Kudekanye suidafrika Rice, 2008

Rice, Marlin E., 2008, Kudekanye: A New Genus of Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) From the Lowland Fynbos and Renosterveld Ecosystem of South Africa, The Coleopterists Bulletin 62 (1), pp. 3-7 : 3-7

Kudekanye suidafrika Rice , new species

( Fig. 1 )

Description. Holotype, male. Medium-sized cerambycid; length 10.3 mm; maximum width at base of elytra, 3.7 mm. Color brownish-yellow throughout but slightly darker on head, prothorax, and legs. Head 2.4 mm wide at eyes but narrowing distinctly behind the eyes, densely punctate on dorsal surface behind eyes, becoming less punctate on sides and frons; pubescence behind eyes sparse, becoming more dense between eyes but not obscuring surface; coronal suture deeply furrowed. Eyes coarsely faceted, moderately emarginate around antennal insertion, lower lobes large and globose, covering lateral side of head and extending to ventral surface and nearly touching at gena with separation less than the distance of the upper lobes on the vertex. Mandibles long, slender, and sharply acute near tip. Antennae much longer than body, extending beyond elytral apices by approximately 6.5 antennomeres; scape finely punctate and not reaching anterior margin of pronotum, segments 3–9 cylindrical and slightly arched, but not flattened, and all segments with fine, appressed, moderately dense pubescence not obscuring surface. Segmental lengths in mm: scape (1.6), pedicel (0.3), and segments 3–9 (3.1, 3.5, 4.0, 4.8, 5.3, 5.8, 4.0, respectively), 10–11 missing on both antennae. Pronotum quadrate, 2.2 mm wide, slightly narrower than head, finely punctate with sparse appressed pubescence, and posterior margin sinuate. Two posteromedial small, raised pubescent calli present, and on each side anterior to the midpoint a small, blunt lateral tubercle not extending to lateral elytral margin. Elytra distinctly and finely punctured except near apices, which are impunctate; 6 punctures darker than disk and not touching. Five vague costae on disk with interior costa extending parallel along elytral margin, costae 2–3 most distinct but not raised on elytral surface, costae 4–5 indistinct near humerus but becoming distinct near midelytra and curving to join other costae distally approximately 0.8 mm before apex. Elytral apex broadly acuminate without spines or emarginations. Pubescence very fine, short, and uniformly distributed. Scutellum triangular with appressed pubescence near apex. Legs long and slender with lighter appressed pubescence, tibiae slightly arched, first metatarsus 1 K times the length of the second and third metatarsi combined, claws long and feebly curved. Venter is generally obscured as the specimen is glued to a mounting card.

Type specimen. Holotype male (deposited TMP), label data: S. Afr., SW Cape, Gansbaai, 34.35S – 19.21E, 25.2.1981;E-Y:1749, veget. sand, night, leg. Endrödy- Younga.

Diagnosis. The last two antennal segments (10–11) are missing from both antennae. Antennal length of the existing segments is 32.4 mm, and if the lengths of the two missing segments are approximated to be 4.0 and 3.0 mm for the penultimate and terminal segments, respectively, then the total antennal length would be 39.4 mm. This would make the antennae 3.8 times the length of the body, which proportionally is an incredible antennal length for adult members of the Cerambycidae .

This species can be separated from the recently described Afroartelida teunisseni by the characteristics in Table 1.

Biology. Nothing is known of the biology of this species, other than the holotype was collected at night in an area of sand and vegetation. The large eyes certainly suggest that it is a nocturnally active species and possibly attracted to artificial light. The type locality is on the southwestern coast of South Africa and in the lowland fynbos and renosterveld ecosystem. This ecosystem is described as having a Mediterranean climate with hard-leaved, evergreen and fire-prone shrubland on deep acid sands or a low shrub layer from 1–2 m tall, composed mainly of ericoids, and usually dominated by the renosterbos ( Asteraceae ) with a ground layer of grasses and seasonally active geophytes ( World Wildlife Fund 2007).

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Afrikaans spelling for South Africa —the nation where the single specimen was collected.

Figures

Fig. 1. Holotype, male, Kudekanye suidafrika Rice, new species.