Blepharidina himba Iannella & Biondi 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Iannella, Paola D'Alessandro Mattia
name: Biondi, Maurizio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Blepharidina
Blepharidina himba

description: Blepharidina himba sp. nov.
(Figs 7, 21, 43, 68)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: AA2504B9-0A6D-4CBF-9B93-DD64F2521EC0
Type material. Holotype ♂: “ Kaokoland (Namibia), 4 km E Orumana, 18°1'S 13°50'E, 24.ii.1990, E. Marais & J. Irish leg.” (ZMHB).
Diagnosis. Blepharidina himba sp. nov. shows a clear affinity with B. matabelelandensis sp. nov., with which it shares similar size, habitus, and color pattern (Figs 7, 14) and a very slender aedeagus, with laterally widely rounded apical part in ventral view (Figs 43, 50). However, B. himba sp. nov. can be easily distinguishable from B. matabelelandensis sp. nov. by: the lighter integuments; the different arrangement of the pronotal punctures (Figs 21, 24), with two lateral groups and an elongate medial group (three lateral groups and a small basal medial group in B. matabelelandensis sp. nov.); the aedeagus tapered from base to subapical part (fusiform in B. matabelelandensis sp. nov.) (Figs 43, 50).
Description of the holotype (♂). Body elliptical-elongate, rather convex (Fig. 7); LB = 7.31 mm; maximum pronotal width (WP = 2.81 mm) in basal third; maximum elytral width (WE = 3.81 mm) in middle. Head brown with yellowish antennae; pronotum yellow with brown patches mostly on groups and lines of punctures; elytra mostly yellow, but blackish on striae of punctures and part of interstriae; legs brown, with paler tarsi. Head distinctly pubescent, roughly and densely punctate; frontal grooves short, distinctly impressed near upper ocular margin; frontal tubercles small, flat, paler than head; interantennal space distinctly wider than length of first antennomere; upper interocular space wider than transverse ocular width (Fig. 21); antennae about as long as half body length (LAN = 3.63 mm; LAN/LB = 0.50); LA: 100:39:67:83:83:78:78:72:72:72:83. Pronotum (Fig. 21) subrectangular, distinctly transverse (LP = 1.56 mm; WP/LP = 1.80), with clearly sinuate lateral margin; anterior margin slightly thicker than basal margin, and clearly sinuate laterally; anterior angles distinctly prominent and slightly rounded anteriorly, pointed laterally; pronotal surface with lines and groups of differently sized punctures, also with a longitudinal line of punctures in middle; pronotal base with two lateral, distinctly impressed longitudinal striae. Scutellum brown, subrounded, moderately elongate. Elytra moderately elongate (LE = 5.69 mm; WE/LE = 0.67; LE/LP = 3.64), subparallel laterally, jointly rounded and entirely covering pygidium posteriorly; punctation deeply impressed, arranged in 9 (+ 1 scutellar) regular rows; interstriae distinctly carinate laterally and posteriorly. First pro- and mesotarsomeres distinctly dilated; tarsal claws bifid. Ventral parts brown; last abdominal ventrite without distinctive preapical impressions. Aedeagus (LAED = 3.50 mm; LE/LAED = 1.63) (Fig. 43) in ventral view slender and tapered from base to subapical part; apical part laterally widely rounded, with a small median tooth; ventral sulcus deep, open towards basal part; in lateral view, aedeagus straight in basal 2/3s, then slightly curved dorsally, with apex ventrally bent; dorsal ligula connected to about apical fourth, with slightly carinate basal surface.
Etymology. The female specific epithet is after Himba people, who inhabit the north-western part of Namibia, where the species was collected.
Distribution. Namibia (Fig. 68). Possibly Central Afrotropical (CAT) chorotype.
Ecological notes. Not available. The collection site falls within the area of Mopane Savanna vegetation (belonging to the Tropical Lowland Grassland, Savanna & Shrubland formation).
description: Published as part of Iannella, Paola D'Alessandro Mattia & Biondi, Maurizio, 2019, Revision of the Afrotropical flea beetle subgenus Blepharidina s. str. Bechyné (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in Zootaxa 4545 (1), DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4545.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/2618635