Dr. Yeon Jae Bae dung beetle (Acrossus baei) as a new species from South Korea

NEWS - Morphological analysis and mitochondrial COI sequences established a new species of the genus dung beetle (Acrossus Mulsant, 1842), Acrossus baei, from South Korea, after comparison with four related species: Acrossus atratus (Waterhouse, 1875), A. humerospinosus (Petrovitz, 1958), A. luridus (Fabricius, 1775), and A. superatratus (Nomura & Nakane, 1951).

Dr. Yeon Jae Bae dung beetle (Acrossus bei) as a new species from South Korea

Changseob Lim from Korea University in Seoul and Łukasz Minkina from Nowy Targ, Poland classified the new species based on the South Korean holotype and paratypes with the locality South Korea, Gangwon-do, Pyeongchang-gun, Jinbu-myeon, Mountain Odaesan. The etymology of the name honors Dr. Yeon Jae Bae who has contributed to the conservation of beetles in South Korea.

Male dimorphism with the anterior tibial apical spur clearly directed downward and inward before the apex, meso-metaventral slightly concave. Females with a pointed apical spur at the apex, meso-metaventral plate slightly convex.

Size variability from 6.0 to 7.5 mm, elytra usually blackish, sometimes with short orange-brownish lines before the apex. Spots on head and pronotum slightly variable. Relationship of elytra to elytral striae is somewhat variable.

Acrossus is a genus with over 40 species and two subspecies known to date. Most were described in the genus Aphodius Hellwig (1798) and sometimes placed in the subgenus Acrossus, but currently Acrossus has been elevated from subgenus to genus.

This genus covers a distribution mainly in the Palearctic and Eastern regions. One species is known from North America and another from the Afrotropical region. Most have very distinctive features especially the rounded or truncated cliseus at the front. Some species still have questionable positions.

In the last 20 years, only two species have been newly described in the genus: A. byki (Minkina, 2018) and A. jeloneki (Minkina, 2018). The genus Acrossus still requires research because the level of knowledge about species diversity is not yet complete.

Lim during his study of Aphodiinae from South Korea found several Acrossus specimens that could not be identified with the available literature and after careful examination proved to be undescribed species.

Original research

Lim C, Minkina Ł (2024). A new species of genus Acrossus Mulsant, 1842 (Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae, Aphodiini) from South Korea. ZooKeys 1211: 211-230, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1211.118456

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