Smicronyx adjamati Haran 2018, sp. n.
Creators: name: Haran, Julien
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Smicronyx
Smicronyx adjamati

description: Smicronyx adjamati Haran, sp. n.
Figs 1C, 3C, 5C
Material examined. Holotype ♂: ‘ Holotype [Red label]’ ‘ Senegal. Casamance. 24.x.1982 Etienne J. leg. / Light’ ‘JHAR_00063’ (MNHN).
Description. (♂) Body length 2.5 mm. Colour. Body integument reddish, antennal club, rostrum, prothorax, suture of elytra and tarsi darker; vestiture of elytra consisting of recumbent, elliptical, uniformly distributed whitish scales, and series of pale brown semi-erect elongate scales on each interstria; vestiture of prothorax consisting of whitish and pale brown recumbent and elongate scales oriented toward median line in basal half and toward head in apical half. Head. Rostrum longer than head capsule plus prothorax, almost straight, downcurved only near base, densely covered by scales and punctate between base and antennal insertion, punctures and vestiture less dense beyond antennal insertion, smooth at apex, transverse furrow at base of rostrum shiny, concealed by scales at edges; head capsule with slight scale cover dorsally; eyes flat, contiguous on ventral side; antennae reddish, scape pale red, bisinuate at base, moderately clavate at apex, segment 1 elongate, as long as 2+3, 4–5 quadrate, 6–7 wider than long. Prothorax. Slightly wider than long (w/l ratio: 0.92), widest near middle, narrowed at apex, sides moderately rounded; integument weakly punctuate, distance between punctures greater than diameter of punctures, integument between punctures smooth and shiny; scales paler on sides. Elytra. Sides subparallel in basal twothirds, rounded in apical third, widest in apical two-thirds (w/l ratio: 0.64); humeri raised; striae much narrower that interstriae, interstriae flat, wide and reticulate, apex of interstria 5 with moderate depression; scutellum small but visible, squamose. Abdomen. Underside mostly covered with non-overlapping whitish scales. Legs. Reddish, covered with whitish semi-erect elongate scales; femora greatly clavate, unarmed; tibiae straight, slightly bisinuate in basal third. Genitalia. Penis short (w/l ratio: 0.61), sides sub-parallel in basal half, converging towards apex in apical half, apex acuminate and bearing setae on sides, curvature in lateral view stronger in middle (Fig. 5C). Females not known.
Life history. Host plant unknown, the single specimen was collected at lights, in October.
Distribution. Senegal (Casamance).
Discussion. Smicronyx adjamati belongs to the S. remaudierei species group (see discussion on S. remaudierei). Within this species group, it can be distinguished from S. remaudierei and S. bisignatus by the absence of a distinct ventral tooth on the femora, and from S. crassithorax by its narrower prothorax. It can be distinguished from S. zambianus by its reddish integuments and its elongate elytra of w/l ratio: 0.64 (black integuments and w/l ratio: 0.70 in S. zambianus). Smicronyx adjamati is the only species of the species group with the apex of the penis acuminate in the apical half (Fig. 5C).
Name derivation. Named in tribute of the Adjamat people (also called the Diolas), partly inhabiting the South of Senegal (Casamance), for their remarkable culture and social structure.
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 270-271, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/2607088