Scaurotrechodes capensis Geginat, 2006, sp. nov.

Scaurotrechodes capensis sp. nov.

Description

Length 3.9 mm, body ovoid, whole body dark brown to black, appendages lighter brown to rufescent. Dorsal surfaces of head, pronotum and elytra glabrous, shiny. Head short, frontal furrows deep but not canaliculated, diverging posteriad; eyes well developed, moderately convex, not protruding; genae and temples short, tumid, length of temples approximately 1/3rd of diameter of eyes. Anterior part of clypeus formed by bilobed protrusion, medial part with oval swelling followed towards base of labrum by two small laterally positioned knobs bearing each one large seta. Labrum modestly dilating distad with distal edge concave. Two supraorbital punctures with seta present, anterior one situated at the level of the centre of eyes, posterior one near posterior edge of orbital tumescence. Antennae moderately long reaching anterior seta on elytral disc; all antennomeres longer than broad. Pronotum transverse (length 0.90, width 1.19 mm, length/width ratio 0.76). Posterior angles of pronotum marked by seta but obtuse and rounded. Posterior edge of the pronotum only slightly sinuate towards base. Lateral borders of pronotum with rim between anterior corners and posterior seta that effaces thereafter. Elytra ovoid (length 2.1 mm, width 1.5 mm), shoulders rounded; scutellar stria clearly marked, no sutural stria discernable, striae 2­5 effaced; the two setiferous foveate punctures in the 3rd interval moved towards the vestigial 3rd stria. Setiferous punctures of series umbilicata regular with last 2 punctures moved towards apex. Anterior seta of apical group at the end of vestigial 2nd stria, posterior setae of apical group smaller at the apical border of elytra. Microsculpture on elytra very inconspicuous, strongly transverse, length/ width ratio approximately 7:1 (Fig. 1 E). Apterous, no vestiges of wings present. Legs short, sturdy, protibia length 0.74 mm and breadth 0.14 mm, cleaning organ well developed (Fig. 1 D). Apical spur of protarsus as long as 1st tarsomere. Aedeagus moderately elongated, length (dorsal view) 0.82 mm, breadth 0.16 mm (Fig 1 B, C). Apical tip of median lobe slightly thickened. Internal sack without sclerotized copulatory pieces but a scale­like structure visible at 100x magnification. Styles elongated, slender, each with 5 long apical setae.

Etymology

From “ capensis ”, inhabitant of the South African cape region.

Remarks

The loco typico of S. capensis, the Dwarsberg is part of the Hottentots Hollands Nature reserve and reaches 1523 m above see level with an annual rainfall on the Dwarsberg plateau as high as 3300 mm. The predominating vegetation type of the range is mountain finbosh with a few relics of indigenous forest which is mostly restricted to ravines. In his collection diary Dr. Endrödy­Younga further specified the habitat: 'sifting', 'in deepest S (South) valley, fern tree forest litter'. A precise altitude is not mentioned. The notes probably refer to the dense vegetation found in some of the ravines of the southeastern slope of the Dwarsberg that drain into the upper Boegoekloof valley. When the author visited the Dwarsberg range in November 2002 sifting of leaf litter in ravines of the upper Boegoekloof valley revealed the presence of a mesophilous Pachydesus species but S. capensis was not recovered. Probably recovering this interesting but elusive species might require methods that allow more effective sampling of leaf litter and superficial soil layers.