The family Scarabaeideae is a large and diverse group of beetles with about 35000 species worldwide. They range in size from diminutive to truly massive (for a beetle). The family includes the Goliath beetle from Africa (Goliathus goliathus), known as one of the heaviest insects (up to 100 g). It also includes the elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas) and hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules), both from the American tropics, that are known for their large size (up to 16cm for the hercules beetle) and highly developed horns in the males.
Today's species belongs to a rather small group of Scarab beetles. All representatives of the group are allegedly associated with termite nests although reasons for this are not known. The new species was named after the collector of the holotype, a beetle expert from Ottawa (Eduard Jendek).
For the experts: A new species of the genus Cheleion Vårdal & Forshage, 2010, Cheleion jendeki sp. n., from Johor, Malaysia is described, illustrated and compared with the type species of the genus, C. malayanum Vårdal & Forshage, 2010. Photographs of the two species are presented. The adaptation to inquilinous lifestyle of Cheleion is compared with those in other beetle groups and briefly discussed.
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