A first phylogenetic appraisal of two allied genera of Afrotropical Ceratocanthinae: Melanophilharmostes and Pseudopterorthochaetes (Coleoptera: Hybosoridae)

• Main Author: Alberto Ballerio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2016-06-01
• Series: Fragmenta entomologica
• Subjects: Mozambique, Annobon island, Miombo woodland, Sudanian savanna, cladistics, taxonomy, new species, new combination
• Online Access: http://www.fragmentaentomol.org/index.php/fragmenta/article/view/159

Two genera of Ceratocanthinae (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea Hybosoridae), <em>Melanophilharmostes</em> Paulian, 1968 and <em>Pseudopterorthochaetes</em> Paulian, 1977, are evaluated through a cladistic morphological approach, resulting in the transfer of <em>Melanophilharmostes</em> <em>demirei</em> Paulian, 1977 to <em>Pseudopterorthochaetes</em>. All species are catalogued and all except two are keyed. Three new species are described: <em>Melanophilharmostes</em> <em>poggii</em> n. sp. from Annobon island (Ecuatorial Guinea), <em>Pseudopterorthochaetes</em> <em>genierorum</em> n. sp. and <em>P. miomboincola</em> n. sp., both from Mozambique. <em>Melanophilharmostes</em> <em>zicsii</em> (Paulian, 1968) is recorded for the first time for Burkina Faso, marking the northernmost record for African Ceratocanthinae. The records in Sudanian savannas and Miombo woodlands extend the ecological range of the subfamily.