Baezia madai Garcia & Oromi, 2021

Garcia 1, Rafael, Andujarx, Carmelo, Oromi, Pedro, Emerson, Brent & Lopez, Heriberto, 2021, Three new subterranean species of Baezia (Curculionidae, Molytinae) for the Canary Islands, Subterranean Biology 38, pp. 1-18 : 1

Baezia madai Garcia & Oromi sp. nov. Figs 3A-E , 5E, F

Type locality.

Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, El Paso: Cueva de Las Tijaraferas, also named Cueva de Barros (28°39'43.89"N, 17°53'23.97"W, 536 m a.s.l.) .

Type material.

Holotype: 1♂, La Palma , El Paso , Cueva de Las Tijaraferas, also named Cueva de Barros (28°39'43.89"N, 17°53'23.97"W, 536 m a.s.l.), 10 July 1986, J.L. Martín leg. ( DZUL) .

Description.

Male. Total length (including rostrum) 2.5 mm, 1.9 mm without rostrum and head, and maximum width 0.95 mm. Body matte reddish-brown (Fig. 3A ); apex of rostrum, antennae and legs covered with scattered yellow-testaceous erect setae, pronotum and elytra with short fine testaceous and claviform pilosity denser and aligned on whole surface. Apterous.

Head partially retracted into pronotum, microreticulated with abundant irregular punctation, lacking eyes.

Rostrum robust, widest at antennal insertion, 2 × as long as wide at scrobes level, 0.63 × as long as pronotum. In lateral view lower margin concave, upper margin slightly convex, more declivous near apex; apex punctated, shiny, with erect setae. Scrobes deep, their apical third visible from above. Mandibles smooth and black. Rostrum slightly more depressed than forehead, with dorsal surface irregular with longitudinal sulci separated by five fine broken keels; ventral surface rough.

Antennae. Scapes straight, increasingly widened from middle, 5.6 × as long as its maximum width. The specimen lacks the rest of the antennae.

Pronotum slightly elongated with fine median keel, maximum width towards middle and sides slightly convex, constricted behind apex, with a slight sinuation at middle; anterior margin as wide as posterior one (Fig. 5F ). Surface matte chagrinated with microreticulation; punctures obvious, almost coalescent, setae lying down and scattered, little more erect towards margins.

Scutellum very small, triangular.

Pterothorax with elytra elongate, lacking humeral calli; 2.6 × as long as pronotum, 1.84 × as long as wide, base wider than base of pronotum; maximum width towards middle, basal margin 0.68 × that width. Surface matte, chagrinated, strongly microreticulated; interstriae smooth; striae very fine, slightly defined by aligned punctures coinciding with small, erect setae.

Abdomen with integument surface slightly shiny, microreticulated; with fine, short setose pilosity; well-defined punctation. First and second ventrites with wide median depression; remaining ones slightly convex, a little but increasingly elevated towards apex, suddenly cut down at end, giving stair-like appearance. Ventrite 5 2.4 × as wide as long, strongly chagrinated, with deep punctation.

Legs elongate, with matte surface, microreticulate with abundant semierect setae. Procoxae separated by distance of 0.16 × of their diameter. Mesocoxae separated by distance of 0.71 × of their diameter, and metacoxae 1.63 × of their diameter. Femora slightly dilated at middle, from middle they gradually narrow until they strangle near apex (Fig. 5E ); pro-, meso- and metafemora 3.6 ×, 4 × and 4.8 × respectively as long as their maximum width. Tibiae straight, external edge slightly convex; internally with weak apical sinuosity and small bump towards middle (Fig. 5E ); tibiae uncinate, with uncus provided of a sharp tip; pro-, meso- and metatibiae 4.75 ×, 4.75 × and 6.66 × respectively as long as their maximum width (excluding uncus). Protarsi with tarsomeres I 1.67 ×, II 0.76 ×, III 0.87 × and V 2.5 × as long as wide respectively, third one clearly bilobed, fifth bearing two free simple acute claws; tarsal sole brushes with long sparse hyaline hairs.

Aedeagus. Median lobe almost symmetrical in dorsal view, sides slightly convex, apex rounded (Fig. 3B ); clearly curved in lateral view, with acute apex (Fig. 3C ). Internal sac with abundant teeth and spicules arranged in two elongated groups, with large acute teeth mixed with others smaller and with asperities; three basal sclerotized pieces. Spiculum gastrale robust and bowed with highly asymmetric arms (Fig. 3D ). Tegmen with short manubrium; wide, hairy parameroids forming lobes, separated by a deep wide notch slightly more than half its length (Fig. 3E ).

Female. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis.

This new species is morphologically close to B. vulcania . However, B. madai can be differentiated by its smaller size, matte body surface and lesser and shorter pilosity; scape longer and increasingly widened towards middle; elongated pronotum, with sides almost straight (slightly convex in B. vulcania ) and with a weak median keel (absent in B. vulcania ). In addition, its elytra are proportionally longer, the femora and tibiae less dilated on inner side, the tibiae proportionally longer; the median lobe dorsally parallel-sided (sides gently rounded in B. vulcania ) and acute apex (rounded and slightly prominent at middle in B. vulcania ), with straighter profile, and the temones proportionally longer.

Etymology.

Specific name in apposition of Madai, a Guanche (Tenerife aboriginal) word meaning “deep” ( Álvarez 1991), alluding to the habitat of this species.

Habitat and distribution.

Baezia madai has only been collected in Cueva de Las Tijaraferas lava tube, despite systematic biospeleological surveys conducted in other caves of the same area for many years (e.g. Fernández et al. 2007). The cave is located in the wall of a small ravine, in a place where the potential vegetation is thermo-sclerophyllous, but partially degraded and nowadays mainly replaced by Amygdalus communis , Opuntia sp., Euphorbia lamarckii and Rumex lunaria . In addition to its biological interest, this cave (only 63 m in length) holds many archaeological remains (pottery, bones, shells, etc.) that attest to its use as home by the prehispanic inhabitants of the island, the Auaritas. Inside this cave, there are several sections with high environmental humidity, roots hanging from the ceiling and walls, and soil covered with fine sediments. These points in the cave are the most suitable for underground fauna. Besides Baezia madai sp. nov., the presence of other troglobitic species has been confirmed, such as the sandhopper Palmorchestia hypogaea Stock & Martín, 1988, the cockroach Loboptera teneguia Izquierdo & Martín, 1999, and the ground beetles Licinopsis angustula Machado, 1987 and Thalassophilus subterraneus Machado, 1990. During the last decade, the authors have sampled the cave several times with pitfall traps and collected dead roots to remove weevil individuals from them, but without obtaining additional material beyond the only known specimen.

Figures

Figure 3. Baezia madai sp. nov. A dorsal habitus B, C aedeagus in dorsal and lateral view D Spiculum gastrale E tegmen.

Figure 5. Hind leg and pronotum of A, B Baezia litoralis C, D B. vulcania E, F B. madai sp. nov. G, H B. tizziri sp. nov. I, J B. aranfaybo sp. nov. K, L B. martini M, N B. bimbache.