Rhyparus fijiensis Minkina, Anichtchenko, Vasiljeva, & Skelley, 2022

Skelley, Paul E. & Minkina, Łukasz, 2025, Review of the Rhyparini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) of eastern Melanesia and Polynesia, with descriptions of new species, Zootaxa 5632 (1), pp. 115-137 : 129

Rhyparus fijiensis Minkina, Anichtchenko, Vasiljeva, & Skelley, 2022

Figures 30–31

Rhyparus fijiensis Minkina, Anichtchenko, Vasiljeva, & Skelley, 2022: 86–88 . Type locality: Fiji, Viti Levu Island, Navai.

Diagnosis. A member of the genus Rhyparus distinguished from other species by the larger body size, length 5.9–7.8 mm ( Fig. 30 ). Head with clypeal margin sharply toothed. Pronotal lateral margin strongly sinuate and lobed; costa low and straight; surface evenly coarsely punctate with punctures separated by a one or more puncture diameter. Elytral costae low, straight; discomedian costa with postdiscal swelling abrupt, bulbous; intercostae glossy, with opalescent sheen. Abdomen of female with apical ventrite shortened medially; female pygidium depressed into last ventrite, surface weakly carinate medially with truncate apex ( Fig. 31 ).

Distribution. Fiji (Vanua Levu, Viti Levu).

Material examined. A total of 28 specimens as cited in Minkina et al. (2022).

Comments. This is one of the species having modified female apical abdominal ventrite and pygidium ( Minkina et al. 2022, 2023, 2025). See discussion under Rhyparus vanuatuensis , new species.

Figures

FIGURES 28–33. Rhyparus species. 28) Rhyparus breviceps Paulian, female from Papua New Guinea, dorsal habitus; 29) Rhyparus breviceps Paulian, female from Papua New Guinea, elytral apex, oblique-caudal view; 30) Rhyparus fijiensis Minkina, Anichtchenko, Vasiljeva, & Skelley, dorsal habitus male paratype; 31) Rhyparus fijiensis Minkina, Anichtchenko, Vasiljeva, & Skelley, abdominal ventrites female paratype; 32) Rhyparus helophoroides Fairmaire, male from New Caledonia, dorsal habitus; 33) Rhyparus helophoroides Fairmaire, male from New Caledonia, abdominal ventrites, ventral-oblique view. Scale lines = 1.0 mm.