Boheman 1857: 194; Harold 1869:985; Péringuey 1902: 106–7, Arrow 1927: 465; Haaf 1955: 362–4; Schaefer-Fischer 2001: 54; Schaefer-Fischer, 1992: 123

Sisyphus natalensis Balthazar, 1968 (syn. n)

Balthasar 1968: 954

Sisyphus bornemisszanus Endrödi, 1983 (pars) (syn. n)

Endrödi 1983:207–210; Daniel et al 2016: 67

Type locality: Caffraria (South Africa).

Size: Male: length: 6.6– 4.7 mm, width: 4.3– 2.7 mm; Female: length: 6.4–4.0 mm, width: 3.0– 2.5 mm.

Diagnosis: S. sordidus is similar to S. caffer and S. genierorum. However, S. sordidus is distinguished from the other two species by the thicker setae on the elytra, which are distributed in non-single rows and form bunches. Although S. sordidus is smaller than S. genierorum, in both species, the pronotal setae originate from the centre of ocellate punctures, whilst in S. caffer, the pronotal setae are inserted between or on the posterior edges of ocellate points.

Examined type material

Sisyphus sordidus Boheman, 1857 : Holotype (photograph): (♂ NHRS): / Pt. Nat /, / leg: Tarnier /, /310: 72/, /246: 73/, brown label (handwritten): sordidus Bohm /, /9401: E92 +/, /white label (handwritten) / TYPE: Sisyphus sordidus Boh, det. J. Ferrer / NHRS- SRAH 000000218 //. Paratypes: (♀ NHRS): /type/, /Caffraria/, /leg: J.Wahlb /, /309: 72/, /245: 73/, red label: /typus/, white label (handwritten): / Sisyphus sordidus Boh, det. KM. Paschalidis, 1975/, /Naturhistoriska, Riksmuseet Stockholm; loan 38/90/, /9386 E92+/, /NHRS-SRAH 000000219 /.

Sisyphus natalensis Balthazar, 1968 : Holotype (♂ HNHM): Natal, Sta. Lucia, Patium, 19–25.ii.1960, leg: Heiia, brown label (handwritten) / Sisyphus (s. str) natalensis n. sp. Balth, Holotypus /, red label (handwritten): / Holotypus, 1966, Sisyphus natalensis Balth /, white label (handwritten): / Sisyphus sordidus Boh, det. KM Paschalidis 1975/; (♀ HNHM): Paratype, with the same data.

Sisyphus bornemisszanus Endrödi, 1983 : Holotype (1♂ TMSA): SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, St. Lucia 28.22°S 32.25°E, / 7.xii.1975, E-Y: 957, groundtraps, 11 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga /, / Holotypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): Sisyphus bornemisszanus Endrodi /. Paratypes: (1♂, 2♀ TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, / Zululand, Mfabeni dunes, 28.08°S 32.2°E /, / 16. xii.1975, E-Y: 981, groundtraps, 3 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga/, / paratypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): Sisyphus bornemisszanus Endrodi /. (1♀ TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, St. Lucia 28.22°S 32.25°E, / 7.xii.1975, E-Y: 957, groundtraps, 11 days, leg: Endrödy-Younga /. (1♀ TMSA) SOUTH AFRICA, Zululand, Mission Rock 28.16°S 32.29°E, / 9.xii.1975; E-Y: 963, groundtraps, hippo dung, leg: Endrödy-Younga/, / Paratypus: label with white background and red on border (handwritten): Sisyphus bornemisszanus Endrodi /.

Examined non-type material: See Supplementary information.

Morphological variation

Clypeus. Between the medial teeth, the clypeal edge is mostly concave but, in some specimens, it is somewhat straight. There is a deep notch between the medial and lateral teeth although, in some cases, individuals bear a broad and shallow excavation. Specimens from Gauteng northwards, and inland in KwaZulu Natal, bear a distinct indentation on the lateral clypeal margin, whereas, individuals restricted to the Indian Ocean coastline bear a distinctly smooth clypeus. Pronotum. Three depressions are visible, particularly for those specimens from Nylsvley Nature Reserve northwards (24.04°S; 28.42°E). Colour. Coastal populations show black setae whereas inland populations show brown setae.

Distribution: S. sordidus has been recorded from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Along the coastline, S. sordidus has been recorded in grassland and open woodland on dunes from Maputaland (Davis et al. 2002b; Jacobs et al. 2010) up to Sofala Bay (25.11°S; 33.73°E) in Mozambique. Inland in South Africa, it has been recorded in Lowveld savanna vegetation (KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo). In Mozambique, the species has been collected in Gorongosa National Park and Quirimbas National Park under unshaded vegetation (GMD, personal observation) (Fig. 7).

Remarks: Peringuéy (1902) regarded S. sordidus as a junior synonym of S. goryi, whereas it was considered to be a junior synonym of S. crispatus by Gillet (1911), Haaf (1955) and Ferreira (1972). Based on the examined type material and the original description, we provide the above diagnosis, which suggests S. sordidus should be revalidated at species level. An additonal study was conducted on the type material of S. natalensis and S. bornemisszanus. The holotypes match the diagnosis of S. sordidus. Therefore, S. natalensis and S. bornemisszanus are proposed as new synomyms of S. sordidus. It should be noted that synonymy of S. bornemisszanus is based solely on the holotype and some paratypes as the allotype and half of the paratypes comprise S. neobornemisszanus Daniel & Davis, 2016 (see Daniel et al. 2016).