Cryptolarynx hirtulus Haran & Marvaldi & Benoit & Oberlander & Stals & Oberprieler 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Haran, Julien M.
name: Marvaldi, Adriana E.
name: Benoit, Laure
name: Oberlander, Kenneth
name: Stals, Riaan
name: Oberprieler, Rolf G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Cryptolarynx
Cryptolarynx hirtulus

description: 5. Cryptolarynx hirtulus Haran sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 0CC60E56-F3AF-42E8-924C-97CBB58B6D15
Figs 1E, 2E, 3E, 4E, 5E, 6D–F
Differential diagnosis
Cryptolarynx hirtulus sp. nov. belongs to the C. vitis species group, see the Remarks section under that species for details. In this group it is most closely related to C. squamulatus sp. nov., see the Differential diagnosis section under that species for diagnostic characters and genetic distances.
Etymology
The species name is derived from the Latin adjective ‘ hirtus ’, meaning ‘hairy’, and refers to the suberect scales in the strial punctures, which give the species a slightly hairy appearance. The specific epithet is an adjective in the masculine form.
Material examined
Holotype REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; “REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. Western Cape Province, Worcester. 29.viii.2019. J. Haran leg.” “ 33.623° S 19.472° E. Near Oxalis spp. JHAR02356_0101. Cirad-CBGP coll.” “Holotype. Cryptolarynx hirtulus. Haran 2023”; SAMC.
Paratypes REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀ (preserved in ethanol); same collection data as for holotype; CBGP • 1 ♀; Clanwilliam 29 km N, flat valley-bottom; 31.950° S, 18.717° E; 29 Aug. 1989; S. Endrödy-Younga and J. Klimaszewski leg.; ground and vegetation; E-Y:2675; TMSA • 1 ♀; Clanwilliam N, Olifants River ca 500 m W, roadside cut with boulders; 32.150° S, 18.883° E; 29 Aug. 1989; S. Endrödy-Younga and J. Klimaszewski leg.; flowering vegetation; E-Y:2674; TMSA • 2 ♂♂; Malmesbury; 33.454° S, 18.743° E; 10 Sep. 2019; J. Haran leg.; at base of Oxalis spp.; JHAR02561; CBGP • 1 ♀; Touws River 16 km SW; 33.402° S, 19.886° E; 23 Jul. 2019; J. Haran leg.; emerged from bulbs of Oxalis obtusa; JHAR02444; CBGP. – Northern Cape • 1 ♂; Wupperthal area, Botterkloof Pass 5 km from top; 31.783° S, 19.267° E; 17 Jul. 1995; S. Neser leg.; feeding on leaves of Homeria [now Moraea] sp. (Iridaceae) growing in road verge; SANC • 1 ♀; Calvinia N, Hantamsberg; 31.352° S, 19.803° E; 1544 m; 9 Nov. 2018; R. Borovec leg.; FFWS • 1 ♂; Nieuwoudtville 8–12 km SE; 31.467° S, 19.300 °E; 18 Sep. 1986; R. Oberprieler leg.; on Galenia africana [now Aizoon africanum (L.) Klak, Aizoaceae]; SANC • 1 ♂; Vanrhyns Pass, stony mountainside; 31.383° S, 19.033° E; 18 Aug. 1983; S. Endrödy-Younga and M-L. Penrith leg.; pitfall traps 78 days with meat bait; E-Y:1940; TMSA • 1 ♀; Vanrhyns Pass, E base; 31.367° S, 19.033° E; 25 Sep. 1994; C.L. Bellamy leg.; on flowers and vegetation; shrub vegetation on coarse sand; E-Y:3044; TMSA.
Description (♂)
MEASUREMENTS. Body length 2–2.6 mm.
COLOUR AND VESTITURE. Body integument black, antennae, tarsi and sometimes tibiae reddish. Dorsal vestiture (pronotum + elytra) consisting of short, recumbent, subtriangular clothing scales, 1.2–2 × as long as wide, subcontiguous on interstriae, and longer, suberect scales, at least 4× as long as wide, in each strial puncture, visible in lateral view; scales creamy-white, brown and black; pale scales usually concentrated in two longitudinal stripes on pronotum and on elytral interstriae 4 and forming a pair of pale spots surrounded by black scales on interstriae 1–4 at apical ⅔ of elytra.
HEAD. Forehead as wide as epifrons near antennal insertions, narrower than width of an eye, scales not entirely concealing integument. Eyes moderately convex, 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 single pair of long lateral setae. Epistome without single median seta. Antennal funicles with segments 1–2 elongate, 2.5× as long as wide; 3–4 slightly longer than wide, compressed, slightly angular on inside; 5–6 globular; 7 transverse.
PRONOTUM. Strongly transverse (W:L ratio 1.4), widest near midlength, sides arcuate; apex and base subequal in width.
ELYTRA. Broadly ovate, slightly longer than wide (W:L ratio 0.9), sides convex, widest near midlength.
LEGS. Tibiae with black apical mucro; protibiae with outer margin straight, inner margin bisinuate; metatibiae with inner setal fringe, the setae shorter than segment 5 of metatarsus. Tarsi with segment 2 isodiametric or slightly wider than long.
ABDOMEN. Ventrite 1 flat or slightly concave, bearing plumose scales in impression; other surfaces with overlapping creamy-white scales, partly concealing integument.
TERMINALIA. Body of penis elongate (W:L ratio 0.25), 1.5–2.0 × as long as temones, sides moderately convex, widest near midlength; curvature in profile weak and regular, dorsoventrally slightly narrowed before apex. Copulatory sclerite weakly sclerotised or not discerned in examined specimens. Parameroid lobes separate, divided by deep median notch, each lobe narrowed anteapically and rounded at apex, bearing long setae marginally and discally, all setae orientated centrifugally. Spiculum gastrale with basal arms regularly curved.
Sexual dimorphism
The sexes can be distinguished by the width of the forehead (as wide as epifrons in male, distinctly wider in female), and females also lack the metatibial mucro and plumose scales on ventrite 1.
Life history
Adults of C. hirtulus sp. nov. were found at several localities in homogenous stands of Oxalis obtusa. Some were extracted from galleries in the soil, emerging from the bulbs of O. obtusa (JHAR02444, Fig. 6E–F). Adults were collected between July and September, with freshly emerged specimens encountered in July and August (JHAR02356; JHAR02444).
Distribution
Cryptolarynx hirtulus sp. nov. occurs at various localities in the southern and northern parts of the Cederberg mountain range and in the area of Malmesbury (Fig. 13). Specimens were collected from 120 to 1544 m above sea level.
Remarks
The amplification of COI sequences from several populations of this species failed repeatedly, probably due to mismatches in the primer sequences. At intraspecific level, genetic distances between distant populations were found to be up to 1.3% in EF1 (JHAR02356; JHAR02561), suggesting that several lineages may exist in the species as described here. It should be noted that the preliminary phylogenetic relationships were not fully resolved for EF1 between this species and C. robustus sp. nov. (Fig. 12).
description: Published as part of 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, pp. 1-89 in European Journal of Taxonomy 877 (1) on pages 22-25, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.877.2151, http://zenodo.org/record/8110586