Anacrapion, Mazur, Miłosz A., 2011

Mazur, Miłosz A., 2011, A new genus and species of Malvapiini (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea: Apionidae) from Ghana, Zootaxa 3003, pp. 55-62 : 56-61

Genus Anacrapion gen. nov.

Type species: Anacrapion wanati sp. n., by present designation.

Diagnosis. Compared to other members of Malvapiini it differs in the following characters: male tibiae without mucrones; pronotum with short basal flange; antenna in female extending beyond apex of rostrum (not reaching rostral apex in females of Rhopalapi o n); male tegmen with unclear, non- transparent fenestrae, short postfenestral plate, and separated parameroid lobes combined with bidentate prostegium; spiculum gastrale (male sternite 9) Yshaped with manubrium much longer than rod-like (not flattened) arms. Distributed in West Africa.

Description. Body length (without rostrum) 2.1–2.8 mm. Body colour dark brown to nearly black. Rostrum strongly variable, only slightly longer than pronotum in both sexes in A. lamottei and in males of other species or much longer than pronotum (over two times in females) of A. ghanense and A. wanati ; sides and venter of rostrum without rows of scaliferous punctures, septum between antennal pits flat. Scrobes ventral, sulciform. Head transverse; frons wider than rostral apex, sparsely punctured, not striolate. Eye oblong, strongly convex. Temple behind eye unsculptured. Antenna slender, in female extended beyond apex of rostrum, inserted at basal 0.25–0.33 of rostrum. Club oval, with visible sutures, sharply pointed at apex.

Pronotum slightly transverse, campaniform, widest at middle; vestiture generally of centrifugal type, but clearly adpressed on front margin; basal flange present, base distinctly bisinuate. Prescutellar fovea deep, elongate. Scutellum isodiametric, triangular or pentagonal, flat or concave, lying in a broad depression ( Fig. 5 ). Elytra oblong, sides rounded, widest at middle, with metallic shine. Dorsal vestiture with pale, hair-like scales. All striae straight, apically joining 1+2+9, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8; stria 1 shortened basally, not reaching apex of scutellum; stria 2 not confluent with basal margin of elytron, reaching the level of scutellar mid-length. One specialized seta at apex of interstria 9. Humeral calli prominent. Wings functional, without radial window. Mesocoxae separated by ca. 0.25– 0.30× own diameter; mesoventral apophysis more protruding than metaventral, separated from the rest of metaventrite by transverse depression. Legs testaceous to reddish. All tibiae without mucrones. Tarsi short, without sexual characters. Claws with broad teeth. Male. Pygidium of aspidapionine type ( Fig. 13 ). Sternite 9 Y-shaped, with manubrium more than twice longer than arms ( Fig. 7 ). Tegmen with apodeme longer than forked basal piece; prostegium bidentate; parameroid lobes split up beyond the middle of length; fenestrae margined but invisible due to sclerotised ventral layer of tegminal plate ( Fig. 10 ). Penis broad, moderately curved, narrowed to rounded (A.

wanati n. sp.) or truncate ( A. ghanense Voss., A. lamottei Hoff. ) at apex, in lateral view narrowed to apex. Endophallus in middle part with dense spinules condensed near orifice. ( Fig. 9 ). Female. Gonocoxites long and narrow, styli elongate, with long apical setae. Spiculum ventrale long, with minute basal plate ( Fig. 6 ). Spermatheca stout, with narrowed and pointed cornu ( Fig. 8 ). Biology: At least two species appear to be biologically confined to Triplochiton scleroxylon (Malvaceae) . One species develops in seeds of this tree ( Voss 1973).

Species studied. Anacrapion wanati n. sp., A. lamottei ( Hoffmann, 1963) n. comb., A. ghanense ( Voss, 1973) , n. comb.

Etymology. From the Greek acron for ‘mucro’ and prefix an- for negative. The new genus is unique among Malvapiini in having no mucrones on the male tibiae.

Anacrapion wanati n. sp.

Type material. Holotype, male: Ghana, Ashanti Region, Jamasi, 289 m. a.s.l., N 6°58’ / W 1°28’; 23.02.1969, catch, leg. S. Endrödy-Younga ( HMNH). Paratypes (94 3 101 Ƥ): same data as the holotype ( HMNH, MNHW, DBUO). Ivory Coast: Bingerville, 1–18 III 1963, 1 3, leg. J. Decelle ( MRAC); Man–Ontom, 8–10 III 1977, 2 3, leg. I. Löbl ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. Distinct from other members of Anacrapion in its unique combination of missing hair-like scales, condensation at the base of third elytral interval and shoulders, and very long, thin and regularly curved rostrum in female.

Description. Body length 2.2–2.5 mm. Rostrum, head and pronotum brownish-black; elytra concolored but with slightly stronger and somewhat brassy luster. Legs testaceous with darker “knees”, tibial apices, and basal parts of femora; femora with sparse, tiny scales, sometimes arranged in longitudinal rows; trochanters and coxae black; protibiae in both sexes straight; tarsi dark, with piliform white scales on 1st and 2nd segments, and much finer hairy 3rd segment. Male rostrum stout; 1.4–1.6× as long as pronotum; weakly convex with small, elongate punctures; gently shine. Prorostrum narrower, with sparse, white, piliform scales; mesorostrum stronger dilated than in female; metarostrum with white, elongate scales, wider and more numerous than on prorostrum ( Fig. 2, 4 ). Scrobes moderately deep (deeper than in female); subocular keel almost reaching middle of eye. Female rostrum long and thin, twice longer than pronotum; regularly curved ( Fig. 1, 3 ). Almost entire rostrum shagreened and with obsolete puncturation, only metarostrum and especially rostrum apex shiny and more distinctly punctate; minute scales present only on metarostrum. Scrobes shallow; subocular keel reaching only to fore margin of eye. Antenna ( Figs 11, 12 ) inserted at 0,33 length of rostrum. Scape in male stout, short, as long as first two segments of flagellum; in female elongate, slender, subequal in length to first four flagellar joints. Basal part of funicle brighter, in male darker than in female, in female coloured as in tibiae. Antenna darkened from base to apex. In male 1st and 2nd segment of flagellum longer than wide, segments 3rd to 5th as long as wide, segments 6th and 7th wider than long. In female 1st and 2nd funicular segments elongate, 1st 3×; 2nd 2,5× longer than wide; segments 3rd–5th as long as wide; segments 6th and 7th elongate, 1.5–2× as long as wide. Club short and robust, acute, with well marked sutures, 1.85– 1.90× longer than its width; in female as long as four distal funicular segments; in male its length equal to that of 3.0–3.5 distal funicular joints. Flagellum and club with recumbent setae in both sexes. Head 1.60–1.72× as long as wide. Eyes occupying 0.72–0.80 of total head length. Frons distinctly narrower than rostral base, flat, with 1–2 irregular rows of large punctures; scales similar to scales on pronotum and elytra. In female scales more thin, less condensed than in male. Vertex without scales, matte and roughly punctured. Eye rounded, strongly convex, widest before half-length in dorsal view, rounded by scales directed forward, in female less convex than in male. Pronotum campaniform, slightly wider than long, 1.54–1.56× wider than head, base 1.36–1.40× wider than apex, widest at middle. Surface of pronotum with coarse scaliferous punctures, their interspaces narrower than puncture’s diameter, flat, microreticulate. Basal margin of pronotum at middle protruding towards scutellum ( Fig. 5 ). In male, pronotum more narrowed apicad than in female. Pronotum in male with distinct prescutellar fovea on basal fifth of midline; in female, fovea shorter and shallower. In female pronotum with punctures finer, scales shorter and thinner. Elytra slightly convex 1.43–1.45× longer than wide, 2.65–2.67× longer than pronotum, widest at middle ( Fig. 1, 2 ). Intervals flat, rugosely microsculptured, wider than striae, each with row of white, thin scales, overlapping and altogether forming a regular line. Striae sharply impressed, on disc about 2 × narrower than intervals, at base 1st stria shortened and not reaching scutellum, catenulate-punctate, strial scales shorter than those on intervals. Humeri prominent. Apex of each elytron separately rounded. Mesepimera and metanepisterna without patches of condensed scales. Scutellum surrounded by broad fovea, depressed, longer than wide, bare ( Fig. 5 ). Legs testaceous to reddish; tarsi darker; coxa, trochanters, basal parts of femora and knees dark brown to black. All tibiae without mucrones. Terminal parts of all tibiae and femora darkened. Tarsi elongate; 1st protarsomere wider than long, 2nd as long as wide in both sexes. Male terminalia ( Figs. 7 , 9, 10 , 13, 14 ). Pygidium as in Fig. 13 . Tegmen as in Fig. 10 . Penis ca. 6× as long as wide, apically narrowed and subtruncate ( Fig. 9 ). Sternite 8 as in Fig. 14 , acute apically. Sternite 9 as in Fig 7 , symmetrical, manubrium more than 2× longer than arms. Female terminalia ( Figs. 6, 8 ). Tergite 8 subtrapeziform, evenly sclerotised. Coxite with median reinforcement on whole length. Styli ca. 2× longer than wide ( Fig. 6 ). Spermatheca bent at angle of about 50 degrees, wide and strongly narrowed to apex, gently pointed ( Fig. 8 ).

Etymology. I am dedicating this species to my colleague Marek Wanat, taxonomist and world specialist on Apionidae .

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 8. Anacrapion wanati n. sp.: 5) Male—basal flange and fore part of elytrae; 6) Female—spiculum ventrale and gonocoxites; 7) Male—sternite 9; 8) spermatheca.

FIGURES 11 – 14. Anacrapion wanati n. sp.: 11) female antennae; 12) male antennae; 13) male pygidium, dorsal and lateral view; 14) male sternite 8.

FIGURES 9 – 10. Anacrapion wanati n. sp. Male terminalia: 9) Penis—dorsal and lateral view; 10) Tegmen—dorsal and lateral view.

FIGURE 1 – 4. Anacrapion wanati n. sp.: 1) Female—dorsal view; 2) Male—dorsal view; 3) Female—lateral view; 4) Malelateral view.