Bruchidius meridionalis Anton & Delobel, 2003

Delobel, Alex, Ru, Bruno Le, Genson, Gwenaëlle, Musyoka, Boaz K. & Kergoat, Gael J., 2015, Molecular phylogenetics, systematics and host-plant associations of the Bruchidius albosparsus (Fåhraeus) species group (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 3931 (4), pp. 451-482 : 470

Bruchidius meridionalis Anton & Delobel, 2003

Bruchidius meridionalis Anton & Delobel, 2003:174

Material examined. Kenya: 13 ♂, 18 ♀, Mogotio, 00°05’29’’S 35°56’06’’E, 1686m, 18.vi.2007, ex Vachellia gerrardii [1♂ 17397, specimen GK 112 used for DNA extraction] (B. Le Ru) [ CBGP]; other material as listed in Anton & Delobel (2003), including specimens from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda and Zambia.

A small (1.8–2.7 mm), yellowish to reddish-brown species with darker and paler spots in elytral interstriae; elytra with double-toothed protuberance at base of interstriae 3–4; in male, a large pear-shaped area with short erect setae in basal angle of first ventrite; in female, last visible tergite with a pair of flat, unmargined, micropunctate foveae.

Genitalia [see Figs. 19–23 , p. 176 in Anton & Delobel 2003]: Median lobe moderately elongated (maximum width excluding basal hood/ total length = 0.14), basal hood little widened; ventral valve large, subtriangular, with two lateral groups of 3–5 setae each; no hinge sclerite; internal sac densely lined with thin spines of various sizes; its median area with two rows of 10–17 denticles having point as long as base; gonopore wide, sclerotized; tegminal strut narrow, with obsolete keel; lateral lobes cleft to about 4/5 their length; apex not modified, bearing 8–11 setae; in female, vagina long and membranous, a dorsal ovoid dentate sclerite at entrance of bursa copulatrix.

Biology. Reared from seeds of Vachellia gerrardii , V. sieberiana and other unidentified Vachellia species.

Discussion. Bruchidius meridionalis can be distinguished from the morphologically closely related B. centromaculatus by having a wider eye separation, protuberances always present at base of elytra, smaller teeth at base of elytral striae 2–4, shorter median lobe, lower number of denticles in internal sac, basal denticles as large as remaining ones, and smaller ratio of base to point of denticles.

Distribution. Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo ( Anton & Delobel 2003), Kenya, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, and Zambia.

Figures

FIGURES 16 – 19. Bruchidius grandemaculatus (male): 16 — median lobe (ventral view); 17 — lateral lobes (ventral view); Bruchidius haladai: 18 — median lobe (ventral view); 19 — lateral lobes (ventral view).

FIGURES 20 – 24. Bruchidius ishwaensis (male): 20 — median lobe (ventral view); 21 — lateral lobes (ventral view); Bruchidius ishwaensis (female): 22 — spermatheca (lateral view); Bruchidius tanaensis (male): 23 — median lobe (ventral view); 24 — lateral lobes (ventral view).