Apodytapion, Wanat, 2021
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5035.1.1 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:95CC79A1-8A2D-4532-8E59-A3DA1A437A62 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A40A5638-E856-CD41-FF6B-2CF3FE666825 |
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treatment provided by |
Plazi |
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scientific name |
Apodytapion |
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gen. nov. |
Apodytapion gen. n.
Type species: Apodytapion stepniewskii sp. n.
Diagnosis. Small species, body length not exceeding 2.5 mm. Protruding setae missing from all body parts; elytra seemingly naked. Body coloration black except orange testaceous basal half of antennae, variably lightened tarsi and usually (in two-thirds of studied specimens) variably developed red stripe along intervals 4–6 of each elytron, the pattern unique among African basal apionines. Rostrum less than 2.6 × as long as wide; scrobes parallel, taking entire breadth of rostrum, vanishing well before head venter. Antennae long, though not as in Rhynchitapion , 0.65–0.75 × elytra length and 1.8–2.0 × as long as pronotum, with all segments of funicle elongate; club loosely segmented, usually 4–5 × as long as wide. Pronotum trilobate, with rectangular hind corners; its disc with subequal flattened apical and basal 0.25–0.30 parts and weakly convex middle part in between, punctate, lacking median fovea and basal flange. Elytra with suture apically straight and simple; their bases with low rim vanishing at level of stria 5; five striae present between suture and humeral callus, stria 1 shortened, commencing well behind scutellar shield; only subapical part of separate stria 10 present; striae 3 and 8 approximate apically, disconnected due to extended intervals 4 and 6. Legs slender, all subequally long. Procoxae pear-shaped; both pro- and mesocoxal dentiform process vestigial; in septum of mesocoxae mesoventral process clearly longer than metaventral one. Trochanters shortly elongate. Femora unarmed, without coarse wrinkles.
In male only meso- and metatibiae with mucro; pygidium with well-developed anterior apodemes and weakly sclerotized, broad tongue-like internal process, present despite lacking additional sclerites between sternites VIII and IX; endophallus without frena or any other sclerites. Female tergite VII broadly truncate, without carina along apical margin; tergite VIII with continuous sclerotization.
See also the key to South African genera below.
Description. Fine dorsal vestiture well seen only on head and pronotum, semi-recumbent; ventral vestiture very sparse, composed of short recumbent setae.
Rostrum based in upper part of head profile, nearly even with vertex, stout, subparallel-sided, weakly sexually dimorphic, arched; prorostrum more coarsely punctate ventrally and laterally than dorsally, without ribs and sulci, with short, semi-erect setae; metarostrum widening basad specifically in female, but not as markedly as in Rhyn- chitapion; antennal pits small, short-oval; scrobes laterally margined with sharp edges, their septum broad, with setiferous punctures, in female flat, in male often convex.
Mouthparts with short palps and shortly setose ligula ( Fig. 133 View FIGURES 132–143 ).
Head transverse; eyes slightly larger and more convex in male; epifrons between eyes slightly concave, usually with two fine curved lateral sulci, separated by glabrous middle field; vertex at confluence with epifrons gently convex and punctured, with semi-recumbent setae, in posterior part flat and glabrous; temples punctate and rugose for a short distance behind eye, then smooth and wrinkled; subocular setae small, not forming a fringe; gular sector between eyes convex, punctuated and with transverse asperities.
Antennae inserted on rostrum submedially, with short and fine setae, protruding on scape and funicle while recumbent on club; scape shorter than width of mesorostrum and shorter than combined length of funicular segments 1 and 2, the latter two of about the same length; fun7 barely elongate; club shorter than in Rhynchitapion , with two proximal segments transverse ( Fig. 134 View FIGURES 132–143 ).
Pronotum elongate, trilobate, with both constrictions traced across disc; lateral pronotal margin behind eyes slightly swollen, impunctate and densely obliquely wrinkled; entire disc microreticulate and irregularly, sparsely punctate; fine sub-basal transverse line complete, separating a regular row of minute, forward projecting setae ( Fig. 135 View FIGURES 132–143 ); posterior lateral groove vestigial, usually as a shallow, oblique irregular wrinkle, eventually associated with punctures; notosternal suture sinuate, ending in a deep pit; prosternum gently convex, not declining, with a relatively long triangular process causing procoxal cavities only narrowly contiguous ( Fig. 132 View FIGURES 132–143 ); posterior rim of procoxae incomplete, flattened in middle; prosternellum not prominent, long, narrowly acute apically.
Scutellar shield small, flat, isodiametric.
Elytra weakly regularly convex, in dorsal outline slightly pyriform and widest behind middle; 1.6–1.7 × as long as wide; basal sutural lock multituberculate, with 4–5 tubercles vanishing posterad ( Figs. 138, 139 View FIGURES 132–143 ), apical lock as in Fig. 140 View FIGURES 132–143 ; striae not impressed, without sharp edges, very narrow, punctate, apically joining (1+10)+(2+9), 3 to 7 free ( Fig. 136 View FIGURES 132–143 ); strial punctures small, elongate, about one puncture’s length apart, bearing microscopic setae; on red integument catenulate strial punctures usually surrounded by large visible internal chambers and then seemingly enlarged; intervals gently regularly convex, smooth, impunctate, at most with sparse microscopic setae not longer than two ommatidia; odd intervals each with several slightly longer setae, and only three 3–4 × longer definite specialized setae on interval 7 (two submedian) and interval 9 (one apical).
Wings functional ( Fig. 147 View FIGURES 144–150 ); radial window distinct, small; cubito-anal vein remnants paired, both very indistinct and blurred; main anal vein (2A) straight, lacking spurs; subsequent anal vein (3A) as straight, well visible rudiment; anal notch relatively deep.
Pterothorax: anapleural sutures of mesoventrite usually visible; mesepimeral sulcus shallow, obtusely edged, widening upwards, with confused small setiferous punctures; intermesocoxal process of mesoventrite long; mesocoxal cavities with low and narrow posterior rim ( Fig. 137 View FIGURES 132–143 ). Abdominal ventrites 1+2 finely punctured, without transverse wrinkles; ventrites 3–5 more strongly microreticulate; ventrite 5 unmodified in both sexes.
Legs slender but relatively short. Femora subequally long and thick on all legs, thickest in about distal twothirds, shortly parallel-sided at base, untoothed, the inflated median part polished, not wrinkled; setation completely appressed, very fine and sparse. Tibiae straight, without sharp edges, lacking protruding setae and pair of distinct setae on inconspicuous apical tuft. Tarsi shorter than in Rhynchitapion ; tarsomere 1 subtruncate, tarsomere 2 weakly emarginate, tarsomere 3 with shortly oval lobes; onychium distinctly surpassing length of segment 3, without special apical setae; claws with short blunt teeth.
Male. Protibia lacking mucro, meso- and metatibia with different mucrones. Abdominal ventrite 5 broadly rounded apically. Pygidium concealed, with very narrow apical ridge ( Fig. 149 View FIGURES 144–150 ); internal tongue-like process large but poorly sclerotized ( Fig. 150 View FIGURES 144–150 ). Spiculum gastrale with apodeme much longer than fork. Tegmen subarticulate; apodeme longer than basal piece, the latter with weakly rounded arms; tegminal plate similar as in Rhynchitapion , not developed latero-ventrally; parameral lobes short, with broadly rounded marginal sclerotizations bearing long marochaetae, lacking membranous apical extensions; fenestral sector taking entire width of plate, lacking delimited „windows” and contiguous with transparent bases of parameral lobes; postfenestral plate short, undivided, well sclerotized; prostegium with long and broad lateral sclerotized extensions, narrowly separated by transparent membrane in middle. Pedon apex acute; penile apodemes flattened, shortly dichotomous basally, sclerotized connections with tectum and pedon full, with pedon by a relatively thick, weaker sclerotized filament; tectum about 0.8 × as long as pedon, weakly evenly sclerotized, separated from pedon by broad membrane; endophallus largely exposed from penis between apodemes, lacking sclerites and paired lateral lobes when inflated; ejaculatory duct entering endophallus subapically on dorsal side of its exposed part.
Female. Abdominal ventrite 5 more strongly transverse, more regularly rounded. Tergite VII transverse, subtrapezoidal in dorsal outline ( Fig. 129 View FIGURES 112–131 ). Tergite VIII transverse, broadly rounded ( Fig.127 View FIGURES 112–131 ). Spiculum ventrale with small triangular sternal plate and straight apodeme ( Fig. 131 View FIGURES 112–131 ). Gonocoxites with elongate styli. Spermathecal corpus not wider than cornu, without prominences.
Biology. Monophagous on Apodytes dimidiata E. Mey. ex Arn. ( Metteniusaceae in APG IV, formerly Icacinaceae ), along with Lepanomus crinalis (Balf.-Br.). Unlike Lepanomus , it does not express any preference to flowering plants, but rather to more shaded ones and/or with denser foliage, thus providing more humid shelters. Details of development unknown. It can be hypothesized from the collecting data that it does not develop in generative parts of the plant, but rather in leaves, leaf buds or twigs.
Distribution. Eastern R.S.A.
Etymology. The name is derived from the host plant genus Apodytes E. Mey. ex Arn. combined with suffix - apion. Gender neuter.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.