Porpacus wanati, Borovec, 2019

Borovec, Roman, 2019, Three New South African Embrithini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae), Zootaxa 4555 (2), pp. 259-267 : 265-266

Porpacus wanati sp. nov.

( Figs 3 –5, 21, 22)

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:37FF105A-0D9B-436B-9EFC-DB27E7B9E970

Type locality. South Africa, Western Cape, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Vrede .

Type material. Holotype: ♂, ‘RSA (S) [ South Africa, South], W [Western] Cape, Anysberg Nat. Res., Vrede , 33.4660S / 20.5871E, 30.11.2013, karoo vegetation, night coll. & lamp, leg. M. Wanat’ ( TMSA) . Paratypes: 16 ♂♂ ♀♀, the same data as holotype ( MNHW, RBSC) ; 2 spec., the same data as holotype, but 1.12.2013 ( MNHW) ; 1 ♂, ‘S[outh]. Afr [ica], Western Cape, Anysberg Nature Res. , 33°29.556S, 20°34.077E, 11.XII.2008, at night, leg. R. Lyle, D. du Plessis’ ( TMSA) .

Description. Body length 5.63–6.51 mm; holotype 6.25 mm. Integument ( Fig. 3 ) brownish to blackish. Elytra covered by irregularly oval, flat, imbricate and appressed scales with somewhat indistinct structure. Head including rostrum and pronotum densely covered by erect, cup-shaped scales, with a honeycomb-like appearance. Antennae, except the clubs, and the legs entirely covered by small appressed scales. Dorsal part of body with semi-appressed, short, oval, conspicuous setae, slightly longer than broad, on elytra slightly longer than half the breadth of one elytral interval; elytra with one regular row of setae on interval 1 and two irregular rows on intervals 3, 5 and 7; setae clustered on tubercles at the base of intervals 3, 5 and 7 and on tubercles at elytral declivity of intervals 3 and 5. Elytral interval 7 with a row of small setal clusters on small tubercles along its whole length. Even intervals with a row of distinctly sparser semi-appressed setae. Pronotum with semi-erect setae, similar in shape to those on the elytra, clustered in broad longitudinal stripes on the medial longitudinal ridges, tapering slightly anteriad, 3–4 across the breadth of one ridge; and forming one slender row on lateral ridges. Semi-erect setae on head and rostrum slightly smaller than those on the elytra, clustered at the base of the rostrum, on the tips of the epifrons elevations, and in the anterior half of epifrons, creating a slender row above the eyes. Antennal scapes very densely covered by slender, elongate, semi-perpendicular setae; funicles with similar, conspicuous, but somewhat shorter and more slender semi-erect setae; clubs finely and densely setose. Legs densely covered by elongate-ovate semierect setae, shorter and narrower on tarsal segments, with several bristle-shaped setae in inner edges of tibiae.

Rostrum (Figs 4, 5) 1.12–1.17× longer than broad, subquadrate, tapering slightly anteriad in posterior half, enlarging slightly anteriad in anterior half, base and apex equally broad; in lateral view slightly domed, with two flat, longitudinal tubercles at base. Epifrons elevated from base, no prominent to teeth basally, but base slightly elevated dorso-laterally and as broad as the interocular space, tapering strongly and sinuously anteriad before widening again, towards the apex with rounded sides, and a shallow, median, longitudinal furrow along its whole length. Epifrons between antennal insertions 0.5 × the breadth of the rostrum in the same place, and 1.3–1.5× the breadth of the antennal scapes apically. Epifrons separated from interocular space by straight, transverse, shallow sulcus basally. Scrobes invisible dorsally; lateral aspect furrow-shaped, curved, slightly enlarged posteriad, and squamose. Head above eyes with flat, indistinct, longitudinal tubercles; interocular space broad, shallowly and evenly impressed. Eyes small, not protruding prominently from outline of head dorsally, positioned at about the middle of the head height laterally.

Antennae (Fig. 4) very stout, scapes 1.2–1.3× longer than funicles, broad, curved in a conspicuous S-shape in basal third, subparallel-sided in anterior two thirds, 1.9–2.2× broader than clubs apically. Funicles about the same breadth along their whole length, clubs very small slightly narrower than apical funicle segments. Segment 1 1.3–1.4× longer than broad; segment 2 2.1–2.4× longer than broad and 1.4–1.6× longer than segment 1; segment 3 1.1–1.2× longer than broad; segments 4–7 1.1× broader than long; clubs 1.6–1.7× longer than broad.

Pronotum (Figs 4, 5) very short and broad, 2.15–2.48× broader than long, breadth greatest in basal third with rounded sides, narrowing gradually anteriad with concave sides; base indistinctly bisinuate. Disc with two medial, subtriangular, longitudinal ridges, broadest basally and tapering anteriad, not protruding from anterior and posterior margins, split longitudinally by a deep, broad, parallel-sided furrow. Sublateral ridges absent; lateral ridges consisting of a short lobe, large and rounded basally, dorso-ventrally flattened, indistinctly prominent from outline of pronotum; pronotum shallowly impressed between median and lateral ridges. Pronotum with a flat dorsal surface in lateral view, only the anterior border slightly impressed.

Elytra ( Fig. 3 ) short, oval, angular, 1.25–1.35× longer than broad, sides sloping obliquely to angular shoulders and then parallel posteriad of the middle, broadly rounded apically. Striae wide, distinctly punctate, intervals 3, 5 and 7 slightly more elevated than evenly numbered intervals, and interval 9 with a small tubercle posteriad of the humeral calli. Intervals 3, 5 and 7 with distinct tubercles on the declivity, interval 7 with small, indistinct tubercles along its entire length.

Tibiae short, protibiae 4.6–5.1× longer than breadth at mid-length, inner margin bisinuate, rounded apically with a fringe of small blackish spines, mucronate, arcuate laterally, enlarged mesally. Apical surface of metatibiae densely squamose; metatibial corbels distinct, squamose, armed by dense fringe of short blackish spines laterally and mesally. Tarsi broad, segment 2 1.4–1.6× broader than long; segment 3 1.6–1.8× broader than long and 1.1–1.2× broader than segment 2; onychium 1.8–2.2× longer than segment 3; claws fused basally.

Penis ( Fig. 21 ) short and broad, slightly broader basally, tapering evenly anteriad with slightly rounded sides, the short apical part pointed with a slight concavity before apex, tip broadly rounded; lateral aspect broad, elongate towards the apex which is straight.

Female genitalia. Spermatheca ( Fig. 22 ) robust, with short, slightly curved cornu; ramus robust, broad and short, slightly broader than elongate subtrapezoidal nodulus, which is as broad and long as ramus. Tube of nodulus slender, pipe-shaped, slightly longer than ramus and obliquely attached. Gonocoxites tapering evenly apicad, with short, slender apical stylus bearing apical setae. Sternite VIII with well sclerotised umbrella-shaped plate, slender, longer than broad; apodeme medium-sized, terminating near apex of plate.

Derivation of name. Species dedicated to its collector, Marek Wanat (Wrocław University, Poland), an eminent specialist on weevils, mainly Apionidae , who loaned me very interesting material of small Entiminae collected in South Africa.

Biology. All type material was collected at night from karoo vegetation.

Differential diagnosis. The new species is very similar to P. muellerae Borovec, Colonnelli & Osella, 2014 in that the epifrons lacks the horn-like basal prominences in dorsal view, the pronotum is very broad, more than 2.1× broader than long, and has medial and lateral longitudinal ridges. It differs from that species by following set of characters:

1. Smaller size 4.4–5.2 mm. Rostrum shorter, 1.04–1.06× broader than long. Epifrons slightly broader than one third of rostrum breadth at the same place. Pronotum 2.47–2.63× broader than long, distinctly prominent lateral lobes in basal half. Funicles broader, segment 2 1.6–1.7× longer than broad; segment 3 1.6–1.7× broader than long, segments 4–7 with breadth double the length. Penis long and slender ( Fig. 23 )................................... P. muellerae Borovec, Colonnelli & Osella

- Larger size 5.6–6.5 mm. Rostrum elongate, 1.12–1.17× longer than broad. Epifrons at mid-length 0.5× the breadth of the rostrum at the same place. Pronotum 2.15–2.48× broader than long, indistinctly prominent lobes in basal half. Funicles more slender, segment 2 2.1–2.4× longer than broad, segment 3 1.1–1.2× longer than wide, segments 4–7 1.1× broader than long. Penis short and wide ( Fig. 21 )............................................................. .. P. wanati sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Dorsal habitus: 1—Heisonyx griseoviridis sp. n.; 2—H. oberprieleri sp. n.; 3—Porpacus wanati sp. n. Figs 4, 5, Porpacus wanati sp. n.: 4—pronotum, head with rostrum and antennae, dorsal view. 5–pronotum, head with rostrum, lateral view.

FIGURES 6–23. Structural details of Heisonyx Marshall and Porpacus Schoenherr. Figs 6, 7, Heisonyx giustocaroli Borovec, Colonnelli & Osella: 6. penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm; 7. spermatheca. Scale = 0.125 mm. Figs 8–13, H. griseoviridis sp. n.: 8. head with rostrum, dorsal view. Scale = 0.50 mm; 9. head with rostrum, lateral view. Scale = 0.50 mm; 10. penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm; 11. spermatheca. Scale = 0.125 mm; 12. sternite VIII of female, dorsal view. Scale = 0.50 mm; 13. ovipositor, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm. Figs 14–19, H. oberprieleri sp. n.: 14. head with rostrum, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm; 15. head with rostrum, lateral view. Scale = 0.25 mm; 16. penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm; 17. spermatheca. Scale = 0.125 mm; 18. sternite VIII of female, dorsal view. Scale = 0.50 mm; 19. ovipositor, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm. Fig. 20, H. jelineki Borovec, Colonnelli & Osella: penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.25 mm. Figs 21, 22, Porpacus wanati sp. n.: 21. penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.50 mm; 22. spermatheca. Scale = 0.50 mm. Fig. 23, P. muellerae Borovec, Colonnelli & Osella: penis, dorsal view. Scale = 0.50 mm.