Cionus coniungens 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 coniungens

description: 2. Cionus coniungens sp. n. (Figs 2a–f)
Type locality. Mau Downs (Kenya).
Type series. Holotype, male “Mau Downs, Aug. 1898 (F.J. Jackson.) 8000 ft. / Lady Jackson, B.M. 1929–606” (BMNH). Paratypes: same data as holotype (3, BMNH); “ Mau Downs, Aug. 1898 (F.J. Jackson.) 8000 ft. / Brit. E. Africa, 1910–423” (3, BMNH; 2, RCCM) “ Mt. Kinangop. 8,600 ft. J. Ford / Kenya, Aberdare Range. 27.x.1934. B.m. E. Afr. Exp. / A240 [on the opposite side]” (1, BMNH); [Tanzania] “A. d. Sammlung Dr. Chr. Schröder’s, Kilimandjaro, 1700 m ” (1, ZMHB); “ ETIOPIA - Shoa [= Shewa] - Loc. 2, Tra Addis Abeba e Holetta, m 2400 circa - 21-X-1973, P. Brignoli leg.” (2, ECCR); “ Keren. Abyss. Dr. Steudner. ” (1, ZMHB).
Diagnosis. Pronotum without protuberances. Elytral integument reddish, with many white and blackish spots formed by raised scales, with apical 2/3 of interstria 1 densely covered with pale scales, with small black macula at anterior third of interstria 1, with well visible striae, the first two striae arcuate around the black macula. Claws slightly asymmetrical in both sexes.
Description. Male (Figs 2a–b). Body: robust, globose. Head: rostrum moderately long (Rl/Rw 4.35–4.42; Rl/Pl 1.25–1.31), blackish with reddish apex, in lateral view weakly and regularly curved, slightly narrowed from base to apex; in dorsal view subparallel-sided, striate-punctate, with longitudinal subtle carina in midline, from base to near apex with recumbent, moderately dense, grayish and light brown, long (l/w 6–9), hair-like scales. Head between eyes half as wide as rostrum at base. Eyes almost flat. Antennae brown, inserted between middle and apical third of rostrum; scape long (l/w 8); funicle 0.7× as long as scape, S1 slightly more robust than S2, 1.8× longer than wide, as long as S2 which is 2.0× longer than wide, S3–5 transverse; club oblongly oval, as long as funicle, pubescent. Pronotum: blackish, with dense, moderately deep, irregular punctures poorly visible between recumbent to subrecumbent, moderately dense, long (l/w 6–10), hair-like, intermixed whitish and light brown scales; conical, distinctly transverse (Pw/Pl 1.55–1.60), widest at base, with subrectilinear sides, without protuberances. Prosternum: with distinctly emarginated anterior margin. Scutellar shield: heart-shaped, covered with whitish elongated scales similar to those on elytra. Elytra: reddish, subrectangular, short (El/Ew 1.10–1.15), with rectilinear sides, distinctly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.75–1.82), moderately convex on disc; odd interstriae moderately convex, with small, irregular, shallow punctures weakly visible between spots of suberect, dense, whitish and black, moderately long (l/w 5–9), hair-like scales, on interstria 1 almost whitish with a small spot of black scales in basal third; even interstriae weakly convex, with broad, deep irregular punctures similar to those in striae, somewhat visible between recumbent, moderately dense, uniformly grayish, long (l/w 6–10), hair-like scales. Venter: mesosternal process flat, with rectilinear posterior margin. Metasternum densely covered with elongated, hair-like in middle, whitish scales. Abdomen with shallow punctures irregular in size and disposition, weakly visible between recumbent, somewhat dense, whitish and light brown, long, hair-like scales; V1 1.8× as long as V2; V1+2 3.4× as long as V3+4, latter ones 1.1× as long as V5. Legs: densely covered with elongated whitish scales; femora black, with robust sharp teeth; tibiae blackish; tarsi blackish, onychium reddish, slightly shorter than T1–3 combined; claws slightly asymmetrical, one claw 2/3 as long as other. Penis: Figs 2d–f, its body with subparallel sides, slightly sinuate and narrowed in apical third, tip truncated. Flagellum short, bifurcated for a long stretch at its base.
Female. Rostrum moderately longer (Rl/Rw 4.60–4.66; Rl/Pl 1.30–1.35) (Fig. 2c), claws symmetrical.
Variability. Length 3.4–3.7 mm. There are no noteworthy differences between the specimens of the type series except for a specimen from the type locality, which possesses a very small black spot in the preapical part of interstria 1. This spot is more distinct in the two specimens from Ethiopia, which are apart from this character completely identical with the specimens from Kenya although their dorsal vestiture is partly abraded. However, also in these specimens the first stria is rectilinear, not sinuate along the preapical spot.
Etymology. The present participle of the Latin verb “ coniungere ” (to connect) intends to highlight the similarity of this Afrotropical species to the Palaearctic ones.
Remarks. This species differs distinctly from all other Afrotropical species due to its similarity with Palaearctic species (i.e. at least a small black spot on the basal portion of elytral interstria 1, striae 1 and 2 arcuate around this spot). From most of them it differs only by the lack of the preapical spot on the elytral interstria 1, which is covered with dense light scales in posterior 2/3.
Biological notes. No available data.
Distribution. Ethiopia, Kenya, 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 12-13, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5288.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7958875