Lepanomidius, Wanat, 2021

Wanat, Marek, 2021, New basal taxa of South African Apioninae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea: Brentidae), Zootaxa 5035 (1), pp. 1-60 : 39-43

Lepanomidius gen. n.

Type species: Lepanomidius ruthmuellerae sp. n.

Diagnosis. Medium-sized or large species, body length 3.2–4.5 mm. Erect setae pointed apically, present on head, pronotum, elytra and outer side of tibiae, on elytra ordered, not longer than 1.5 × interval’s breadth, on intervals of elytral disc not accompanied by appressed setae or piliform scales; on pronotum, head and rostrum base protruding setae shorter and sparser, forward-directed, admixed to short semi-recumbent setae. Integument uniformly dark testaceous to black or with outstandingly red elytra, lacking markings. Rostrum porrect, ca. 1.8–2.6 × as long as wide; scrobes separated by broad, gently elevated septum not forming tooth in profile as in Lepanomus . Antennae long to moderately long, 0.5–0.7 × as long as elytra; scape clearly shorter than combined length of funicular segments 1 and 2; all funicular segments elongate; club loosely segmented, pointed apically. Pronotum markedly convex and rounded on sides, with distinct subapical constriction and narrow basal flange, on prominent basal corners with short setae protruding laterad; disc entirely coarsely punctate, with obsolescent prescutellar fovea. Elytral suture apically straight and simple; elytra at base with narrow, low rim vanishing at level of stria 5; only subapical remain of separate stria 10 present; striae apically joining (1+10)+(2+9), 3+8, striae 4–7 disconnected or their connections indistinguishable. Mesoventrite with long mesocoxal process joining raised metaventral one. Legs all subequally long or, in males, fore legs slightly longer than others. Procoxae pear-shaped; pro- and mesocoxal dentiform processes low and obtuse. Trochanters shortly elongate ( Fig. 241 ). Femora unarmed, without transverse wrinkles and asperities. Tibiae with inconspicuous apical tuft, shortly protrudingly setose on outer side.

In male of the type species, only meso- and metatibiae with mucro; pygidium concealed, with long anterior apodemes, lacking both marginal ridge and tongue-like internal process; membrane between sternites VIII and IX without additional sclerites; sternite VIII undivided; spiculum gastrale with short fork incorporated into rounded, slightly asymmetrical sclerotized plate; tegminal plate with narrow, T-shaped confluent fenestrae; apex of pedon not canaliculate, extended into thin process; endophallus without typical frena, instead with indefinite weak sclerotizations. In female, tergite VII broadly sclerotized and rounded apically, not carinate along apical margin; tergite VIII undivided .

See also the key to South African genera below.

Description. Protruding setae thin and more or less bent, moderately dense; on pronotum, head and rostrum base vestiture dual, besides sparse semi-erect setae consisting of evenly disposed inconspicuous semi-recumbent light setae not longer than double diameter of hosting puncture.

Rostrum straight, stout, inserted in upper half of head profile, shorter than pronotum, lacking sulci and defined rows of punctures, coarsely punctate except on dorsal side of prorostrum; metarostrum without tooth-like expansions; punctuation dense and confused on rostrum base, sides and entire venter, punctures setiferous, length of setae proportional to diameter of hosting puncture, longer in basal half of rostrum, becoming minute on dorsum and sides of prorostrum; upper side of prorostrum naked, shiny and barely punctate; scrobes short, vanishing in front of head, their convex septum with several longer setae.

Mouthparts not examined.

Head slightly to strongly transverse, with genae coarsely punctate or asperate and shortly setose, subocular setae recumbent or semi-recumbent; epifrons punctate, with rather indefinite shallow median fovea; temples only narrowly microsculptured behind eyes, with 1–2 rows of setiferous punctures along eye margin, the setae protruding only in the most upper part; gular sector convex.

Antennae inserted in about basal third of rostrum, much longer than pronotum and at least half as long as elytra, with short scape, markedly elongate basal funicular segments and large, loose pseudotetramerous club, approximately 4 × as long as wide.

Pronotum elongate; disc densely punctate, punctures coarse, distant from each other by less than their diameter and partially confluent, with short, semi-recumbent, forward-directed setae; notosternal suture ending in small pit close to anterior prothoracic margin; postcoxal side without impression or lateral fovea; prosternum with fringe of forward-projecting setae; sub-basal line present, though often vanishing medially and obscured by dense punctures.

Elytra subrectangular in dorsal outline, with prominent humeri and weakly separated caudal part; five striae present between suture and humeral callus, stria 1 distinctly shortened; striae catenulate-punctate, without sharp edges, strial setae hardly discernible; intervals evenly convex, with regular row of punctures; specialized setae indiscernible.

Wings functional; radial window very small; main anal vein (2A) straight, lacking spurs; anal notch deep and narrow.

Mesoventrite largely impunctate, with weakly impressed and unedged mesepimeral sulcus; anapleural sutures discernible. Mesocoxal cavities with low and thin posterior rim. Metaventrite longer than mesocoxal cavities, with punctuation much finer and sparser than on pronotum, with distinct median pit near posterior margin. Abdomen short, at most slightly longer than broad; ventrite 1 in middle with obsolescent curved transverse wrinkles obscured by punctuation; ventrite 5 broadly rounded to nearly sub-truncate apically, similar in both sexes.

Legs slender, all of similar length in female; in male forelegs slightly longer than others. Femora moderately inflated. Tibiae straight, with sharp or obtuse outer edge obscured by punctures, apical tuft without pair of distinct setae. Tarsi short; protarsus less than 3.0 × longer than wide; both basal tarsomeres emarginate ( L. ruthmuellerae sp. n.) or tarsomere 1 subtruncate ( L. magdaloides sp. n.); bilobed tarsomere 3 strongly transverse, not enlarged; onychium well protruding beyond 3 rd segment, without special setae; claws with low triangular teeth.

For male characters, see description of the type species.

Female postabdomen largely different in the two considered species. In the type L. ruthmuellerae sp. n. tergite VII is 1.4 × as broad as long, tergite VIII sub-isodiametric, campaniform in shape and narrowly rounded apically, spiculum ventrale barely dilated at base and spermatheca with a short cornu, not much narrower than corpus. In L. magdaloides sp. n. tergite VII is more than 2.5 × as broad as long, tergite VIII transversely rectangular in shape and 2.5 × as broad as long; spiculum ventrale with large, anchor-shaped sternal plate, and spermatheca with long, narrow cornu.

Biology. Unknown.

Distribution. Eastern R.S.A.

Etymology. The name reflects morphological resemblance of the new genus to related Lepanomus . Gender masculine.

Figures

FIGURES 229–244. Lepanomidius ruthmuellerae sp. n., male. Dorsal habitus (229); rostrum and head in dorsal (230), ventral (231) and lateral (232) views; pronotum, dorsal view (233); lateral habitus (234); tarsal claws (235); pterothorax in lateroventral view (236); abdominal ventrites (237); protarsus, dorsal (238) and ventral (239) views; antennae (240); procoxae and prosternellum (241); mesotibial mucro (242); metatibial mucro (243); protibial apex (244).