identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
038EDF38FFC8D027329386EC81745BB1.text	038EDF38FFC8D027329386EC81745BB1.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Kheper cupreus (Laporte de Castelnau 1840)	<div><p>Following its original description, Kheper namibicus Krajcik, 2006, was synonymized with Kheper cupreus (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840) by Deschodt et al. (2011) but later re-erected as a valid species or subspecies (Krajcik 2020). This paper discusses the evidence for validity versus synonymy and provides further support that Kheper namibicus is, indeed, a junior subjective synonym of</p> <p>Kheper cupreus.</p> <p>The description of Kheper namibicus was based on three specimens, the holotype and a paratype from near Gobabis [S22.45° E18.97°] and a paratype from near Otavi [S19.63° E17.33°] in Namibia (Fig. 1). According to Krajcik (2006), K. namibicus is close to K. cupreus (Fig. 2) but differs from it in (1) geographical distribution, (2) the “non-metallic colour of [the] dorsal side”, (3) the “non-lustrous elytral suture (in day light)”, (4) the darker colour than K. cupreus, (5) denticles of the front tibiae that are “not projected, rather obtuse” and (6) the shape of the parameres. Although the present authors have been unable to examine the holotype of K. namibicus, the photographs in Krajcik (2006) are sufficiently clear for comparisons with other specimens.</p> <p><a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=28.766666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-16.516666" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 28.766666/lat -16.516666)">The</a> synonymy of K. namibicus with K. cupreus (Deschodt et al. 2011) was based on a reference collection containing individuals identified as K. cupreus from more than 15 localities across northern Namibia and more than 30 localities to the east (Figs 1A, 1B). Deschodt et al. (2011) observed that <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=28.766666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-16.516666" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 28.766666/lat -16.516666)">Gobabis</a> and <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=28.766666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-16.516666" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 28.766666/lat -16.516666)">Otavi</a> fell well within the known range of K. cupreus and that <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=28.766666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-16.516666" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 28.766666/lat -16.516666)">northern Namibian</a> specimens were darker than the cupreous individuals found further east. <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=28.766666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-16.516666" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 28.766666/lat -16.516666)">With</a> regards to type material of K. namibicus, they also explained that the “not projected” or “obtuse” condition of denticles on the front tibiae resulted from wear during soil excavation. Furthermore, the aedeagus of the holotype was comparable to a cupreous specimen from Kariba, Zimbabwe (16°31’ S, 28°46’ E) determined as K. cupreus by Richard zur Strassen, a specialist in the tribe Scarabaeini.</p> <p>Subsequently, at the end of a paper dealing primarily with insects in famous artworks of ancient Egypt, Krajcik (2020) provided a seven line re-evaluation of K. namibicus and, again, elevated it to valid species or subspecies status. As regards this re-evaluation, an English translation from Czech follows in inverted commas (Google translation services, 27 May 2022): “In 2006, a description of a new species of the genus Kheper from Namibia was published, which was named Kheper namibicus (Krajcik 2006, Animma.x, 14: 21). Deschodt et al. (2011) synonymized this species with cupreus. Apparently K. cupreus, as imagined by Deschodt and his colleagues, is in fact different from what was described by Laporte de Castelnau in 1840, and therefore K. namibicus should be recognized by a valid taxon (species or subspecies)”.</p> <p>Notably, Deschodt et al. (2011) was published without our having examined type specimens of Kheper cupreus or photographs of types. This has now been rectified by an examination of photographs of a syntype habitus sent from the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. The specimen should be considered a syntype (Fig. 2A) as it is unclear if Laporte de Castelnau’s original description was based on a single or multiple individuals. However, staff of the museum have been unable to locate other specimens that might belong to a type series. As Kheper species show little, external, sexual dimorphism, dissection by museum staff has shown that the syntype is a female.</p> <p>We have compared the habitus image of the female Caffraria syntype (cupreous with worn tibial and clypeal dentition) with that of the male K. namibicus holotype from Namibia (dark with a cupreous sheen and worn tibial/clypeal dentition) (Krajcik 2006, 2020), that of the male K. cupreus specimen from Kariba in Zimbabwe (cupreous with unworn fore tibial/ clypeal dentition) (Deschodt et al. 2011) and those of male specimens that we determined as K. cupreus comprising a dark specimen with unworn fore tibial/clypeal dentition from 20km south of <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Opuwo</a> (S18.2027° E13.81305°) in Namibia as well as a cupreous specimen with unworn tibial/clypeal dentition from <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Orapa</a> to the east in Botswana. <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">All</a> images show close similarities. <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Therefore</a>, this comparison suggests that, contrary to Krajcik (2020), we have correctly understood the identity of K. cupreus as originally described in only twelve, half-column lines (78 words) by Laporte de Castelnau (1840). <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Furthermore</a>, images of the aedeagi extracted from the <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Opuwo</a> (dark), <a href="http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=13.81305&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-18.2027" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 13.81305/lat -18.2027)">Orapa</a> (cupreous), Kariba (cupreous) and K. namibicus holotype (dark with cupreous sheen) specimens (Krajcik 2006; Deschodt et al. 2011, Fig. 3) are clearly identical. Therefore, after a consideration of (1) the close similarity between the habitus of the five compared specimens representing the two colour varieties (K. cupreus syntype, K. namibicus holotype, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe K. cupreus), (2) the identical aedeagi from K. namibicus and three western and eastern specimens identified as K. cupreus and (3) the identical aedeagi from dark worn (K. namibicus) and dark unworn (K. cupreus) specimens from Namibia, we confirm the synonymy of Kheper namibicus Krajcik, 2006, with Kheper cupreus (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840).</p> </div>	http://treatment.plazi.org/id/038EDF38FFC8D027329386EC81745BB1	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Deschodt, Christian M.;Davis, Adrian L. V.	Deschodt, Christian M., Davis, Adrian L. V. (2022): Comparison with a syntype of Kheper cupreus (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840) confirms that Kheper namibicus Krajcik, 2006 is a synonym. Zootaxa 5169 (2): 193-196, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5169.2.8
