Baezia tizziri Garcia & Andujar, 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 tizziri Garcia & Andujar sp. nov. Figs 4A-E , 5G, H

Type locality.

Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Garafía: MSS Barranco de los Hombres (28°49'33.57"N, 17°52'07.95"W, 249 m a.s.l.) .

Type material.

Holotype: 1♂, La Palma, Garafía: MSS Barranco de los Hombres (28°49'33.57"N, 17°52'07.95"W, 249 m a.s.l.), 20 September 2017, R. García leg. ( DZUL). Paratypes: same locality as the holotype , 1♂, 18 November 2020, R. García leg. ( IPNA-CSIC) .

Other material.

Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Garafía, Cueva de La Fajana de Franceses (28°49'57.07"N, 17°51'56.89"W, 120 m s.n.m.), 23 January 2002, remains of elytra, R. García leg. ( RGB) .

Description.

Male. Total length (including rostrum) 3.7 mm, 3 mm without rostrum and head, and maximum width 1.1 mm. Body matte reddish-brown (Fig. 4A ); apex of rostrum, antennae and legs covered with scattered yellow-testaceous erect setae, and pronotum and elytra with short fine testaceous pilosity denser and aligned on the whole surface. Apterous.

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

Rostrum robust, widest at antennal insertion, 2.08 × as long as wide at scrobes level, 0.73 × as long as pronotum. In lateral view lower margin concave, and upper margin slightly convex, more declivous near apex; apex smooth, 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 keels; ventral surface smooth.

Antennae. Scapes straight, increasingly widened towards ¼ of apex, 9.7 × as long as its maximum width and 1.3 × as long as funicule, covered with small erect setae. First funicular antennomere conical, 2 × as long as wide, as long as next three antennomeres together; 2nd to 7th funicular antennomeres obconical, transverse. Club oval, 1.6 × as long as wide and 1.3 × as long as the last six funicular antennomeres.

Pronotum slightly elongated with weak median keel, maximum width in the middle and sides somewhat convex, constricted behind apex, anterior margin 0.96 × as wide as posterior (Fig. 5H ). Surface matte chagrinated with microreticulation; punctures obvious, setae lying down and scattered, little more erect towards margins.

Scutellum very small, triangular.

Pterothorax with elytra elongate, lacking humeral calli; 2.4 × as long as pronotum, 1.98 × as long as wide, base wider than base of pronotum; maximum width in the middle, basal margin 0.63 × that width. Surface matte, chagrinated, strongly microreticulated; interstriae smooth; striae very fine, weakly defined by aligned punctures coinciding with small, erect setae.

Abdomen with integument surface shiny, slightly chagrinated, microreticulated; with fine, short setose pilosity; no apparent punctation. First and second visible ventrites 1 and 2 with wide median depression; remaining ones slightly convex, elevated towards apex, giving stair-like appearance. Ventrite 5 2.1 × as wide as long, strongly chagrinated.

Legs elongate, with matte surface, microreticulate with abundant semierect setae. Procoxae separated by distance of 0.11 × of their diameter. Mesocoxae separated by distance of 0.62 × of their diameter, and metacoxae 1.9 × of their diameter. Femora not specially dilated at middle (Fig. 5G ); pro-, meso- and metafemora respectively 3.6 ×, 3.5 × and 5 × as long as their maximum width. Tibiae straight (Fig. 5G ); pro- and mesotibiae with external edge slightly convex, internally with a slight apical sinuation, and internal edge sinuate towards middle; metatibiae slightly concave on apical external edge, apical internal edge slightly denticulated; tibiae uncinate, uncus with wide blunt tip; pro-, meso- and metatibiae respectively 5 ×, 5.3 × and 6.65 × as long as their maximum width (excluding uncus). Protarsi with tarsomeres I 1.2 ×, II 0.66 ×, III 0.66 × and V 2.5 × as long as wide respectively, third clearly bilobed, fifth bearing two free simple blunt claws; tarsal sole brushes with long sparse hyaline hairs.

Aedeagus. Median lobe dorsally almost symmetrical, with sides slightly convex, apex acute (Fig. 4B ); clearly curved in lateral view, with acute apex (Fig. 4C ). Internal sac with abundant teeth and spicules arranged in three elongated groups, with big acute teeth mixed with others smaller and with asperities; two basal sclerotized pieces. Spiculum gastrale robust and bowed with highly asymmetric arms (Fig. 4D ). Tegmen with short manubrium; wide, hairy parameroid lobes, separated by a deep fine notch almost than half its length (Fig. 4E ).

Female. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis.

This new species is morphologically close to B. martini . However, B. tizziri can be differentiated by its larger size and matter body surface (shinier and with larger and more abundant scales in B. martini ); antennae proportionally longer, scapes longer and thickening to 1/4 of apex (thickening uniformly towards apex in B. martini ); pronotum moderately elongated with slight median keel (transverse and without median keel in B. martini ); elytra proportionally longer; femora and tibiae proportionally longer and barely dilated on inner side (more dilated on inner side in B. martini ); the penis, dorsally with slightly convex sides (almost straight in B. martini ) and more rounded apex, more curved profile, and temones proportionally longer.

Note.

the known specimens have blunt, thickened and blackened claws as well as uncus. These characteristics are not present in any other Baezia species.

Etymology.

Specific name in apposition of Tizziri, Guanche (Tenerife aboriginal) word meaning "ray of light", related to the belief in your surroundings making you feel good and sleepy.

Habitat and distribution.

The existence of this new species has been known since 2002 from the remains of elytra found in La Fajana de Franceses Cave. During the last 15 years, this and other caves in the same area have been actively studied with pitfall traps and by collecting dead roots, failing to obtain new individuals of this species. However, the two fresh specimens known of B. tizziri were collected in a close locality of the North of the island, in the MSS of the ravine Barranco de los Hombres, using subterranean traps similar to those designed by López and Oromí (2010). The ravine has well-preserved thermo-sclerophyllous vegetation, dominated by species including Hypericum canariense , Apollonias barbujana and Bosea yervamora , with some sparse exotic trees like Persea americana . In these traps, other subterranean species have been collected besides B. tizziri : the ground beetle Licinopsis angustula , the rove beetle Domene benahoarensis Oromí & Martín, 1990, and unidentified specimens of the cockroach genus Loboptera and the rove beetle genus Medon .

Figures

Figure 4. Baezia tizziri 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.