Afrosmicronyx giganteus
Creators: name: Haran, Julien
name: Perrin, Hélène
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Afrosmicronyx
Afrosmicronyx giganteus

description: Afrosmicronyx giganteus (Hustache, 1935)
Figs 1B, 2 A, 3 A, 5 A, 6 A
Smicronyx (Afrosmicronyx) giganteus Hustache, 1935a: 29
Afrosmicronyx giganteus (Hustache): Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999: 82
Material examined. Neotype ♀ [here designated]: [Mali] ‘Dogo. Soudan Français. viii.1950. Remaudière’ ‘ Smicronyx (Afrosmicronyx) giganteus. Comp(aré) au type. A. Hoffmann’ (NEOTYPE ♀, fitted with a red neotype label: “NEOTYPE / Afrosmicronyx giganteus / Hustache, 1935/ Haran & Perrin des. 2017”, MNHN, Hoff.coll). Other material. Cameroon, Pitoa, 20.ix.1974, P. B. de Miré leg., JHAR_00106 (5♂, 5 ♀. CBGP); 19.ix.1974, P. B. de Miré leg., JHAR_00049 (3♂, 1 ♀. CBGP); Waza, 19.vii.1978, P. B. de Miré leg., JHAR_00050 (1 ♀, CBGP); Maroua, viii.1977, P. B. de Miré leg., JHAR_00051-52 (2 ♀, CBGP). Mali, Data as for neotype, at light, Hoffmann det., compared to type (1 ♂, MNHN, Rema.coll). Sudan, Wad Medani, viii.1930, H.B. Johnston leg., D.M. Anderson det. (2 ♀, BMNH).
Redescription. (♂) Body length 6.5–7.0 mm. Colour. Body integument brownish black; vestiture of elytra consisting of short, rounded, recumbent, overlapping scales, slightly longer that wide, concealing integument in fresh specimens, forming shades of whitish yellow and brownish colour, basal and apical thirds of elytra paler, medium third with a darker transverse band. Head. Rostrum longer than head plus prothorax, thin, evenly narrowing from base to insertion of antennae, sides parallel in apical half, moderately downcurved, punctate and covered by scales in basal third, smooth and shiny in medium and apical thirds, transverse furrow at base of rostrum reduced, concealed by scales, head short; antennae with segments 1 and 2 subequal in length, 1 as long as 3+4. Prothorax. Wider than long, widest and rounded in apical third, sides almost straight in basal half, densely punctate, median line present, visible through scales, scales brown with paler spots on sides. Elytra. Twice as long as wide (ratio w/l: 0.55), sides subparallel in basal two thirds, rounded in apical third, humeri raised, declivital callosities present at apex of interstria 3, followed by a strong depression, striae narrow, interstriae flat and wide; scutellum small, shiny and flat. Abdomen. Underside covered by pale brownish scales, ventrites 1 and 2 elongate and subequal, 2 as long as 3–5. Legs. Femora clavate, armed with a strong ventral tooth; tibiae straight, armed with a strong ventral tooth proximally near middle; tarsi reddish. Genitalia. Penis short (ratio w/l: 0.5), sides straight, subparallel, converging near apex, apex truncate, slightly and regularly curved in lateral view (Fig. 6 A). Females are distinguished from males by their slightly longer ventral tooth on tibiae, by their rostrum, which is less coarsely punctate in apical half, and by the insertion of their antennae on rostrum, which nearer to middle.
Life history. Unknown. Adults collected in July and August.
Distribution. Cameroon, Mali.
Discussion. Hustache’s description of Afrosmicronyx giganteus was based on a single specimen, from Sokolo (“ Sudan ” [Mali], vii-1933, Hustache 1935). This species is by far the largest of the genus and cannot be confused with any other species. Despite intensive search, the specimen used by Hustache for the description of the species was not found in the MNHN collections. However, in the Rema.coll there is a specimen from Dogo (Mali) identified as Smicronyx (s. g. Afrosmicronyx) giganteus by A. Hoffmann, with the indication “comparison with type ”. A. Hoffmann has created confusions by transferring several types of Hustache to his collection (Perrin 1998) and relabeling them. But since this specimen was found in the Rema.coll it is not likely a transfer of A. Hoffmann in this case. In the absence of available type material, and given the need to provide a type for this nominal species, we designated this specimen as the neotype of Afrosmicronyx giganteus.
description: Published as part of Haran, Julien & Perrin, Hélène, 2017, Revision of the genus Afrosmicronyx Hustache (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculioninae), pp. 132-148 in Zootaxa 4365 (2) on pages 134-136, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4365.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/1117506