Toward a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the “hirculus” group of American Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae)

  • Michele Rossini Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari (DISB), via A. Saffi 2, 61029, Urbino (PU)
  • Fernando Z. Vaz-de-Mello Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biologia e Zoologia, Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, 2367, Boa Esperança, 78060-900 - Cuiabá, MT
  • Mario Zunino Independent researcher, Scuola di Biodiversità - Polo universitario Asti Studi Superiori.
Keywords: dung beetles, America, new synonym, Billberg, species-complex

Abstract

The taxonomy of the American Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 included in the “hirculus” group is revised, and a study of their morphology allows for the delineation of five species-complexes. Herein, we provide a diagnosis of the “hirculus” group, an illustrated key to the complexes, along with a descriptive overview of their taxonomy and geographic distribution. Onthophagus hirculus Mannerheim, 1829 is considered to be a junior synonym of O. hircus Billberg, 1815, which is here demonstrated to be a valid species name. Thus, the “hirculus” group is here renamed the “hircus” group. Furthermore, a general scheme of the genital organs of American Onthophagus is provided, including names of different anatomical parts and a brief discussion on the need for nomenclatural stability for the genitalia of scarab beetles.

References

Bentley S.G. Sr., Blum M.D., Maloney J., Pond L. & Paulsell R. 2016. The Mississippi River source-to-sink system: perspectives on tectonic, climatic, and anthropogenic influences, Miocene to Anthropocene. Earth-Science Reviews 153: 139–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.11.001

Billberg G.J. 1815. Insecta ex ordine coleopterum descripta. Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis 7: 271–281.

Billberg G.J. 1820. Enumeratio insectorum in Museo Gust. Joh. Billberg. Gadelianis, Stockholm.

Binaghi G., Dellacasa G. & Poggi R. 1969. Nuovi caratteri diagnostici per la determinazione degli Onthophagus del gruppo ovatus (L.) e geonemia controllata delle specie italiane del gruppo. Memorie della Società Entomologica Italiana 48: 29–46.

Blackwelder R.E. 1944. Checklist of the coleopterous insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America. Part 2. United States National Museum Bulletin 185: 189–341. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.185.2

Boucomont A. 1932. Synopsis des Onthophagus d’Amérique du Sud (Col. Scarab). Annales de la Société entomologique de France Paris 101 (4): 293–332. Available from http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54613496 [accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Boucomont A. & Gillet J.J.E. 1927. Fam. Scarabaeidae, Subfam. Coprinae II. Coleopterorum Catalogus 19 (90): 103–263.

Bousquet Y. 2016. Litteratura Coleopterologica (1758–1900): a guide to selected books related to the taxonomy of Coleoptera with publication dates and notes. Zookeys 583: 1–776. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.583.7084

Breeschoten T., Doorenweerd C., Tarasov S. & Vogler A.P. 2016. Phylogenetics and biogeography of the dung beetle genus Onthophagus inferred from mitochondrial genomes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 105: 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.08.016

Curray J.R. 1960. Sediments and history of Holocene transgression, continental shelf, northwest Gulf of Mexico. In: Shepard F.P., Phleger F.B & Van Andel T.H. (eds) Recent Sediments, Northwest Gulf of Mexico: 221–266. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Delgado L. & Curoe D.J. 2014. Panamanian Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): description of a new species and a revised key to the species. Florida Entomologist 97 (1): 61–67.

Emlen D.J., Marangelo J., Ball B. & Cunningham C.W. 2005. Diversity in the weapons of sexual selection: horn evolution in the beetle genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Evolution 59: 1060–1084. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01044.x

Evenhuis N.L. 1997. Litteratura taxonomica dipterorum (1758–1930). Volumes I–II. Backhuys, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Ferrer J. 1991. Rediscovery of type material of Gustav Johan Billberg (1815) in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Annals of the Transvaal Museum 35 (19): 279–283.

Gemminger M. & Harold von E. 1869. Catalogus Coleopterorum hucusque descriptorum synonymicus et systematicus. Vol. 4: Scarabaeidae. Sumptu E.H. Gummi, Munich, Germany. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.9089

Génier F. & Howden H.F. 1999. Two new Central American Onthophagus Latreille of the mirabilis species group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae: Scarabaeidae). Coleopterists Bulletin 53 (2): 130–144.

Génier F. & Howden H.F. 2014. Onthophagus fragosus n.sp. a second endemic species of Onthophagus Latreille from Cuba (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 3795 (5): 597–599. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3795.5.10

Halffter G. 1987. Biogeography of the montane entomofauna of Mexico and Central America. Annual Review of Entomology 32 (1): 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.32.010187.000523

Halffter G. 2017. La zona de transición mexicana y la megadiversidad de México: del marco histórico a la riqueza actual. Dugesiana 24 (2): 77–89.

Halffter G. & Morrone J.J. 2017. An analytical overview of Halffter’s Mexican transition zone and its relevance for evolutionary biogeography, ecology and biogeographical regionalization. Zootaxa 4226 (1): 1–46. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4226.1.1

Horn W., Kahle I., Friese G. & Gaedike R. 1990. Collectiones entomologicae. Ein Kompendium über den Verbleib entomologischer Sammlungen der Welt bis 1960. Teil I: A bis K; Teil II: L bis Z. Akademie der Landwirtschaftswissenschaften der DDR, Berlin.

Howden H.F. & Cartwright O.L. 1963. Scarab beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 114 (3467): 1–133. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.114-3467.1

Howden H.F. & Gill B.D. 1993. Mesoamerican Onthophagus Latreille in the dicranius and mirabilis species groups (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The Canadian Entomologist 125: 1091–1114. https://doi.org/10.4039/ent1251091-6

Howden H.F. & Young O.P. 1981. Panamanian Scarabaeinae: taxonomy, distribution and habits (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 18 (1): 1–204.

ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature). 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 4th Edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London.

Kohlmann B. & Solís A. 2001. The genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Costa Rica. Giornale Italiano di Entomologia 9: 159–261.

Krikken J. & Huijbregts J. 2009. Onthophagus pilularius and its close relatives in Sundaland: a taxonomic reappraisal (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 56 (1): 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnd.200900004

Mannerheim C.G. 1829. Description de quarante nouvelles espèces de scarabéides du Brésil avec figures. Nouveaux mémoires de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou 7 (1): 29–80. Available from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103533#page/61/mode/1up [accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Matthews E.G. 1972. A revision of the scarabaeine dung beetles of Australia. I. Tribe Onthophagini. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 9: 3–330. https://doi.org/10.1071/ajzs009

Moctezuma V., Rossini M., Zunino M. & Halffter G. 2016. A contribution to the knowledge of the mountain entomofauna of Mexico with a description of two new species of Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zookeys 572: 23–50. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.572.6763

Moczek A. 2011. Evolution and development: Onthophagus beetles and the evolutionary developmental genetics of innovation, allometry and plasticity. In: Simmons L.S. & Ridsdill-Smith J.T. (eds) Ecology and Evolution of Dung Beetles: 126–151. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444342000.ch7

Monteith G.B. & Storey R.I. 2013. A review of the Onthophagus posticus-group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of Australian dung beetles with five new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 58: 55–72.

Morrone J.J. 2007. La vita fra lo spazio e il tempo. Il retaggio di Croizat e la nuova biogeografia. Medical Books, Palermo, Italy.

Morrone J.J. 2009. Evolutionary Biogeography. An Integrative Approach with Case Studies. Columbia University Press, New York.

Nichols E., Spector S., Louzada J., Larsen T., Amézquita S. & Favila M.E. 2008. Ecological functions and ecosystem services provided by Scarabaeinae dung beetles. Biological Conservation 141 (6): 1461–1474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.011

Ortiz-Jaureguizar E. & Cladera G.A. 2006. Paleoenvironmental evolution of southern South America during Cenozoic. Journal of Arid Environments 66: 498–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.01.007

Palestrini C. 1980. Aspetti filogenetici e biogeografici del popolamento australiano di Onthophagini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). M.Sc. Thesis, Università di Torino, Italy (unpublished).

Palestrini C. 1985. Problemi filogenetici e biogeografici del popolamento australiano di Onithophagini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). In: Atti XIV Congresso Nazionale Italiano di Entomologia 14: 249–253. Accademia Nazionale Italiana di Entomologia, Palermo, Erice, Bagheria, Italy.

Papavero N. 1971. Essays on the History of Neotropical Dipterology, with Special Reference to Collectors (1750–1905). Vol. I. Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.101715

Philips T.K. 2016. Phylogeny of the Oniticellini and Onthophagini dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from morphological evidence. Zookeys 579: 9–57. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.579.6183

Pulido-Herrera L.A. & Zunino M. 2007. Catálogo preliminar de los Onthophagini de América (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae). In: Zunino M. & Melic A. (eds) Escarabajos, diversidad y conservación biológica. Ensayos en homenaje a Gonzalo Halffter: 93–129. Monografía Tercer Milenio 7. Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, Zaragoza, Spain.

QGIS Development Team 2017. QGIS Geographic Information System. (2.18.2). Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. Available from http://qgis.org/en/site/ [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Rossini M., Vaz-de-Mello Z.F. & Zunino M. 2018. A taxonomic revision of the New World Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of the osculatii species-complex, with description of two new species from South America. Journal of Natural History 52 (9–10): 541–586. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1437230

Ruggiero A., Lawton J.H. & Blackburn T.M. 1998. The geographic ranges of mammalian species in South America: spatial patterns in environmental resistance and anisotropy. Journal of Biogeography 25: 1093–1103. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.1998.00253.x

Sager W.W., Schroeder W.W., Laswell J.S., Davis K.S., Rezak R. & Gittings S.R. 1992. Mississippi-Alabama outer continental shelf topographic features formed during the Late Pleistocene – Holocene transgression. Geo-Marine Letters 12: 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02092107

Schönherr C.J. 1808. Synonymia Insectorum, oder: Versuch einer Synonymie aller bisher bekannten Insecten; nach Fabricii Systema Eleutheratorum & c. geordnet. Mit Berichtigungen und Anmerkungen, wie auch Beschreibungen neuer Arten und illuminirten kupfern. Erster Band. Eleutherata oder Käfer Zweither Theil. Spercheus – Cryptocephalus. Carl Friedr. Marquard, Stockholm. Available from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/133006#page/1/mode/1up [accessed 28 Mar. 2018].

Schönherr C.J. 1817 Appendix ad C.J. Schönherr Synonymiam Insectorum Tom. I. Part. 3. Sistens descriptiones novarum specierum. E. Bruzelius, Stockholm. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.66107

Schoolmeesters P. 2016. Scarabs: World Scarabaeidae Database (v. Jan. 2016). In: Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Flann C., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W. & De Wever A. (eds) Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2016 Annual Checklist. Available from www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2016 [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Sclater P.L. 1858. On the general geographic distribution of the members of the class Aves. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2 (7): 130–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02549.x

Scotese C.R. 2004. Cenozoic and Mesozoic paleogeography: changing terrestrial biogeographic pathways. In: Lomolino M.V. & Heaney L.R. (eds) Frontiers of Biogeography: New Directions in the Geography of Nature: 9–26. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA.

Smith A.Z. 1986. A History of the Hope Entomological Collections in the University Museum, Oxford, with Lists of Archives and Collections. Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.

Snodgrass R.E. 1935. Principles of Insect Morphology. McGraw-Hill, New York / London.

Storey R.I. & Weir T.A. 1990. New species of Onthophagus Latreille (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Australia. Invertebrate Taxonomy 3 (6): 783–815. https://doi.org/10.1071/it9890783

Tarasov S. & Génier F. 2015. Innovative bayesian and parsimony phylogeny of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) enhanced by ontology-based partitioning of morphological characters. PloS One 10 (3): e0116671. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0116671

Tarasov S. & Solodovnikov A.I. 2011. Phylogenetic analyses reveal reliable morphological markers to classify mega-diversity in Onthophagini dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Cladistics 27 (5): 490–528. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00351.x

Torre-Bueno J.R de la. 1937. A Glossary of Entomology. Brooklyn Entomological Society, New York.

Varola P. 1980. Aspetti filogenetici e biogeografici del popolamento americano di Onthophagini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). M.Sc. thesis, Università di Torino, Italy (unpublished).

Zunino M. 1979. Gruppi artificiali e gruppi naturali negli Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia dell’Università di Torino 1: 1–18.

Zunino M. 1984. Sistematica generica dei Geotrupinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Geotrupidae), filogenesi della sottofamiglia e considerazioni biogeografiche. Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia dell’Università di Torino 2 (1): 9–162.

Zunino M. 2000. El concepto de área de distribución: algunas reflexiones teóricas. In: Martín-Piera F., Morrone J.J. & Melic A. (eds) Hacia un proyecto CYTED para el inventario y estimación de la diversidad entomológica en Iberoamérica: PrIBES, 2000 1: 77–85. Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, Zaragoza, Spain.

Zunino M. 2003. Nuevos conceptos en la biogeografía histórica: implicaciones teóricas y metodológicas. In: Morrone J.J. & Llorente Bousquet J. (eds) Una perspectiva latinoamericana de la biogeografía: 159–162. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.

Zunino M. 2014. About dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) genitalia: some remarks to a recent paper. Acta Zoológica Mexicana 30 (2): 437–441.

Zunino M. & Halffter G. 1981. Descrizione di Onthophagus micropterus n.sp. (Coeloptera: Scarabaeidae), note sulla sua distribuzione geografica e sulla riduzione alare nel genere. Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia dell’Università di Torino 8: 95–110.

Zunino M. & Halffter G. 1988. Análisis taxonómico, ecológico y biogeográfico de un grupo americano de Onthophagus. Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturale Torino, Monografia 9: 1–211.

Zunino M. & Halffter G. 1997. Sobre Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 Americanos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Elytron 11: 157–178.

Zunino M. & Halffter G. 2007. The Association of Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) with Vertebrate burrows and caves. Elytron 21: 17–55.

Published
2018-05-04
How to Cite
Rossini, M., Vaz-de-Mello, F. Z., & Zunino, M. (2018). Toward a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the “hirculus” group of American Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae). European Journal of Taxonomy, (432). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.432