''Phoberus cyrtus'' is a species of
hide beetle
Trogidae, sometimes called hide beetles, is a family of beetles with a distinctive warty or bumpy appearance. Found worldwide, the family includes about 300 species contained in four or five genera.
Trogids range in length from 2 to 20 mm. Thei ...
in the subfamily
Troginae
''Troginae'' is a subfamily of beetles in the family Trogidae which includes extant species and extinct beetle species from the Lower Cretaceous. The subfamily contains the following genera:
* Glyptotrox Nikolajev, 2016
*Paratrox Nikolajev, 2009 ...
discovered by
Erwin Haaf in 1953.
Taxonomy
Taxonomically, ''P. cyrtus'' was initially placed in the subgenus ''Trox (Phoberus)''. When ''Phoberus'' was elevated to a full genus, taxonomists moved ''P. cyrtus'' from the genus ''Trox'' to the genus ''Phoberus''.
Within the genus ''Phoberus'', ''P. cyrtus'' is most similar to ''P. fumarius'' and ''P. sulcatus'', and researchers have often confused the three hide beetle species for each other. Carefully inspecting the hide beetles' male genitalia suffices to distinguish the three species. The male genitalia of ''P. cyrtus'' have narrow median lobes that finish at an angular apex, while those of ''P. fumarius'' have broad median lobes finishing at a rounded apex. Furthermore, the median lobe of ''P. sulcatus'' is divided into two curved sublobes, a feature found in neither ''P. cyrtus'' nor ''P. fumarius''.[
]
Morphology
''Phoberus cyrtus'' is between 9 and 13 millimeters long and 5 and 8 millimeters wide. The elytra
An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...
, or forewings, of the beetle are fringed laterally with long hair-like setae
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
that angle backwards, away from the hide beetle's head. Like other hide beetles, this species' elytra are covered under hard carapaces; ''P. cyrtus exoskeleton on both the elytra and the pronotum
The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...
is a darkish matt black, with clumps of setae tufts protruding almost like spikes from the carapace. These tufts are yellow and measure less than half a millimeter in height. As one moves towards the beetle's head, the setae change color; setae on the head are long and light brown, and setae ranging from dark yellow to bright red and rust-brown fringe the mouth of ''P. cyrtus''.[
''P. cyrtus'' has a triangular clypeus, which refers to the shape of the exoskeleton plate covering its head. The beetles' heads also finish at a rounded apex.][
''P. cyrtus'' has especially long parameres that are only slightly shorter than their penis-like ]aedeagus
An aedeagus (plural aedeagi) is a reproductive organ of male arthropods through which they secrete sperm from the testes during copulation with a female. It can be thought of as the insect equivalent of a mammal's penis, though the comparison ...
's length. Male ''P. cyrtus'' beetles have two bladelike protrusions and rows of hooks between their genitalia's median lobes and parameres, which enable them to more effectively grasp onto and copulate with females.[
]
Distribution and Diet
''P. cyrtus'' lives within Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
, southern Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
, and the South African provinces of Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
, KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
, Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
, and North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
.[ A versatile species, the beetle thrives in both grasslands, marked by moderately cold temperature and moderately frequent precipitation, and in savannahs, which are hot and have protracted dry periods. Still, ''Phoberus cyrtus'' depends heavily on rainfall patterns, and its range is restricted to summer rainfall regions, where it rains primarily during summer months.][
This ground-based beetle is a detritivore and survives by consuming ]keratin
Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. Alpha-keratin (α-keratin) is a type of keratin found in vertebrates. It is the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, ho ...
from shed, excreted, or rotting animal material.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q111235185
cyrtus
Beetles described in 1953