Cionus fimbriatus, Caldara & Košťál, 2023

Caldara, Roberto & Košťál, Michael, 2023, A Taxonomic Revision Of The Afrotropical Species Of The Weevil Genus Cionus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Zootaxa 5288 (1), pp. 1-98 : 31-32

14. Cionus fimbriatus sp. n. ( Figs 14a–f )

Type locality. Grahamstown (Eastern Cape, South Africa) .

Type series. Holotype, male “ZA: E Cape - m 350 - road N2 10 km SW Grahamstown , 33°22’18”S 26°28’58”S, 10/ 11.XI.2005 - E. Colonnelli ” ( DBAU) . Paratypes: same data as holotype (1, ECCR) ; “ZA: E Cape - m 350 - road N2 10 km SW Grahamstown, 33°22’18”S 26°28’58”S, 14.XI.2006 - E. Colonnelli” (1, MKCS; 2, RCCM); “South Africa - Eastern Cape 350 m Road N2 100 km of Grahamstown / 11.XI.2005 G. Osella leg. 33°22’18”S 26°28’58”E ” (1, GOCV) ; “12.10. 33– 30 km N Grahamstown / Karoo S. Afr. W. Wittmer 1984” (1, NHMB) ; “ Grahamstown / Pascoe Coll. 93–60” (1, BMNH) . “ Mt Coke, K. W’s. [King William’s] Town , 17.3.1965, A.L. Capener ” (8, SANC); “ King Williams Town , 23.III.1965, A.L. Capener ” (1, SANC); “ Pirie Forest, K. W’s. Town , 21.3.1965, H.K. Munro ” (1, SANC); “SOUTH AFRICA: E Cape, R72– 30 km W Alexandria , 33.36.16 S 26.08.18 E, 6.XI.2006 - Colonnelli ” (2, ECCR); “SOUTH AFRICA: E Cape, Kikuyu Lodge - m 170 - 10.XI.2005, 33°33’23”S 28°22’83”E – E. Colonnelli ” (2, ECCR) ; “860 m, 6 km O Bedford 11.X / Karoo S. Afr. W. Wittmer 1984” (5, NHMB) ; “S. Afr.; E. Cape prov. Bedford , 6 km E. 32.40 S - 26.01 E; E-Y: 2143 11.10.1984, ground & vegetation, leg. R. Müller ” (2, TMSA) ; Cradock Gericke (5, ZMUC) ; “SOUTH AFRICA Eastern Cape, W Bisho, Km 35 da Peddie s.s. n. 2 / 280 m, S33°16’69” E 26°48’95”, 14.XI.2006, G. Osella leg. (1, GOCV) . “Rep. of South Africa, Western Cape Pr. Uniondale , 15.vii.2019, J. Haran leg. / -3364 2312, JHAR02386” (10, CBGP) .

Diagnosis. Head between eyes very narrow. Pronotum conical, markedly transverse, with two distinct lateral protuberances. Elytral striae and interstriae completely hidden by almost unicolorous whitish scales, with very few small black maculae (apparently constant 2–3 spots on interstria 7). Scales on ventrites almost of same width also at midline in both sexes. Ventral face of meso- and metafemora in male with distinct fringe of long hair-like scales. Protarsal claws almost symmetrical, fused, one claw of meso- and metatarsi by 1/4 shorter than other, in female protarsal claws symmetrical, separated, one claw of meso- and metatarsi 1/2 as long as other.

Description. Male ( Figs 14a–b ). Body: robust, globose. Head: rostrum stout, moderately long (Rl/Rw 4.25– 4.32, Rl/Pl 1.22–1.28), black, in lateral view almost straight from base to antennal insertion, then moderately curved and tapered to apex, in dorsal view parallel-sided, slightly enlarged apicad; from base to near apex with recumbent, moderately dense, moderately long (l/w 5–8), elliptical whitish scales. Head between eyes narrow, 0.25× as wide as rostrum at base. Eyes flat. Antennae dark brown, inserted between middle and apical third of rostrum; scape long (l/w 9); funicle slightly shorter than scape, S1 slightly more robust and slightly longer than S2, 3.0× as long as wide, S2 2.8 × as long as wide, S3–5 transverse; club oblongly oval, as long as funicle, uniformly pubescent. Pronotum: dark brown, with two distinct lateral protuberances, with small, regular punctures completely hidden by recumbent, dense, rectangular, moderately long (l/w 4–7), whitish scales; conical, widest at base, distinctly transverse (Pw/Pl 1.63–1.68), with weakly rounded sides, weakly convex on disc. Prosternum: anterior margin distinctly emarginated. Scutellar shield: heart-shaped, with scales similar to those on elytra. Elytra: dark brown, short (El/Ew 1.13–1.17), subrectangular, somewhat wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.50–1.55), humeri rounded, sides subparallel, moderately convex on disc; interstriae flat, completely hidden by recumbent, very dense, rectangular whitish, almost unicolorous scales except of a very few small blackish spots, usually on base of interstriae 3 and 5, humeri and apical half of interstria 7; striae completely hidden by vestiture, narrow, with small punctures, 1/4 as wide as interstriae. Venter: mesosternal process: weakly convex, moderately emarginated. Metasternum densely covered with overlapping whitish scales being wider at sides and elongated, sparsely hair-like in middle. Abdomen with dense, irregular, moderately deep punctures completely hidden by dense, elongated, whitish scales, almost of same width also in middle in both sexes; V1 1.8× longer than V2; V1+2 6.0× longer than V3+4, latter ones 0.7× as long as V5. Legs: densely covered with elongated whitish scales; femora black, with robust sharp teeth, meso- and metafemora with distinct fringe of elongated hair-like scales on ventral face; tibiae black; tarsi black, onychium twice as long as T3; protarsal claws almost symmetrical, connate at base, one claw of meso- and metatarsi 1/4 as long as other. Penis: Figs 14d–f , its body slightly narrowed from base to apex, tip blunted. Flagellum robust, moderately long, bifurcated at base.

Female. Rostrum slightly longer (Rl/Rw 4.40-4-46; Rl/Pl 1.30–1.34) ( Fig. 14c ), femora without fringe of hair-like scales, claws of protarsi symmetrical, separated, one claw of meso- and metatarsi half as long as other.

Variability. Length 3.50–4.10 mm. The unique noteworthy variability is in the number of dark elytral spots, which are however always very sparse, always less than ten.

Remarks. This species is the most distinctive one of the group, firstly in the male by the presence of a dense fringe of long hair-like scales on meso- and metafemora and by connate, only slightly asymmetrical protarsal claws. We did not find the former character in any other species of the genus, whereas the latter character is present also in C. angulicollis . Moreover, there are no hair-like scales on the ventrites. The female is more difficult to identify. Among the species with eyes dorsally very close each other ( C. albidus , C. transvaalicus and C. schuelei ), it differs from the former two by the distinct protuberances on the pronotum, and from C. schuelei by the less arcuate rostrum in lateral view of the same width till the apex, from last two species it differs by the more transverse pronotum.

Etymology. The Latin adjective meaning “fringed” wants to highlight the characteristic fringe of hair-like scales on male meso- and metafemora.

Biological notes. No data are available.

Distribution. South Africa (Eastern Cape).

Figures

FIGURES 13–14. FIGURE 13. Cionus cretaceus sp. n. a: body in dorsal view (female), b: body in lateral view (female). FIGURE 14. Cionus fimbriatus sp. n. a: body in dorsal view (male), b: body in lateral view (male), c: rostrum in lateral view (female), d: penis in ventral view, e: penis in lateral view, f: apex of penis in dorsal view. Not to scale.