Cryptolarynx vitis ( Marshall, 1957 )

Haran, Julien M., Marvaldi, Adriana E., Benoit, Laure, Oberlander, Kenneth, Stals, Riaan & Oberprieler, Rolf G., 2023, Revision of the enigmatic South African Cryptolaryngini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), with description of a new genus and twenty-two new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 877 (1), pp. 1-89 : 9-14

1. Cryptolarynx vitis ( Marshall, 1957)

Figs 1A , 2A , 3A , 4A , 5A , 6A–C , 8G

Cryptopharynx vitis Marshall, 1957: 18 .

Cryptolarynx vitis – Van Schalkwyk 1966: 745 (implied new combination). — Van den Berg 1968: 189–204 (anatomy of adult). — Thompson 1992: 848 (figures of male abdominal ventrites, male sternite VIII). — Oberprieler 2014: 438 (biology).

Differential diagnosis

Cryptolarynx vitis is morphologically most similar to C. subglaber sp. nov. but differs in its denser vestiture (scattered in C. subglaber ), only weakly contrasting white scales on the mes- and metanepisterna with those on the elytra (significantly different in C. subglaber ) and its distinctly different copulatory sclerite. The two species differ genetically by uncorrected pairwise distances ranging from 15.1 to 22.1% for COI and from 1.1 to 2.7% for EF1.

Material examined

Lectotype REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; “Type [red label]” “ Cape Prov. [ REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape]. Stellenbosch; [33.93° S, 18.86° E]; On vine leaf. 1956” “ Cryptopharynx vitis, Mshl. TYPE ♀ ” [Newly added label, red, printed:] “LECTOTYPE Cryptopharynx vitis Marshall, 1957 des. J. Haran 2023”; NHMUK.

Paralectotypes REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape • 1 ♀; same collection data as for lectotype; NHMUK • 7 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀; same collection data as for lectotype; C.I.E. Coll. 14762, U.S. 708; NHMUK • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for lectotype; C.I.E Coll. 14762, U.S. 708; SAMC SAM-ENT-004206.

All with original handwritten type labels: “ Cryptolarynx vitis Mshl Cotypes ♂ / ♀ ”. All with newly added labels, blue, printed: “ PARALECTOTYPE Cryptopharynx vitis Marshall, 1957 des. J. Haran 2023”.

Other material

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape • 1 ♂, 4 ♀♀; Stellenbosch; 33.930° S, 18.875° E; 6 Sep. 2018; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis glabra ; JHAR01484 ; CBGP • 1 ♂, 14 specs (preserved in ethanol); Stellenbosch, Kylemore ; 33.918° S, 18.956° E; 8 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis glabra ; JHAR01488 ; CBGP • 1 ♂, 10 specs (preserved in ethanol); Malmesbury; 33.454° S, 18.743° E; 10 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis spp. ; JHAR02559 ; CBGP • 1 ♂, 19 specs (preserved in ethanol); Cape Town, Tygerberg Nature Reserve ; 33.875° S, 18.596° E; 20 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis glabra ; JHAR02568 ; CBGP • 1 spec. (preserved in ethanol); Pniel, Boschendal Estate ; 33.873° S, 18.976° E; 16 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis spp. ; JHAR03198 ; CBGP • 5 specs (preserved in ethanol); Wellington 15 km WNW; 33.609° S, 18.849° E; 10 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis spp. ; JHAR03199 ; CBGP • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Wellington; 33.64° S, 19.01° E; 1 Feb. 1955; G.D. Malan leg.; Ac. U.S. 708; SANC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; NHMUK • 1 spec.; same collection data as for preceding; Jan.–Feb. 1955; G.D. Malan leg.; Ac. U.S. 708; SAM-COL-A045641 ; SAMC • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Franskraal, Suikerbosrand Farm ; 34.600° S, 19.400° E; 28 Sep. 1984; R. Müller leg.; sweeping; E-Y:2127; TMSA • 2 ♀♀; Cape Town, Cape Flats , Philippi, ca 3–4 mi E; 34.01° S, 18.62° E; elev. 180 ft; 7 Aug. 1954; J. Balfour-Browne leg.; with Hydrodictyon (algae) and Aponogeton ; B.M. 1954-797, STN-347; NHMUK • 1 ♂; Cape Town, Cape Flats , Rapenburg ; 33.95° S, 18.48° E; 1–14 Oct. 1920; R.E. Turner leg.; NHMUK • 1 ♂; Gansbaai, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve ; 34.536° S, 19.416° E; 13 Oct. 2018; J. Haran leg.; on Oxalis caprina ; JHAR01592 ; CBGP • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserve, Nuweberg 10 km NE, Grabouw–Villiersdorp–Franschhoek junction ; 34.027° S, 19.210° E; 13 Nov. 1973; S. Endrödy-Younga and J. Strydom leg.; in dam; E-Y:239; TMSA.

Redescription (♂)

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 1.6–3.6 mm.

COLOUR AND VESTITURE. Body integument black, scapes and tarsi reddish; vestiture of dorsum (pronotum + elytra) consisting of short, recumbent, subtriangular clothing scales, isodiametric or slightly longer than wide, partly concealing integument, overlapping or subcontiguous, and longer, suberect clothing scales at least 2 × as long as wide in strial punctures; colour pattern highly variable, scale colours brown and grey; grey scales usually condensed on pronotum at base and apex of median line, on two sublateral longitudinal stripes and on elytra on striae 4–5, usually forming a transverse band at apical ⅔, sometimes divided into a pair of spots spanning interstriae 1–3.

HEAD. Forehead narrower than width of an eye, surface slightly concave. Eyes flat, in dorsal view only slightly exceeding outline of head, surrounded by a ring of short pale scales directed towards centre of eye; distance between eye and scrobe larger than width of antennal club. Epifrons narrow, distance between antennal insertions 0.5× length of scape, scales at least 3 × as long as wide, suberect, overlapping. Frons with a single pair of long lateral setae. Epistome with single median seta. Antennae variable, with funicle segments 1 elongate, at least 2 × as long as wide; 2–4 at least slightly longer than wide, compressed, on inside slightly angled; 5–7 isodiametric or wider than long, globular or slightly compressed.

PRONOTUM. Strongly transverse, nearly 2 × as wide as long (W:L ratio 1.6–1.8), almost semicircular in dorsal view, widest at base, sides parallel or slightly arcuate in basal ⅓, straight or slightly curved and converging in apical ⅔; anteriorly 2 × narrower than posteriorly.

ELYTRA. Globular, isodiametric (W:L ratio 1); sides convex, widest near midlength.

LEGS. Tibiae with black apical mucro; protibiae with outer margin straight, inner margin with series of small black teeth in apical half; metatibiae bisinuate, distal side of mucro perpendicular to external margin of metatibiae. Tarsi short, segment 2 much wider than long (W:L ratio 1.7–2.0).

ABDOMEN. Ventrite 1 with distinct cuticular elevation reaching posterior suture, concave medially, forming a semicircular cavity, scales in impression plumose; ventrites 1–4 with overlapping white or pale brown scales; ventrite 5 with scattered suberect, elongate scales, partly concealing integument.

TERMINALIA. Body of penis elongate (W:L ratio 0.3), 0.6–1.0 × as long as temones, sides diverging apicad in basal ⅔, converging in apical third; curvature in profile weak and regular, dorsoventrally strongly narrowed before apex. Copulatory sclerite slender, short. Parameroid lobes separate, divided by deep median notch, each lobe with anteapical constriction, bearing long marginal setae and shorter setae discally, all setae orientated centrifugally. Spiculum gastrale with basal arms regularly curved.

Sexual dimorphism

Males and females can be distinguished by their body shape (smaller and globular in male, larger and broadly ovate in female), the structure of the first ventrite (with a central cuticular depression concealed by plumose scales in male, flat in female) and the width of the forehead (at most slightly wider in male, 2× as wide as epifrons between antennal insertions in female).

Life history

Large numbers of specimens of Cryptolarynx vitis were collected in monospecific stands of Oxalis glabra Thunb. at various sites, but it was not reared from the bulbs of this plant species and its exact association with this species of Oxalis therefore needs verification. Oxalis glabra is a weedy species that forms dense covers in vineyards in winter. High population densities of C. vitis in these stands can lead to damage to vine leaves when adults emerge and undertake maturation feeding ( Marshall 1957). In this study, adults of this species were mostly found between August and November but once, in a population at Wellington, in January and February. The seasonal occurrence reported by Van den Berg (1968), if applicable to the same species, indicates an activity of adults from late September to early December, with a peak in mid-November.

Distribution

The species occurs in lowland valleys of the Cape Town area, from Cape Town to Malmesbury and Wellington in the north and to Gansbaai in the south-east, from sea level to 400 m in elevation ( Fig. 13 ). The specimens from Ceres reported by Marshall (1957) could not be examined for this study and may represent a different species.

Remarks

A redescription of this species is provided to accommodate the variability in characters encountered in the wider geographical context than known to Marshall (1957) and Van den Berg (1968). Together with C. hirtulus sp. nov., C. robustus sp. nov., C. squamulatus sp. nov. and C. subglaber sp. nov., C. vitis forms a species group characterised mainly by a narrow forehead, slightly erect elytral scales and a narrow apex of the parameroid lobes. Preliminary reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships between the species of Cryptolarynx also suggests that these species form a cluster distinct from the other species of the genus ( Fig. 12 ). It should be noted that the weakly supported preliminary phylogenetic relationships in this species group were not fully resolved with EF1 ( Fig. 12 ). In C. vitis , intraspecific distances ranged up to 10.0% for COI and 2.5% for EF1 between specimens from different localities. This species may comprise several genetic lineages in the process of speciation, but stable morphological differences could not be identified.

The description of C. vitis was based on 24 males and 24 females ( Marshall 1957), of which 7 males and 10 females are preserved in the NHMUK and 2 males and 2 females in the SAMC. A female syntype in the NHMUK, bearing a type label in Marshall’s hand, is here designated as the lectotype of C. vitis and was labelled accordingly (see above), and all other syntypes examined were labelled as paralectotypes.

Figures

Fig. 1 (Part I) (next page). Habitus of males of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 (dorsal view). A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957). B. C. subglaber Haran sp. nov. C. C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov. D. C. muellerae Haran sp. nov. E. C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. F. C. robustus Haran sp. nov. G. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov. H. C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. I. C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957). K. C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov. L. C. pilipes Haran sp. nov. Not to scale.

Fig. 2 (Part I) (next page). Male genitalia of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966. Penis in dorsal and lateral view (left), tegmen in dorsal view (middle) and details of apex of a parameroid lobe and spiculum gastrale in dorsal view (right). A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957). B. C. subglaber Haran sp. nov. C. C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov. D. C. muellerae Haran sp. nov. E. C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. F. C. robustus Haran sp. nov. G. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov. H. C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. I. C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957). K. C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov. L. C. pilipes Haran sp. nov. Not to scale.

Fig. 3 (Part I) (next page). Habitus of males of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 (lateral view). A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957). B. C. subglaber Haran sp. nov. C. C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov. D. C. muellerae Haran sp. nov. E. C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. F. C. robustus Haran sp. nov. G. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov. H. C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. I. C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957). K. C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov. L. C. pilipes Haran sp. nov. Not to scale.

Fig. 4 (Part I) (next page). Head of males of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966. A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957). B. C. subglaber Haran sp. nov. C. C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov. D. C. muellerae Haran sp. nov. E. C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. F. C. robustus Haran sp. nov. G. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov. H. C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. I. C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957). K. C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov. L. C. pilipes Haran sp. nov. Not to scale.

Fig. 5 (Part I). Ventrites of males of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966. A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957). B. C. subglaber Haran sp. nov. C. C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov. D. C. muellerae Haran sp. nov. E. C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. F. C. robustus Haran sp. nov. G. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov. H. C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. I. C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957), with details of a cuticular carina (white arrows). K. C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov. L. C. pilipes Haran sp. nov. Not to scale.

Fig. 6 (preceding page). Habitus in natura, host plants and biotopes of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 (part 1). A. C. vitis (Marshall, 1957), Tygerberg Nature Reserve (JHAR02568). B. Dark variants of C. vitis, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve (JHAR01592). C. Biotope and stands of Oxalis glabra Thunb. hosting C. vitis (JHAR01488). D. Habitus of C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov., Worcester (JHAR02356). E. Adult of C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. under a stone, in its gallery after emergence from a bulb of Oxalis obtusa Jacq., near Touwsrivier (JHAR02444). F. Biotope of C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov. with stands of Oxalis obtusa, near Touwsrivier. G. Habitus of C. carinatus Haran sp. nov., Rondebosch Common (JHAR02336). H. Oxalis purpurea L., host of C. carinatus Haran sp. nov., Rondebosch Common. I. Corm of Oxalis pes-caprae L. with emergence hole of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. J. Habitus of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov., Stellenbosch (JHAR01185). K. Larva of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. in bulb of Oxalis purpurea, Stellenbosch (JHAR01215). L. Pupa of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. in bulb of Oxalis lanata Thunb., Stellenbosch (JHAR01247). M. Teneral adult of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. in bulb of Oxalis pes-caprae, Stellenbosch (JHAR01185). N. Oxalis pes-caprae, host of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov., Stellenbosch. O–P. Oxalis sp. host and biotope of C. armatus Haran sp. nov., near Nieuwoudtville (JHAR02519).

Fig. 8 (next page). Structural details and measurements of Cryptolaryngini Van Schalkwyk, 1966. A. Cryptolarynx spinicornis Haran sp. nov., cephalic view, arrows indicating width of forehead (top) and of epifrons (bottom). B. Head of C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov., lateral view, arrows indicating distance between eye and scrobe. C. Head of C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov., in cephalic view, arrows showing prothoracic scales near eyes (top), position of scape when antennae in repose (middle) and position of clubs near procoxae when in repose (bottom). D. C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov., dorsal view, arrows indicate length and width dimensions of pronotum and elytra as measured.E. Metafemora and metatarsus of C. variabilis Haran sp. nov. (left) and C. carinatus Haran sp. nov. (right), arrows indicating position of proximal inner carina in latter species (highlighted with a white line in C. variabilis Haran sp. nov.) and short apical mucro. F. Metatarsus of Hadrocryptolarynx major Haran gen. et sp. nov., arrow indicating elongate segment 2 (longer than wide). G. Hindleg of C. vitis (Marshall, 1957), arrow indicating apical mucro. H. Antenna of C. spinicornis Haran sp. nov., arrows pointing at inner tooth of funicle segments 2 and 4. I. Protibia of C. armatus Haran sp. nov., arrow pointing at inner preapical expansion proximally of mucro. J. Penis of C. oberprieleri Haran sp. nov., dorsal view, black arrows indicating length of penis body and temones and white arrows indicating width of penis body as measured; bottom arrow indicating copulatory sclerite. K. Ovipositor, Crypolarynx variabilis Haran sp. nov. L. Sternite VIII, same species. M. Spermatheca, same species. N. Ovipositor, Hadrocryptolarynx major Haran gen. et sp. nov. O. Sternite VIII, same species. P. Spermatheca, same species. Q. Right maxilla, same species. Not to scale.

Fig. 13. Distribution maps of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 and Hadrocryptolarynx Haran gen. nov.

Fig. 12. PhyML gene trees of COI and EF1 gene fragments of species of Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 (1000 bootstrap replicates). *: node support> 80.