Smicronyx remaudierei Hoffmann 1954
Creators: name: Haran, Julien
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Smicronyx
Smicronyx remaudierei

description: Smicronyx remaudierei Hoffmann, 1954
Figs 1B, 3B, 5B,
Smicronyx remaudierei Hoffmann, 1954: 191
Material examined. Holotype ♂: [Mali] ‘ C.I.P.P.A.S. Dogo 20 à 30.vii.1950. (Macina) Soudan Fr. G. Remaudière’ ‘ Smicronyx remaudierei m. A Hoffmann det.’ ‘TYPE’ ‘ Museum Paris’ (specimen with red type label, MNHN). Paratypes: [Mali] Sudan Fr, Dogo, x.1950, Hoffmann det. (1♂, 1♀, MNHN); Dogo, Saridina, Tagmiri, viii.1950, G. Remaudière leg. (1♂, MNHN); Dogo, 17.vii.1950 (2♀, MNHN); Dogo, viii.1950, G. Remaudière leg., Hoffmann det. (2♂, 1♀, MNHN). Other material: Morocco, Moroccan Sahara, Haïcra, v.1954, Hoffmann det. (1♀, MNHN).
Diagnosis. Body length 2.3–2.5 mm. Colour. Body integument reddish, except rostrum, prothorax, suture of
elytra and tarsi, which are brownish; vestiture of elytra consisting of rounded, recumbent, slightly overlapping scales, moderately to distinctly longer that wide, not concealing integument, and of a series of semi-erect scales, not very distinct, on all interstriae; scales of elytra dark brown, forming transverse patches of pale brown scales, usually with a strip of whitish scales along interstria 3, sometimes on interstria 5 as well. Head. Rostrum distinctly downcurved in lateral view, longer than head capsule + prothorax, slightly longer and more downcurved in ♀ than in ♂. Prothorax. Wider than long (w/l ratio: 1.18), sides subparallel in basal half, constricted apically, almost half as wide at apical margin than at base, with median line of whitish scales mostly visible near scutellum. Elytra. Sides subparallel in basal two thirds (w/l ratio: 0.64), rounded toward apex in apical third. Legs. Femora clavate, armed with distinct ventral tooth, tibiae straight. Genitalia. Penis short (w/l ratio: 0.70), sides straight, subparallel, converging near apex, apex truncate, greatly and regularly curved in lateral view (Fig. 5B).
Life history. Unknown. Adults were collected in May, July, August, September and October.
Distribution. Mali, Morocco.
Discussion. Smicronyx remaudierei and four closely related species (S. adjamati, S. bisignatus, S. crassithorax and S. zambianus) form a distinct group considered here as the “ S. remaudierei species group”. This species group can be distinguished from other Smicronyx by their penis bearing erect setae at the apex, sometimes very short but distinct in lateral view. Apart from S. zambianus which is divergent among this group (body integument black, elytra short, w/l ratio: 0.70), all species have the following combination of characters: integument mostly reddish, elytra elongate (w/l ratio equal to or below 0.64). Among the species of the latter group, S. remaudierei can be distinguished from S. bisignatus by the presence of a short line of white scales at the base of the prothorax near the scutellum (absent in S. bisignatus). It can be distinguished from S. adjamati and S. crassithorax by the presence of a ventral tooth on the femora, which is absent in the latter species. The apex of the penis is also a distinctive feature among the species of this species group (Fig. 5 A–E).
description: Published as part of Haran, Julien, 2018, A review of the genus Smicronyx Schoenherr (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculioninae) in tropical Africa, pp. 267-287 in Zootaxa 4508 (2) on pages 269-270, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/2607088