Cionus hirtellus 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 hirtellus

description: 30. Cionus hirtellus sp. n. (Figs 30a–f)
Type locality. Ebenezer (Mpumalanga, South Africa).
Type series. Holotype, male “ SOUTH AFRICA, Tvl. Ebenezer Dam vicinity, 23.55S 29.58E 1400 m; 16.i.1991 R.G. Oberprieler ” (SANC). Paratypes: same data as holotype (2, RCCM; 1, SANC); “ SOUTH AFRICA, TVL. Mac-Mac 10 km N of Sabie, 25.02S 30.48E 24.x.1983. R. Oberprieler ” (1, SANC); “ SOUTH AFRICA, TVL. Mac–Mac 10 km N of Sabie, 25.02S 30.48E 17.i.1989. B. Grobbelaar ” (1, SANC); “ SOUTH AFRICA, Tvl. God’s Window 25.54S 30.53E 28.ii.1991; V M Uys” (1, SANC); “S. Afr.; Tv Nelshoogte Knuckles rocks for. 25.47 S – 30.50 E / 1.12.1986; E-Y: 2337 beating in forest, leg. Endrödy-Younga ” (1, TMSA); “1./ 2.12.2000 RSA KwaZulu/Natal Lotheni NR P. Schüle leg.” (1, FBCV); “ SOUTH AFRICA EASTERN CAPE c. Winterberge Mts. Michael Košťál leg. / Seymour env. 5 km N 1200 m S32°29.5’ E26°47.2’ 27.xi.2017 ” (1, MKCS); “ SOUTH AFRICA EASTERN CAPE c. Katberg Mts. Michael Košťál leg. / Seymour env. 5 km N 1200 m S32°29.5’ E26°47.2’ 30.xi.2018 / Buddleja sp. ” (1, MKCS).
Diagnosis. Pronotum with four distinct protuberances. Elytra covered with intermixed grayish and light brown scales, interstria 3 at base carinate, covered with dark scales, with some subrecumbent to suberect, irregularly arranged scales; striae not visible. Claws distinctly asymmetrical in male.
Description. Male (Figs 30a–b). Body: short, globose. Head: rostrum moderately long (Rl/Rw 4.42–4.50, Rl/Pl 1.45–1.52), blackish; in lateral view weakly, regularly curved, of same width from base to apex, in dorsal view parallel-sided from base to apex, striate-punctate, with distinct longitudinal carina along midline, covered with moderately dense, recumbent, elongated (l/w 5–7) whitish and light brown scales. Head between eyes moderately narrow, half as wide as rostrum at base, with dense, elliptical, grayish scales forming comb around apex of eyes. Eyes flat. Antennae reddish with slightly darker club, inserted in apical third; scape long (l/w 15); funicle distinctly shorter than scape, S1 slightly more robust than and as long as S2, twice as long as wide, S2 2.5 × as long as wide, S3–5 as long as wide; club oblongly oval, shorter than funicle, pubescent. Pronotum: reddish, with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures, completely hidden by recumbent, dense, elliptical (l/w 5–8), mostly whitish scales, in mediobasal area brown scales; conical, distinctly transverse (Pw/Pl 1.60–1.66), widest at base, with rectilinear sides, weakly convex on disc, with four transversely arranged, distinct protuberances emphasized by tufts of erect whitish and light brown scales. Prosternum: anterior margin distinctly emarginated. Scutellar shield: densely covered with narrow grayish scales. Elytra: reddish, globose, short (El/Ew 1.11–1.16), widest at middle, distinctly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.63–1.66), humeri prominent, sides weakly rounded, somewhat convex on disc; interstriae flat, almost straight except interstria 3 sinuate and distinctly convex at base, with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures completely hidden by dense, recumbent, intermixed grayish to light brown scales, except suberect dark scales at base of interstria 3 without spots, with a few distinctly raised, irregularly arranged, sparse, white scales, many of them arranged obliquely or transversely; striae not visible, with punctures moderately deep, 1/3 as wide as interstriae, intervals between punctures situated at same level as interstriae. Venter: mesosternal process moderately convex, moderately emarginated. Metasternum densely covered with elongated, pale brown scales being hair-like medially. Abdomen with somewhat irregular, very small, indistinct, very shallow punctures, moderately visible between elongated whitish scales, similar in shape and length at sides and in middle except for rare hair-like scales at midline; V1 1.7× as long as V2; V1+2 4.5× as long as V3+4, latter ones 0.9× as long as V5. Legs: densely covered with elongated, pale brown scales; femora blackish, with robust sharp teeth; tibiae blackish; tarsi reddish, onychium twice as long as T3; claws asymmetrical, one claw half as long as other. Penis: Figs 30d–f, its body parallel-sided to apex, with narrow blunted tip. Flagellum reaching half of apodemes, bifurcated at base.
Female. Rostrum moderately longer (Rl/Rw 5.60–5.66, Rl/Pl 1.79–1.86), in lateral view more curved (Fig. 30c), claws almost symmetrical.
Variability. Length 2.9–3.4 mm. Light scales on pronotum and elytra vary from completely whitish grey to completely light brown. Dark scales on elytral disc more or less numerous. In some specimens several small spots formed by dark scales are present on the elytral interstra 3.
Etymology. The Latin adjective means “moderately hairy” and refer to the presence of a few raised elytral scales.
Remarks. This species is similar to C. ingratus and C. usambicus, from which it differs by the rostrum distinctly longer and different in shape especially in female, and the presence of more numerous and more distinct, irregularly arranged raised scales on elytra. The last character is shared only by C. friedmani that however clearly differs by the smaller size and the pattern of the elytral vestiture.
Biological notes. In the Katberg Mountains, this species was collected by the second author from Buddleja sp.
Distribution. South Africa (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape).
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 58-59, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5288.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7958875