Ankareus bellamyi, Levey, Brian, 2016

Levey, Brian, 2016, Two new species of Ankareus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Haplostethinae) from southern Africa, Zootaxa 4147 (5), pp. 575-582 : 576-578

Ankareus bellamyi sp. nov.

( Figs 1, 3 , 13 )

Type material. Holotype Ƌ ( BMNH): [ Republic of South Africa] “ Estcourt, Natal, 11.96/ G.A.K. Marshall Coll. B.M. 1950-255”.

Description. Length 2.50 mm. Width at widest point of pronotum 0.93 mm. Colour: Head, pronotum and underside, except for abdomen, black; abdomen, elytra and appendages dark brown, tibia becoming lighter brown at apex, tarsi light brown.

Head: Eyes strongly convex, protruding, not partly hidden by the pronotum; gena strongly depressed below eyes for reception of basal antennomere; antennal insertions not bordered internally by a strongly developed carina; vertex convex with a slight round depression at centre, with a narrow median carina in upper third; punctation dense and strong, the punctures small; fronto-clypeus strongly depressed relative to vertex. Antennae very long, about twice as long as pronotum; scape about twice as long as wide, club shaped; pedicel ovate, asymmetrical, strongly produced on the ventral side; antennomere 3 slightly shorter than pedicel, almost rectangular, as wide at apex as base of antennomere 4; antennomeres 4–10 about 2.25× length of antennomere 3, triangularly expanded; antennomere 11 elongate about 1.25× length of antennomere 10; antennomeres 4–11 clothed with rather long setae.

Pronotum ( Fig. 3 ): About 1.67× as wide as long; strongly widening from basal angles for a very short distance, then almost parallel sided to just before mid-length, then strongly, almost rectilinearly narrowing to apical angles; anterior margin almost straight; posterior margin weakly bisinuate, with a rather narrow, poorly defined impunctate subelytral band; densely punctured with small strong punctures, with a short median carina in central third; moderately densely clothed with fairly long white adpressed setae; lateral margins with the prelateral (supralateral) carina extending from basal to apical angles, visible for its full length from above, almost parallel to the lower marginal carina except close to basal and apical angles.

Scutellar shield (scutellum): Shield-shaped, about 1.5× as long as wide.

Elytra: About 1.9× as long as wide together; lateral margins almost parallel in basal two-thirds, before curvilinearly narrowing to the broad, separately rounded, almost subtruncate, apices; humeral callosities poorly defined; base slightly depressed between humeral callosities and scutellum but without a strongly developed basal costa; densely to very densely punctate with small strong punctures; densely clothed with short adpressed white setae; epipleuron broad in basal half, strongly narrowing at level of hind coxa, then progressively narrower, before becoming evanescent close the sutural angles.

Prosternum: Without a groove for reception of antennae; prosternal process rather narrow, without a complete longitudinal ridge on each side of the mid-line but with slightly raised lateral margins confined to the area between the fore coxae; sculpture of pronotal hypomeron and prosternum composed of simple punctures like that of pronotum; cavity for reception of prosternal process formed by the mesoventrite laterally and the metaventrite posteriorly.

Legs: Relatively long and slender; femora slightly fusiform; tibia straight but strongly curved outwards at the apex which has two small blunt teeth; tarsi about two thirds length of tibia, tarsomere 1 elongate, about as long as 2 and 3 together; 2 slightly longer than 3; 4 slightly longer than 2 and strongly lobed; 5 elongate, as long as 2 and 3 together; claws slightly curved, slightly toothed and broadened at base.

Abdominal ventrites: With sparse very inconspicuous pubescence, moderately densely punctate with small fine punctures, apical ventrite broadly subtruncate at apex.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 13 ): short and broad, the parameres strongly divergent with acute apices, median lobe with a strong rounded protruberance on either side before the apex.

Diagnosis. Ankareus bellamyi does not appear to be very similar to any of the previously described African or Arabian Ankareus . None has a median carina on the pronotum and most have a strongly developed carina at the base of the elytra which is poorly developed in A. bellamyi . Only A. relictus has a poorly developed basal carina on the elytra, but its aedeagus is quite different ( Fig. 12 ).

Twelve species of Ankareus are currently known from Africa (excluding Madagascar) and Arabia. Eight of these are known from males and the aedeagi of seven of these species have been figured and/or examined by me ( Figs 11–19 ). None of these seven species, namely A. capensis Bellamy, 1987 , A. kenyensis Bellamy, 1991 , A. luciphilus Bílý, 2003 , A. natalensis Bellamy, 1987 , A. relictus ( Bílý, 1979) , A. somalicus Bellamy, 1991 , A. transvaalensis Bellamy, 1991 and A. bilyi sp. nov. described here, has an aedeagus like that of A. bellamyi .

The five species described from females or in which the aedeagus has not been figured differ from A. bellamyi as follows.

Ankareus afer ( Holyński, 1993) from the Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa was described from five unsexed specimens. Based on the original description and habitus figure this species is much shorter and broader than A. bellamyi . In A. afer the length from anterior margin of pronotum to elytral apex is 2.08× as long as the maximum pronotal width, but 2.36× in A. bellamyi . The pronotum is differently shaped and wider relative to its length. In A. afer it is 2.0× as wide as long, but 1.67× in A. bellamyi . There are also other important differences. In A. afer the pronotum is described as distinctly microsculptured and matt, with the punctation longitudinally confluent at the sides; in A. bellamyi the pronotum lacks visible microsculpture, is shiny, and the punctation is not confluent at the sides. In A. afer the elytra have rather prominent humeral callosities; in A. bellamyi they are poorly defined.

Ankareus ashanti ( Holyński, 1993) from Ghana was described from one male, but the aedeagus was not figured. Based on the original description and habitus figure this species is much shorter and broader than A. bellamyi . In A. ashanti the length from anterior margin of pronotum to elytral apex is 1.74× as long as the maximum pronotal width, but 2.36× in A. bellamyi sp. nov. The pronotum is differently shaped and wider relative to its length. In A. ashanti it is 1.85× as wide as long, but 1.67× in A. bellamyi . The elytra are also proportionally very different, being 1.45× as long as wide together in A. ashanti , but 1.85× in A. bellamyi .

Ankareus felix (Waterhouse, 1896) from South Africa was described from a single female ( Figs 2, 4 ). I have examined the holotype ( BMNH) and it differs in a number of significant ways from A. bellamyi . In A. felix the base of the elytron has a broad impunctate costa between the humerus and the scutellum, whereas in A. bellamyi the costa is scarcely developed and very narrow; A. felix does not have the median carina in the central third of the pronotum seen in A. bellamyi and the pronotal shape is quite different (compare Figs 3 & 4 ); the antennal insertions in A. felix are bordered internally by a strongly developed shiny carina, which is not present A. bellamyi .

Ankareus tsavoensis Bellamy, 1991 was described from a single female from Kenya. Examination of the holotype of this species shows it differs from A. bellamyi in the following ways. Ankareus tsavoensis has imbricate pronotal sculpture ( Fig. 10 ), whereas in A. bellamyi all the punctures are well separated without any imbricate sculpture ( Fig. 3 ); in A. tsavoensis the fronto-vertex is strongly produced between the eyes and longitudinally grooved, whereas in A. bellamyi the fronto-vertex is weakly produced between the eyes and not grooved but has a narrow median carina in the upper third; in A. tsavoensis the base of the elytron has a costa between the humerus and the scutellum, whereas in A. bellamyi sp. nov. the costa is scarcely developed (compare Figs 3 & 10 ).

Ankareus alluaudi Kerremans, 1914 was described from two unsexed specimens from Kenya. These specimens should be in the MNHN but could not be located when searched for (A. Mantilleri, pers. comm.). The original description says that A. alluaudi is covered with short white inconspicuous pubescence and the pronotum is finely punctate; in A. bellamyi the pubescence of the pronotum and elytra is relatively long and conspicuous and the pronotum is densely punctured with small strong punctures.

Etymology: This species is named after my friend and fellow buprestid worker, the late Chuck Bellamy.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. 1. Dorsal habitus of A. bellamyi, holotype; 2. Dorsal habitus of A. felix (Waterhouse), holotype; 3. Pronotum of A. bellamyi, holotype; 4. Pronotum of A. felix (Waterhouse), holotype; 5. Dorsal habitus of A. natalensis Bellamy, ♂ Port St. John; 6. Dorsal habitus of A. relictus (Bílý), ♂ Thanomah. (Scale bar = 1 mm unless otherwise indicated).

FIGURES 11 – 19. Aedeagus (Figures 15 – 19 after the original species description publications). 11. A. natalensis Bellamy, Port St. John; 12. A. relictus (Bílý), Thanomah; 13. A. bellamyi, holotype; 14. A. bilyi, holotype; 15. A. transvaalensis Bellamy; 16. A. capensis Bellamy; 17. A. kenyensis Bellamy; 18. A. somalicus Bellamy; 19. A. luciphilus Bílý. (All figures at approximately same scale. Scale bar = 0.5 mm).

FIGURES 7 – 10. 7. Dorsal habitus of A. bilyi, holotype; 8. Dorsal habitus of A. tsavoensis Bellamy, holotype; 9. Pronotum of A. bilyi, holotype; 10. Pronotum of A. tsavoensis Bellamy, holotype. (Scale bars = 1 mm).