T O P I C R E V I E W |
Vitali |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 00:05:28 ![](/public/imgforum/Pic1964.jpg)
I hesitated whether to place this photo. Maybe it is sufficient to start a discussion. If necessary, I'll take a photo with a microscope. Very thick first antennomere. 4.5 mm. Rare size for material coming from Africa.
Tanzania. |
7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
Vitali |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 20:09:41 My beetle has 3 tubercles on each elytron: 1 strong in basal part and 2 in apical part. So, 6 tubercles is not "numerous", in fact, but it is not "without tubercles" either. |
Francesco |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 19:30:26 Unfortunately, I have found only the description of three species at the present. They can be identified with the key below:
1. Antennal tubercles separated by a fissure, 8 mm (South Africa)...rugatum -. Antennal tubercles separated by a larger space......2 2. Elytra with numerous high tubercles, 4 mm (South Africa)...multituberculatum -. Elytra without tubercles, 7,5-9 mm (Ivory-Coast-Sudan-South Africa)...favosum |
Vitali |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 17:19:17 A lateral view of the same beetle. Isn't it "multituberculatum" enough? :-) |
Vitali |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 17:17:22 Thank you for the photo, Francesco. It is very alike indeed. I can see even glabrous tubercles on pronotum. Here is a better photo of my beetle taken with a microscope. If it is E. favosum, we have to disregard the colour pattern and the size. The lateral view is following in the next message. |
Francesco |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 14:53:33 The identification of the genus does not raise difficulty. I send to your private mail a picture of this species taken from Adlbauer's book about Namibian fauna. So you can check it. Regarding the species, I have only a key to three of the five species, but possibly the remaining original descriptions as well. |
Vitali |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 13:22:21 I did not want to place a photo of such bad quality. The beetle is too small for my camera. By the way, I measured it with a microscope. The measure is 5 mm exactly. It has features that are not visible in the photo: two sharp teeth with glabrous tips on dorsal side of pronotum and two high tubercles in basal part of elytra. I'll take a better photo. The size 7-9 mm seems too large and maybe it is still another species. |
Francesco |
Posted - 29/01/2011 : 10:52:37 Why did you hesitate? It seems Ecyroschema favosum Thomson, 1864, though the recorded size is 7.5-9 mm. E. multituberculatum from South Africa is much smaller (4 mm); however, E. favosum is the only one of the five Ecyroschema-species that is present in Tanzania. |