Cionus tanzanicus Caldara & Košťál 2023, sp. n.
Creators: name: Caldara, Roberto
name: Košťál, Michael
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Cionus
Cionus tanzanicus

description: 29. Cionus tanzanicus sp. n. (Figs 29a–e)
Type locality. Mufindi (Tanzania).
Type series. Holotype, male [Tanzania] “ 2000 m, Mufindi, D. Ost-Afrika, Zumpt, X.1938 / Coll. Mus. Congo / Cionus usambicus Fst. 1899, Det. from descr. G.A.K. Marshall ” (MRAC).
Diagnosis. Pronotum with four protuberances, median ones almost indistinct. Elytra rectangular, with moderately prominent humeri, covered with grayish and light brown scales, without spots, striae not visible. Claws asymmetrical in male.
Description. Male (holotype) (Figs 29a–b). Body: moderately elongated, suboval (length 2.9 mm). Head: rostrum moderately thin, moderately long (Rl/Rw 4.43, Rl/Pl 1.32), reddish; in lateral view straight to antennal insertion, then abruptly curved and tapered, in dorsal view sides parallel to apex, with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures, with moderately dense, recumbent, grayish scales (l/w 5–8). Head between eyes moderately narrow, half as wide as rostrum at base, with dense, elliptical, grayish scales forming a comb around apex of eyes. Eyes flat. Antennae reddish with dark brown club, inserted between middle and apical third; scape long (l/w 11); funicle moderately shorter than scape, S1 moderately more robust than and as long as S2, 2.5× as long as wide, S2 2.7 × as long as wide, S3–4 as long as wide, S5 transverse; club oblongly oval, shorter than funicle, pubescent. Pronotum: brown, with somewhat irregular, small, indistinct, shallow punctures completely hidden by recumbent, dense, elliptical (l/w 5–8), mostly grayish and a few intermixed brown scales; conical, moderately transverse (Pw/Pl 1.40), widest at base, with rectilinear sides, weakly convex on disc, with four transversely arranged protuberances (the median ones almost indistinct) emphasized by small tufts of few erect grayish scales. Prosternum: anterior margin distinctly emarginated. Scutellar shield: densely covered with grayish and light brown scales. Elytra: brown, rectangular, moderately long (El/Ew 1.22), widest at middle, distinctly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.67), humeri angular, prominent, sides rectilinear, moderately convex on disc; interstriae flat, almost straight, with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures, completely hidden by dense recumbent, partly transversely arranged, grayish to light brown scales, without spots; striae not visible, with moderately deep punctures, somewhat narrower than interstriae, intervals between punctures situated at same level as interstriae. Venter: mesosternal process weakly convex, distinctly emarginated. Metasternum densely covered with elongated grayish scales. Abdomen with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures, moderately visible between elongated whitish scales, more elongated, hair-like scales in middle; V1 1.5× as long as V2; V1+2 5.0× as long as V3+4, latter ones 0.6× as long as V5. Legs: femora black, with robust sharp teeth; tibiae brown; tarsi brown, onychium as long as T1–3 combined; claws asymmetrical, almost completely connate, one claw 2/3 as long as other. Penis: Figs 29c–e, its body with parallel sides, tip shortly acute. Flagellum subtle and very long, much longer than penis.
Female. Unknown.
Variability. We examined only the holotype.
Etymology. The Latin adjective refers to the country where the type locality is located.
Remarks. This species differs from C. ingratus and related species by more oblong, not globose elytra, less convex on disc. The long flagellum of the penis is also noteworthy.
Biological notes. No data are available.
Distribution. Southern Tanzania.
description: Published as part of Caldara, Roberto & Košťál, Michael, 2023, A Taxonomic Revision Of The Afrotropical Species Of The Weevil Genus Cionus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), pp. 1-98 in Zootaxa 5288 (1) on pages 56-58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5288.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7958875