Heisonyx danielssoni, Borovec & Colonnelli & Osella, 2009

Borovec, Roman, Colonnelli, Enzo & Osella, Giuseppe, 2009, On the South African genus Heisonyx (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2), pp. 841-860 : 848-850

Heisonyx danielssoni sp. nov.

( Figs. 6 , 12 , 22 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J ( MZLU), ‘ RSA [ South Africa], Cape Prov. De Hoop Nature Reserve, 34.27.S, 20.25 E, 10.-13.X.1994, 0-200 m, loc. 12, R. Danielsson lgt.’ ALLOTYPE: ♀ ( MZLU), same data as holotype.

Description. Body length: 1.7–1.8 mm (holotype 1.7 mm).

Integument black, legs and antennae brownish to dark brownish, antennal club darker. Whole body except antennal club very densely clothed by striate, weakly longitudinal scales, their shape regularly rounded on pronotum and head including rostrum and somewhat polygonal on elytra. Coloration of scales greyish, with four longitudinal stripes on pronotum and with light brownish to brownish-black spots forming an irregular transverse stripe in the middle of elytra in male ( Fig. 6 ), elytra in female light brownish with small greyish spots behind scutellum and on shoulders. Each elytral interval with one regular row of semierect hair-like scales, somewhat narrower and hardly longer than the diameter of one recumbent scale. Pronotum and head with irregularly scattered setae. Legs and antennae with scarce short and erect scale-like setae.

Rostrum short, 1.53–1.57 times as wide as long, with feebly arcuate sides. Epifrons feebly tapering with feebly arcuate sides, feebly impressed along midline, with narrow longitudinal stria along the whole length reaching the level of posterior edges of eyes. Epifrons in both dorsal and lateral view separated from the rest of head by very narrow V-shaped transversal stria at base, in lateral view convex.Antennal scrobes in dorsal view clearly visible on anterior two thirds of rostrum, in lateral view enlarged distally, dorsal border directed towards dorsal margin of eye, ventral one directed towards middle of eye, separated from each eye by narrow stripe of scales. Eyes large, moderately convex.

Antennae short, scape almost straight, longer than funicle, gradually thickening from base to apex. Funicle 5-segmented, funicular antennomere 1 robust, conical, 1.3 times as long as wide, 1.5 times as long as funicular antennomere 2, the latter 1.2–1.3 times as long as wide, funicular antennomeres 3 and 4 1.5 times and antennomere 5 1.6 times as wide as long, club as wide as scape at apex.

Pronotum 1.25–1.36 times as wide as long, widest just behind middle, sides strongly converging toward anterior margin and shallowly constricted behind it. Disc feebly convex in lateral view with anterior part just behind anterior margin of pronotum sunk below the rest of disc in lateral view and appearing as narrow transverse depression in dorsal view.

Elytra short and wide, shortly ovate, 1.22–1.27 times as long as wide, widest in middle. Intervals almost flat, striae narrow, interval 1 at base much narrowed and in apical third feebly enlarged and indistinctly elevated.

Tibiae short, apex of protibiae with inner margin enlarged, lateral margin arcuate and feebly lobed, with two hook-shaped brownish spines at inner angle and three short brownish to blackish spines, two larger ones on median lobe and one small on very small lateral lobe, emargination between lobes shallow and indistinct; two hook-shaped spines present at inner angle of tibial apex: the shorter one placed on inner lobe and larger one placed between this small one and other spines placed at the median lobe of apex of protibia. Tarsi very short, tarsomere 2 1.7–1.8 times as wide as long, tarsomere 3 1.3 times as wide as long and 1.3–1.4 times as wide as tarsomere 2, ungular tarsomere very short, 0.3–0.4 times as long as tarsomere 3, claw blackish.

Male genitalia.Aedeagus widest near apex, feebly narrowed basally and with feebly rounded sides. Apex very irregularly rounded with small concavity at the tip ( Fig. 12 ).

Female genitalia. Spermatheca with slender, regularly curved cornu. Ramus short, very wide; nodulus long, regularly tapered apicad ( Fig. 22 ). Ovipositor not examined.

Differential diagnosis. The 5-segmented antennal funicle puts H. danielssoni sp. nov. near to H. fuscus sp. nov. and H. barclayi sp. nov.; see the differential diagnoses of the latter two species and the key below for the distinguishing features.

Etymology. We name this species with great pleasure after Roy Danielsson (MZLU) for his usual kindness in sending important material to make this study more complete.

Bionomics. Unknown.

Distribution. South Africa: Western Cape.

Figures

Figs. 4–7. Habitus. 4 – Heisonyx barclayi sp. nov., paratype; 5 – H. fuscus sp. nov., holotype; 6 – H. danielssoni sp. nov., holotype; 7 – H. hexarthrum sp. nov., holotype. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figs. 10–15. Aedeagus. 10 – Heisonyx vitticollis Marshall, 1947, lectotype; 11 – H. barclayi sp. nov., paratype; 12 – H. danielssoni sp. nov., holotype; 13 – H. fuscus sp. nov., holotype; 14 – H. hexarthrum sp. nov., paratype; 15 – H. jelineki sp. nov., paratype. Scale bar: 0.3 mm.

Figs. 16–27. Protibia and female genitalia. 16–19 – Heisonyx vitticollis sp. nov., paralectotype: 16 – right protibia, 17 – ovipositor, 18 – spermatheca, 19 – sternum 8 in female; 20–21 – H. barclayi sp. nov.: 20 – ovipositor, 21 – spermatheca; 22 – H. danielssoni sp. nov., spermatheca; 23 – H. fuscus sp. nov., ovipositor; 24–25 – H. hexarthrum sp. nov.: 24 – ovipositor, 25 – spermatheca; 26–27 – H. jelineki sp. nov.: 26 – ovipositor, 27 – spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.25 mm (a – sternum 8; b – ovipositor and spermatheca; c – protibia).