Blepharidina matabelelandensis 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 matabelelandensis

description: Blepharidina matabelelandensis sp. nov.
(Figs 14, 24, 50, 61, 69)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 642DEF0E-0B5B-4B50-9373-708721B6B9A5
Type material. Holotype ♂: “ Zimbabwe, 50 km S of Bulawayo (20°33'S 28°36'E), Matobo Nat. Park, 3– 5.xii.1995, S. Bečvář leg.” (BAQ). Paratype. ZIMBABWE: Lonely (Lonely Mine, 19°30'S 28°45'E), H. Swale leg., 1 ♀ (BMNH).
Diagnosis. Blepharidina matabelelandensis sp. nov. shows clear affinities with B. himba sp. nov. These two species share similar size, habitus, color pattern (Figs 7, 14), and a very slender aedeagus with laterally widely rounded apical part in ventral view (Figs 43, 50). B. matabelelandensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguishable from B. himba sp. nov. by the: darker integuments; different arrangement of the pronotal punctures, with three lateral groups and a small basal medial group (two lateral groups and an elongate medial group in B. himba sp. nov.) (Figs 21, 24); aedeagus in ventral view fusiform from base to subapical part (clearly tapered in B. himba sp. nov.) (Figs 43, 50).
Description of the holotype (♂). Body elliptical-elongate, rather convex (Fig. 14); LB = 7.88 mm; maximum pronotal width (WP = 3.13 mm) in basal third; maximum elytral width (WE = 4.25 mm) in middle. Head brown with pale clypeus and labrum; antennae yellowish; pronotum with several yellow patches, and brown and black areas; elytra mostly blackish, with numerous yellow patches on 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, paler than head, weakly raised; interantennal space distinctly wider than length of first antennomere; interocular space wider than transverse ocular width; antennae slightly longer than half body length (LAN = 4.50 mm; LAN/LB = 0.57); LA: 100:40:79:84:105:90:95:87:79:76:84. Pronotum (Fig. 24) subrectangular, moderately transverse (LP = 1.81 mm; WP/LP = 1.72), with clearly sinuate lateral margin; anterior margin slightly thicker than basal margin, and clearly sinuate laterally; anterior angles distinctly prominent laterally; pronotal surface with lines and groups of differently sized punctures, with no striae of punctures in middle; pronotal base with two lateral, distinctly impressed, longitudinal striae. Scutellum brown, subrounded, moderately elongate. Elytra moderately elongate (LE = 6.13 mm; WE/LE = 0.69; LE/LP = 3.38), 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 = 3.59 mm; LE/LAED = 1.70) (Fig. 50) in ventral view fusiform from base to subapical part; apical part widely rounded, with a median tooth; ventral sulcus deep, open towards basal part; in lateral view, aedeagus straight in basal 2/3s, then distinctly curved dorsally, with apex ventrally bent; dorsal ligula connected to about apical fourth, with slightly carinate basal surface.
Variation. Paratype (female) similar in shape, sculpture and color to the holotype. Tarsi not dilated. Spermatheca (Fig. 61) with piriform, thick, very sclerotized basal part; distal part short and thin, clearly bent; ductus apically inserted, very thick, with S-shaped distal part. Morphometry in Appendix 2.
Etymology. The female specific epithet is after Matabeleland, the Zimbabwe region where the species was collected.
Distribution. Zimbabwe (Fig. 69). Possibly Central Afrotropical (CAT) chorotype.
Ecological notes. Not available. The collection site falls within the area of Miombo & Associated Broadleaf Savanna (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