mukhopadhyay, S.V. Pawar & V.D. Shinde (2021). Some new records of scarab beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Co- leoptera: Scarabaeidae) from northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, with a checklist. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(1): 17580–17586. htps://doi.org/10.11609/ jot.5695.13.1.17580-17586
Copyright: © Kalawate et al. 2021. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
Funding: The work is based on the annual research programme of Zoological Survey of India, WRC, Pune (MOEF, Govt. of India).
Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and the ofcer-in-charge, WRC, ZSI, Pune for facilites and encouragement. Due acknowledgement to the survey team members of Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune for the collecton eforts. We are thankful to the anonymous reviewer’s and the subject editor for their valuable suggestons and constructve critcism on the manuscript.
17580 New records of scarab beetles from northern Western Ghats Kalawate et al. J TT errors from the Indian subcontnent are high for this as per Lobl & Smetana (2006). The distributon of the genus. Moreover, the major documents like Arrow species provided here are taken from Arrow (1931), (1931) and Balthasar (1963) reportng this genus from Balthasar (1963), Chandra & Gupta (2011, 2013), this region are outdated (Sathiandran & Sabu 2012). Sabu et al. (2011), and Sathiandran et al. (2015). The Therefore, documentng diversity of this highly diverse checklist of the genus Onthophagus from Maharashtra genus will play an important role in removing the including northern Western Ghats (Maharashtra) based confusions and errors. on the collectons from the recent surveys, unidentfed The dung beetle fauna of southern Western Ghats collectons from ZSI, WRC, Pune and also from the is very well documented (Arrow 1931; Balthasar 1963, literature, with the record of endemic beetles has been 1974; Vinod & Sabu 2007, Sabu et al. 2011; Sathiandran provided. & Sabu 2012; Sathiandran et al. 2015; Latha and Sabu, A total of 36 species in eight subgenera of 2018). Sabu et al. (2011) recorded about 78 species of Onthophagus have been reported based on the recent Onthophagus from moist southern Western Ghats. Of collecton (*) and reports from available literature. Of these recorded species, 19 are endemic to the entre the recorded species, O. (Onthophagus) madoqua Western Ghats, 12 are regional endemics to southern Arrow, 1931 and O. (Gibbonthophagus) duport Western Ghats and a single species is a local endemic Boucomont, 1914 are new records for Maharashtra and to the tropical montane cloud forest. On the contrary, northern Western Ghats. The details of new recorded very few or scatered publicatons are available on the species like material examined, distributon, descripton, diversity of dung beetle fauna from northern Western genitalial features, images of adult habitus and genitalia Ghats, Maharashtra (Arrow 1931; Balthasar 1963, 1974; are also given in this paper. Among the studied species, Jadhav & Sharma 2012; Kalawate 2018). Hence, in the two endemic species namely O. (O) madoqua Arrow, present study, an atempt has been made to prepare 1931 and O. coeruleicollis Arrow, 1907 are recorded. A an updated checklist of the genus Onthophagus based checklist of the species from Maharashtra is presented on the collectons from recent surveys, unidentfed in Table 1. Image 1 represents the new recorded species collectons present at ZSI, WRC, Pune and also from the along with their genitalial fgures. The map of collecton literature (Arrow 1931; Balthasar 1963, 1974; Jadhav & locality of the recorded species and the new reported Sharma 2012; Kalawate 2018). species are given in Figures 1 and 2. Specimens were collected from diferent parts of As stated earlier, a few literatures are available on the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra. They were this genus from Maharashtra; 21 and 25 species of collected by installing light traps using 160-Wat mercury Onthophagus have been reported from Vidarbha region bulb as a light source as they are atracted to the light of Maharashtra by Khadakkar et al. (2018) and entre in night. Some of the beetles were hand-picked from Maharashtra by Arrow (1931) and Jadhav & Sharma the dung pats present in the feld in day during the feld (2012), respectvely. Chandra & Gupta (2012) enlisted surveys in the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra. 34 species under six subgenera of Onthophagus from The collected beetles were euthanized by ethyl acetate Madhya Pradesh. This study resulted into enumeraton vapours and brought to the laboratory for further studies. of 36 species under eight subgenera from the genus The specimens were relaxed, pinned and stored in the Onthophagus from the studied area (Table 2). fumigated entomological boxes for further examinaton. They were examined under Leica EZ4E® with in-built Genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 photographic facility. The male genitalia were dissected Onthophagus Latreille, 1802; Hist. Nat. Crust. Et. Ins. wherever necessary by carefully removing it from the 3: 141. abdomen. Afer removal, it was further boiled in 10% Onthophagus, Arrow, 1931; Fauna of Britsh India KOH for 5–10 minutes to remove the adhered tssues including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: and sof muscles and then rinsed in distlled water. The Coprinae) 3: 159–162. genitalia were stored in separate vials containing 70% Type species: Scarabaeus taurus Schreber, 1759 ethanol with same catalogue number as the specimen. The map of the collecton locality has been prepared 1. Onthophagus (Onthophagus) madoqua Arrow, 1931 using QGIS sofware. The beetles were determined (Image 1 A–B) as per the available literature viz., Arrow (1931) and Onthophagus madoqua Arrow, 1931; Fauna of Balthasar (1963) and the classifcaton followed is as per Britsh India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Arrow (1931) and Balthasar (1963) with modifcatons Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3 : 258–259.
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17580–17586 17581 J TT New records of scarab beetles from northern Western Ghats Kalawate et al.
Figure 1. Collecton locality of Onthophagus from northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra.
Figure 2. Collecton locality of O. madoqua and O. duport.
17582 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17580–17586 New records of scarab beetles from northern Western Ghats Kalawate et al. J TT Table 1. The checklist of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 from Maharashtra including northern Western Ghats, with distributon and endemic record.
Order COLEOPTERA Linnaeus, 1758 Suborder POLYPHAGA Emery, 1886 Superfamily SCARABAEOIDEA Latreille, 1802 Locaton Reference Remark Family SCARABAEIDAE Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: SCARABAEINAE Latreille, 1802 Tribe ONTHOPHAGINI Burmeister, 1846 Genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802
Subgenus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 Responsible for Scarabiasis in O. unifasciatus (Schaller, 1783) * BSI, Pune; Gaganbawda young children O. abreui Arrow, 1931 Thakare et al. 2012
O. fasciatus Boucomont, 1914 Jadhav & Sharma 2012 New record for Northern O. madoqua Arrow, 1931* BSI, ZSI, Charholi, Pune Western Ghats, Maharashtra. Endemic to India. O. cervus (Fabricius, 1798) * ZSI, BSI, Tamhini Ghat, Pune
O. ludio Boucomont, 1914* ZSI, BSI, Pune
O. quadridentatus (Fabricius, 1798) * ZSI, Pune
O. turbatus Walker, 1858* Tamhini Ghat
O. orientalis Harold, 1868 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. spinifex (Fabricius, 1781) Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. tritnctus Boucomont. 1914 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. centricornis (Fabricius, 1798) Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. griseosetosus Arrow, 1931 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. abacus Boucomont, 1921 Kalawate 2019
O. malabarensis Boucomont, 1919 Arrow 1931
Subgenus Trichonthophagus Zunino, 1979
O. tarandus Fabricius, 1792 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
Subgenus Colobonthophagus Balthasar, 1935 Satara; Karjat; Gaganbawda; O. dama (Fabricius, 1798) * BSI, Tamhini Ghat, Pune Charoli, BSI, ZSI, Pune; Palghar; O. hindu Arrow, 1931* Satara; Dhule O. agnus Gillet, 1925* BSI, ZSI, Pune; Satara Kalawate 2018
O. armatus Blanchard, 1853* Tamhini Ghat Reported frst tme from O. aenescens (Wiedemann, 1823) * Kalawate 2019 Maharashtra (Kalawate 2019). O. ramosus (Wiedemann, 1823) * Tamhini Ghat
O. ramosellus (Bates, 1891) Jadhav & Sharma 2012
Subgenus Micronthophagus Balthasar, 1963
O. gulo Arrow, 1931 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
O. hystrix Boucomont, 1914 Jadhav & Sharma 2012
Subgenus Gibbonthophagus Balthasar, 1963 New record for Northern O. duport Boucomont, 1914* BSI, ZSI, Pune Western Ghats, Maharashtra. Subgenus Eremonthophagus Zunino, 1979
O. semicinctus Dorbigny, 1897 Arrow 1931
Subgenus Proagoderus van Lansberge, 1883
O. pactolus (Fabricius, 1787) Jadhav & Sharma 2012
Species incertae sedis
O. coeruleicollis Arrow, 1907 Kalawate 2019 Endemic to India
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17580–17586 17583 J TT New records of scarab beetles from northern Western Ghats Kalawate et al.
O. zebra Arrow, 1931 Kalawate & Sharma 2019
O. laborans Arrow, 1931 Kalawate & Sharma 2019
O. vultur Arrow, 1931 Kalawate & Sharma 2019
O. turbatus Walker, 1858 Sathiandran et al. 2015
O. lilliputanus Lansberg, 1883 Arrow 1931
O. circulifer Arrow, 1931 Arrow 1931
Subgenus Parascatonomus Paulian, 1932
O. quaestus Sharp, 1875 Kalawate & Sharma 2019
* species collected and studied.
Onthophagus (Onthophagus) madoqua. Balthasar, Table 2. Details of the surveyed localites.
1963; Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae Locaton Coordinates der Palaearktschen and Orientalischen Region Tamhini Ghat 18.4940N & 73.4250E, elevaton 631m (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 426. BSI,WRC, Pune 18.5400N & 73.8850E, elevaton 556m Specimen examined: ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3234, 0 0 06.xi.2017, 07 ex., Charholi, Pune, Maharashtra, ZSI, WRC, Pune 18.648 N & 73.760 E, elevaton 580m 0 0 (18.653°N, 73.907°E), coll. A.S. Kalawate; ZSI-WRC, ENT- Satara 17.229 N & 73.952 E, elevaton 731m 1/3240, 23.viii.2018, 06 ex., ZSI, WRC, Pune, Maharashtra Karjat 18.9320N & 73.3250E, elevaton 49m (18.64820N & 73.7600E, 580m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay; Law College Hill 18.5140N & 73.8280E, elevaton 580m ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3251, 27.viii.2018, 02 ex., BSI, WRC, Dhule 21.0390N & 74.2070E, elevaton 497m 0 0 Pune, Maharashtra (18.540 N & 73.885 E, elevaton Gaganbawda 16.5520N & 73.8460E, elevaton 601m 556m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay; ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3257, Palghar 19.7580N & 73.3470E, elevaton 518m
27.viii.2018, 11 ex., ZSI, WRC, Pune, Maharashtra Charholi, Pune 18.6530N & 73.9070E (18.64820N & 73.7600E, 580m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay; ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3265, 28.viii.2018, 12 ex., ZSI, WRC, Pune, Maharashtra (18.6480N & 73.7600E, 580m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay; ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3271, 28.viii.2018, 07 2. Onthophagus (Gibbonthophagus) duport ex., BSI, WRC, Pune, Maharashtra (18.5400N & 73.8850E, Boucomont, 1914 (Image 1 C–D) 556m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay. Onthophagus duport Boucomont, 1914; Annali del Descripton (Image 1A): Length, 4–5 mm., breadth, Museo civico di storia naturale di Genova, XLVI: 228. 3mm. Black, shining, oval and convex. Head coppery, Onthophagus (Gibbonthophagus) duport; short and broad; clypeus smooth in front, with its margin Sathiandran et al. 2015; Journal of Threatened strongly refexed; forehead separated by curved carina; Taxa 7(15): 8250–8258. a pair of quite separate, straight, erect and parallel horns Specimen examined: ZSI-WRC, ENT-1/3264, at vertex. Pronotum deep golden-green, smooth in 27.viii.2018, 01 ex., ZSI, WRC, Pune, Maharashtra front, slopes steeply but not abruptly. Elytra decorated, (18.6480N & 73.7600E, 580m), coll. B. Mukhopadhyay. red patch on each elytron at shoulder and hind margin. Descripton (Image 1 C): Length, 7mm., width, 4mm. Upper surface clothed with erect pale setae. Dark brown, smooth and shining, oval and convex. Male genitalia (Image 1B): Phallobase is almost Clypeus feebly produced, front margin rounded and same in length as parameres, gently curved in lateral strongly refexed, separated from forehead by a short view. Parameres funnel shaped, broad at base, minutely transverse carina. Near inner margin of each eye, a constricted in the middle, strongly bent downward, short, erect, blunt, conical horn present. Pronotum with acuminatng, tps rounded. Maximum Length, about three small tubercle, one just behind the front margin 1.39mm; maximum width, about 0.504mm. in the middle and a pair positoned between the front Known distributon untl this study: India (Gujarat, and hind margins, the space between these tubercles Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu). slightly depressed but not smooth. Elytra testaceous- yellow, with brown-black bands at the inner and outer margins, which usually more or less fused together in the middle line. The pygidium and the femora are yellow,
17584 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17580–17586 New records of scarab beetles from northern Western Ghats Kalawate et al. J TT
Image 1. Onthophagus (Onthophagus) madoqua Arrow, 1931: A—adult | B— genitalia | Onthophagus (Gibbonthophagus) duport Boucomont, 1914: C—adult | D— genitalia. Scale bar = 2mm (A & C); 0.5mm (B & D).
with minute setae. References Male genitalia (Image 1 D): Phallobase larger than Arrow, G.J. (1931). The Fauna of Britsh India including Ceylon and the parameres, broader and tubular. Parameres roughly Burma. Col. Lamell. III, (Coprinae). Taylor & Francis, London, 428pp. triangular, broad at the base, acuminatng towards the Balthasar, V. (1963). Monographie der Scarabaeidae und tp, rounded tp, curved ventrally. Maximum length, Aphodiidae der Palaearktschen und Orientalischen Region. (Coleoptera:Lamellicornia), Verlag der Tschechoslowakischen about 2.01 mm; maximum width, about 0.967mm. Akademie der Wissenschafen Prag, II, 627pp, 226fgs., 16pls. Known distributon untl this study: India (Arunachal Balthasar, V. (1974). Neue arten der gatung Onthophagus aus der Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (Nilgiri Hills), orientalischen und aethiopischen region. Acta entomologica bohemoslovaca 71: 182–186. Kerala, West Bengal), China, Indo-China, Laos, Myanmar, Chandra, K. & D. Gupta (2011). Two New Records of genus Onthophagus Thailand, Tonkin, Vietnam. Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae) from Madhya Pradesh, India. Utar Pradesh Journal of Zoology 31(2): 253–255. Chandra, K. & D. Gupta (2012). New distributonal record of fve species of Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)