Cryptolarynx pyrophilus 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 pyrophilus

description: 11. Cryptolarynx pyrophilus Haran sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 93795B58-0E02-4471-8486-42670DD6458A
Figs 1K, 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, 7C, 8B–C
Differential diagnosis
Cryptolarynx pyrophilus sp. nov. can be distinguished from other species of the genus by its very wide forehead (2× as wide as width of an eye) and by the suberect scales on the epifrons. It is most similar to C. cederbergensis sp. nov., the two species showing interspecific genetic distances ranging from 20.9% to 23.3% for COI and 5.2 % for EF1 among the specimens available for study.
Etymology
The species was named in reference to the migration of specimens towards recently burnt areas observed in this species, formed from combining the Greek nouns ‘ pyr ’ (‘fire’) and ‘ philia ’ (‘affection’). The specific epithet is an adjective in the masculine form.
Material examined
Holotype REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; “ REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. Western Cape Province, Montagu [4 km SE]. 23.ix.2018. J. Haran leg.” “ 33.814° S 20.151° E, Oxalis spp. JHAR01528_0101. Cirad-CBGP coll.” “Holotype. Cryptolarynx pyrophilus. Haran 2023”; SAMC.
Paratypes REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape • 2 ♂♂, 17 specs (preserved in ethanol); same collection data as for holotype; CBGP • 1 ♀; Montagu; [33.79° S, 20.12° E]; 1–24 Oct. 1924; R.E. Turner leg.; 466; NHMUK • 1 ♀; Hex River Valley; [ca 33.43° S, 19.72° E]; Jun. 1883; SANC.
Description (♂)
MEASUREMENTS. Body length 1.5–4.5 mm.
COLOUR AND VESTITURE. Body integument black, antennae and tarsi reddish. Dorsal vestiture (pronotum + elytra) consisting of overlapping, recumbent, parallel-sided clothing scales, 2–3 × as long as wide, truncate or rounded at apex; colour of scales varying from creamy-white to pale brown to dark brown; white scales concentrated in two longitudinal stripes laterally on pronotum and on elytral interstriae 4, creating a broad, dark medial stripe on pronotum and basal ⅔ of elytra; white scales forming a pair of spots surrounded by black scales on interstriae 3 at apical ⅔ of elytral length; scales of striae recumbent, in lateral view not distinct from rest of vestiture.
HEAD. Forehead very wide, 1.3 × as wide as epifrons near antennal insertions, 2 × as wide as width of an eye, scales recumbent. Eyes convex, in dorsal view slightly exceeding outline of head, surrounded by a ring of short pale scales, on forehead directed towards occiput; distance between eye and scrobe as large as width of antennal club. Epifrons with distance between antennal insertions 0.75× length of scape, scales at least 2× as long as wide, suberect, contiguous. Frons with a single pair of erect lateral setae. Epistome with single elongate median seta. Antennal funicles with segment 1 elongate; 2 shorter, at most 1.5× as long as wide; 3–4 globular, isodiametric, compressed, slightly angular on inside; 5–6 globular, isodiametric; 7 wider than long.
PRONOTUM. Transverse (W:L ratio 1.4), widest near midlength, sides arcuate; apex slightly narrower than base.
ELYTRA. Broadly ovate, slightly wider than long (W:L ratio 1.1), sides convex, widest near midlength.
LEGS. Tibiae with 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 wider than long.
ABDOMEN. Ventrite 1 concave medially; ventrites 1–4 with creamy-white plumose scales, almost concealing integument, intermixed with long suberect scales; ventrite 5 devoid of scales in apical half, there bearing only erect setae.
TERMINALIA. Body of penis elongate (W:L ratio 0.3–0.4), as long as temones, sides subparallel, converging in apical third; curvature in profile weak and regular, dorsoventrally narrowed before apex. Copulatory sclerite shaped like a reversed plunger. Parameroid lobes separate, divided by deep median notch, each lobe broad, bearing a series of long setae directed apicad. Spiculum gastrale with basal arms long, regularly curved.
Sexual dimorphism
The sexes can be distinguished by the shape of the elytra (wider than long in male, longer than wide, more broadly ovate in female), and females also have a wider forehead and smaller metatibial mucrones.
Life history
Large numbers of adults of C. pyrophilus sp. nov. were collected in and close to a recently burnt area (seven months prior to sampling), at the bases of emerging Oxalis pes-caprae L. plants; see the subsection Behaviour below for details. The heat tolerance of this species was assessed in a comparative study of weevils associated with fire-prone ecosystems, but the adults showed a lower tolerance to heat than those of C. variabilis sp. nov. (Javal et al. 2022). Adults were collected in September and October.
Distribution
The species occurs in the inland valleys of Montagu and the Hex River (Fig. 13).
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 39-42, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.877.2151, http://zenodo.org/record/8110586