Smicronyx buchnerae Haran 2018, sp. n.
Creators: name: Haran, Julien
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Smicronyx
Smicronyx buchnerae

description: Smicronyx buchnerae Haran sp. n.
Figs 2D, 4H, 5P
Material examined. Holotype ♂: North Ghana, Tumu, ix.1995, ex. Buchnera hispida, A. Jost leg. (NMNH).
Paratypes. Data as for holotype. (1♀, NMNH; 1♀, CBGP).
Description (♂). Body length 2.6 mm. Colour. Body integument black, femora and tibiae dark red in middle; elytral vestiture of recumbent scales, rounded, slightly longer than wide, greyish, aligned in two lines on each interstria, forming more or less distinct patches of brown, and a series of brown or whitish semi–erect elongate scales on each interstria; vestiture of prothorax similar to that on elytra, consisting of greyish recumbent elongate and rounded scales oriented toward the median line, scales forming a whitish spot near scutellum. Head. Rostrum slightly longer than head capsule plus prothorax, moderately downcurved (♂) or downcurved and narrowed in apical ½ (♀), curvature stronger at base, covered by scarce scales in basal 1/3 and very short scales in middle, punctate over entire length; antennae inserted near middle of length (♀) or near apical 1/3 (♂); transverse furrow at base of rostrum shiny, with 2 spots of whitish erect scales; head capsule glabrous dorsally, with slight cover of scales near transverse furrow; eyes flat, subcontiguous ventrally, distance between eyes equal to the width of one ommatidium; antennae black, scape slightly bisinuate at base, moderately clavate at apex, segment 1 elongate, longer than 2+3, 4–5 subquadrate, 6–7 wider than long. Prothorax. As long as wide (w/l ratio: 1), widest near middle, sides rounded, narrowed in apical 1/4; integument distinctly punctate, space between punctures granulate, grains smooth and shiny.
Elytra. Sides lightly rounded, widest near middle (w/l ratio: 0.73); humeri raised; striae much narrower that interstriae, interstriae flat, wide and shiny, interstria 5 with moderate declivital callosity near apex, followed by a slight depression; scutellum small but visible, glabrous. Abdomen. Underside mostly covered with nonoverlapping greyish scales. Legs. Covered with whitish semi-erect elongate and recumbent rounded scales; femora clavate, bearing a ventral tooth in middle; tibiae straight, slightly bisinuate near middle. Genitalia. Penis elongate (w/l ratio: 0.46), sides sub-parallel in basal half, converging toward apex in apical 1/2, apex slightly acuminate, curvature in lateral view stronger near apex (Fig. 5P).
Life history. This species has been obtained from living tissues of Buchnera hispida Buch. -Ham. ex D.Don (Orobanchaceae), a facultative hemiparasite found in limited number on various crops (sorghum, maize, millet). Adults were collected in September.
Distribution. North Ghana.
Discussion. Smicronyx buchnerae is very close to S. guineanus from which it is hardly distinguishable by its external morphology. Smicronyx buchnerae has a slightly more robust body, the tibiae are thicker and elytra are shorter and wider than in S. guineanus (Fig. 2 C–D). The two species can be distinguished by the shape of the penis, which is relatively short and parallel-sided in S. buchnerae (Fig. 5P), while it is slender and narrowed near the middle in S. guineanus (Fig. 5O).
Name derivation. Named in reference to the genus name of the host plant of this species: Buchnera.
description: Published as part of Haran, Julien, 2018, A review of the genus Smicronyx Schoenherr (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculioninae) in tropical Africa, pp. 267-287 in Zootaxa 4508 (2) on page 284, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/2607088