Conicobruchus flabellicornis ( Boheman, 1829 )

Le Ru, Bruno P., Delobel, Alex, György, Zoltán, Genson, Gwenaëlle & Kergoat, Gael J., 2014, Taxonomy, host-plant associations and phylogeny of African Crotalaria - feeding seed beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae): the Conicobruchus strangulatus (Fåhraeus) species group, Zootaxa 3895 (2), pp. 238-256 : 247-249

Conicobruchus flabellicornis ( Boheman, 1829)

Bruchus flabellicornis Boheman, 1829:105

Bruchus antonioi Pic, 1943:6 (synonymy in Decelle, 1975:18) Conicobruchus flabellicornis: Decelle, 1951:181

Material examined. Holotype (female) of Bruchus antonioi : Angola: San Antonio (now Soyo), 1929 (H. Brauns) [ MNHN].

Other material: Kenya: 3♂, 4♀, Suam, 01°11.982’N 34° 49.538E, 1951m, 12.xi.2008, ex Crotalaria incana [2♂ 0 1209, 0 2312, specimen GK200 used for DNA extraction] (B. Le Ru) [ CBGP]; 1♀, Kakamega, 00°10.990’N 34° 58.137E, 1693m, 11.xi.2008, ex Crotalaria incana purpurascens [specimen GK243 used for DNA extraction] (B. Le Ru) [ CBGP]; 1♂, 3♀, Burguret, 00°04.926’N 37° 02.203E, 1915m, 21.xi.2011, ex Crotalaria incana purpurascens [1♂ 0 2112, specimen GK452 used for DNA extraction] (B. Le Ru) [ CBGP]; 2♂, 1♀, same data, but ex Crotalaria brevidens intermedia [1♂ 0 2412, specimen GK442 used for DNA extraction] (B. Le Ru) [ CBGP]. Togo: 1♀, Lomé, 28.viii.1995, ex Crotalaria goreensis (I.A. Glitho) [ MNHN].

Black, but Kenyan specimens often with elytral disc dark red. A pod sample collected in Suam yielded two black and five “red” specimens, whereas one sample from Burguret yielded only “red” specimens. Color is apparently unrelated with sex.

Other major morphological traits are as follows: pronotum 1.37 to 1.43 times wider at base than long, with oblique lateral impression, constricted anteriorly into a wide neck, strongly rugose-punctate, with several white hair spots. These were described in detail by Fåhraeus (1839:4): a small spot in the ante-scutellar fossa, a short line just before apex, at posterior angles, and a lateral spot on each side; an additional pair of white spots is often visible on sides of basal lobes, scutellum with similar white setation. Elytral striae strong, with small punctures, interstriae flat, with series of shallow circular punctures.

Male genitalia. Median lobe ( Fig. 7 ) of moderate length, stout (maximum width excluding basal hood / total length = 0.17), widened apically, basal hood widened, concave posteriorly; ventral valve large, subtriangular, with apex acute, bearing a few sensillae and two lateral groups of 3–5 setae; no hinge sclerite; internal sac without central column of tubercules, but with rather dense hyaline scales and tubercles, ending posteriorly in a dorsal mass of small, poorly sclerotized teeth, blending into a short series of well sclerotized teeth of variable length; a pair of strong ventro-lateral dented rods; between these a few isolated teeth; posteriorly two poorly defined groups of dented masses; apical ampoule devoid of any ornamentation, gonopore unsclerotized; basal strut narrow, without keel; lateral lobes cleft to 85% their length; apex modified, with two lips, the dorsal one bearing about twelve long setae, the ventral one with a dense group of short sensillae.

Biology. Examined material was reared from pods of Crotalaria goreensis and Crotalaria incana subsp. purpurascens. This constitutes the first verified record on its biology.

Distribution. Angola, Burundi ( Decelle, 1956), Democratic Republic of Congo ( Decelle, 1951), Kenya, Sierra Leone ( Fåhraeus, 1839) and Togo.

Discussion. Conicobruchus flabellicornis can be distinguished form all other members of the group based on the presence of brushes and spots of dense white setae on the pronotum (present in C. flabellicornis , absent in other species)( Fig. 1 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal view of specimens belonging the to six species of the Conicobruchus strangulatus species group.

FIGURES 5 – 7. Conicobruchus decoratus: 5 — median lobe; 6 — basal strut and lateral lobes (specimen 0 2012, Zambia); Conicobruchus flabellicornis: 7 — median lobe (specimen 0 1209, Kenya).