Capezoum richardi, Maquart & Vitali & Bate, 2021

Maquart, Pierre-Olivier, Vitali, Francesco & Bate, Riana, 2021, A review of Capezoum Adlbauer, 2003 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) with the description of two new species from the Succulent Karoo ecosystem in South- Africa, Zootaxa 4915 (4), pp. 559-566 : 561-563

Capezoum richardi sp. nov.

Fig. 2 .

Measurements (mm). HOLOTYPE: Body length: 13 (11.3 to elytral apex); antennal length: 13.7; scape length: 0.9; head length: 1.6; head width: 2.6; pronotal length: 2.2; pronotal width: 2.4; elytral length: 7.2; humeral width: 2.9. PARATYPES: body length: 12–13.

Type material. HOLOTYPE male, South-Africa, Northern Cape, Richtersveld N.P., Sendelingsdrift, 28°07’S, 26°53’E, 29.XII.2016 [ SAMC] . PARATYPES: 2 females, South-Africa, Northern Cape, Richtersveld N.P., Sendelingsdrift , 28°07’S, 26°53’E, 29.XII.2016 [ SAMC] ; 1 female, South Africa, N. Cape, Springbok , 29°14’24”S, 17°53’03”E, 01.I.2019, light trap, M.D. & J.M. Bate legs. [ ARC-PPI National Collection of Insects, Pretoria, South-Africa] .

Description. Head. Integument brownish. Frons and vertex flat, quadrate, densely and uniformly punctate, with sparse pubescence; genae deeply punctate, apex shallow but pointing forward.Anterior part of the head slightly shrinking. Antennal tubercles testaceous, flat and widely spaced. Antennae 11-segmented, exceeding the elytra apex by two antennomeres (male) or just reaching the elytral half (female), testaceous, sparsely covered with a fine pubescence, finely and densely punctate and bearing a few yellowish longer setae, mainly at the apex and on the inner side of the antennomeres III–V. Scape testaceous, densely and coarsely punctate, with sparse, long setae. Antennomeres III and IV sub-equal in length, flattened, wider at apex and shorter than the other antennomeres. Antennomeres IV–X outer dentate.

Thorax. Pronotum yellowish, transverse, one-fifth wider than long, parallel-sided; disc sparsely and deeply punctate except for a median longitudinal ridge, which does not reach both margins, and two anterior round gibbosities, presenting long setae and a fringe of short whitish setae along the apical margin. Scutellum testaceous; surface micro-sculptured; without distinct punctuation. Prosternum, metaventrite, and metacoxae densely and deeply punctate, with long setae, and slightly wrinkled anteriorly.

Elytra yellowish translucent, testaceous at apex, similar to those of some Gahania sp., restricted at their twothirds (female) or shrinking at their two-thirds and somewhere dehiscent (male), rounded at apex; surface uniformly, densely and finely punctate, with sparse long yellowish setae, densely fringed with similar setae along the entire lateral margin in female.

Abdomen. Integument yellowish, densely and deeply punctate, with long yellowish setae. First ventrite not elongated. Last abdominal segment of the male transverse, almost parallel-sided, densely pubescent and exceeding the elytra coverage. Female abdomen without a “brush” on the second ventrite, but with a fringe of setae on the apex of the 5 th.

Legs. Fore legs inserted at the first third of the prothorax. Femora and tibiae deeply and densely punctate, with long yellowish setae. Tarsomere I long, equivalent in length to the segments II and III combined.

Male terminalia: Aedeagus yellow; median lobe (penis) about 1 mm long, parallel-sided, bluntly pointed apically. Tegmen about 1.2 mm long; parameres parallel-sided, fused together for two-thirds of their length, dorsally feebly convex, slightly but evidently arched, densely covered with fine setae at the apex; ringed part as long as root, forming a 45° angle, laterally constricted, posteriorly converging and united for one-fifth of its length. Due to its conservation state, the aedeagus was not presented in picture.

Etymology: The species name is dedicated to our colleague and friend Denis Richard, for his important contribution to the field of Entomology in France.

Distribution: Succulent Karoo ecosystem, Northern Cape, South-Africa ( Fig. 1 ).

Taxonomic discussion: Among the African Cerambycinae with similar habitus, shortened elytra can be found only in the genera Afromethia Adlbauer, 2000 , Namiboeme Adlbauer, 2000 , Oculobrium Adlbauer, 2004 and Capezoum Adlbauer, 2003 . The first three genera, all absent in South Africa, are characterised by antennae surpassing the abdominal apex by three to four antennomeres in males. The first two genera, belonging to the tribe Xystrocerini , are also characterised by cylindrical antennomeres, longer metatarsi ( Afromethia ) or elytra dehiscent along the suture ( Namiboeme ), while Oculobrium , whose validity needs revision ( Maquart et al., 2018), is characterised by an elliptical pronotum. Accordingly, with relatively short antennae and slightly trapeziform pronotum this new species belongs to the genus Capezoum .

C. richardi sp. nov. differs from the other known species of Capezoum by its elytra yellowish translucent, making the hind wings distinguishable, and antennae extending past the elytral apex in male. Although these taxa are not related, the elytra of the new species are similar to those of some Gahania spp., of the tribe Gahaniini , e.g., G. orientalis Quentins & Villiers 1970 and G. simmondsi Distant 1907 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Location of the different species of Capezoum. Map drawn with QGIS 3.6, biomes for Namibia and South Africa incorporated.

FIGURE 2. Capezoum richardi sp. nov. a) holotype, dorsal habitus, male, b) paratype, dorsal habitus, female, c) paratype, ventral habitus, female.