''Phoberus sternbergi'' 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 the scientists van de Merwe and

Scholtz Scholtz is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * A.H.M. Scholtz, South African writer in Afrikaans, wrote his first and award-winning novel at the age of 72 * Andrew Henry Martin Scholtz (1923–2004), South African writer *Bernard ...

in 2005. Like with many other beetle species, ''P. sternbergi'' has not been observed again after its discovery, so all knowledge of the species comes from the 8 individual beetles van de Merwe and Scholtz saw during fieldwork.

Taxonomy

Taxonomically, ''P. sternbergi'' was initially placed in the subgenus Trox (Phoberus); when ''Phoberus'' was recognized as a full genus, taxonomists moved ''P. sternbergi'' from the genus ''Trox'' to the genus ''Phoberus''. Within the genus ''Phoberus'', ''P. sternbergi'' is most similar to ''P. ngomensis''; in fact, females of the two species are almost completely identical, and only the shape of the hide beetles' male genitalia can reliably distinguish the two species. Specifically, in ''P. sternbergi'', the anterior edges of male genitalia's median lobe are M-shaped, while in ''P. ngomensis'' those same edges are U-shaped. Furthermore, the parameres of ''P. sternbergi'' are longer relative to 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 ...

than those of ''P. ngomensis''; ''P. sternbergis parameres are one-third their aedeagus' length, while the parameres of ''P. ngomensis'' are one-fourth that length.

Morphology

''Phoberus sternbergi'' is between 5.5 and 6.5 millimeters long and 3.2 and 3.6 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 have flattened sides and are fringed laterally with short 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 ...

. Like other hide beetles, this species' elytra are covered under hard carapaces; ''P. sternbergis exoskeleton shell on the abdomen is dark red and bumpy, with orange spikes. These spikes measure under half a millimeter in height. This hide beetle species' exoskeleton on the head and

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 dark leather-black. ''P. sternbergi'' has a triangular clypeus, which refers to the shape of the exoskeleton plate covering its head. The beetles' heads also finish at a pointed apex.

Distribution and Diet

''P. sternbergi'' lives within the South African province of

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 ...

. A ground-based beetle, the species is a detritivore that probably consumes keratin from rotting meat, as the researchers captured specimen through ten-days-old meat bait.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q111244651 sternbergi Beetles described in 2005