Khoisan karooicus Meregalli & Borovec, 2025

Meregalli, Massimo & Borovec, Roman, 2025, Khoisan, a new genus of Cyclominae from South Africa, with nine new species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Zootaxa 5646 (1), pp. 1-37 : 23-25

Khoisan karooicus Meregalli & Borovec sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4492D961-FDEB-4C60-AD30-3E09CA395BA6

Figure 12

Type locality: South Africa, Western Cape, Karroo NP, Klipspringer´s Pass .

Material examined: Holotype: ♂, RSA Western Cape, Karroo NP, Klipspringer´s Pass , 1231 m, 32°17.733'S, 22°26.987'E [-32.29555° 22.44978°], 5.xi.2018, R. Borovec & M. Meregalli lgt. ( TMSA) . Paratypes: 2 ex, same data as holotype ( RBSC, MMTI); 1 ♀ , RSA Western Cape, Karroo NP, antenna, 1821 m, 32°15.248'S, 22°30.327'E [-32.25413° 22.50545°], 20.x.2019, R . Borovec & M. Meregalli lgt., sifting under different shrubs in fynbos ( MMTI) .

Description. Body length 2.06–2.51mm, holotype 2.06 mm. Body black including apical part of rostrum and antennae, short basal part of scapes and tarsi dark brown. Scales pale ochre-coloured, concave, narrowly pedunculate, erect on pronotum and elytra, on head, rostrum and underside round, almost appressed to integument; on pronotum sparse, distantly inserted on dorsum, tightly packed on anterior margin, on dorsal tubercles and sides, on elytra aligned in two–three irregular rows on interstriae, reciprocally isolate, not obscuring integument, densely packed on top of tubercles, forming a fan-shaped coating, lower part of tubercle unscaled, scales on legs erect, lighter; setae dark brown, very narrow, inserted on top of tubercles on pronotum and elytra, four on anterior margin and sides of pronotum, few setae also present on rostrum and legs.

Rostrum equally long in both sexes, in ♂ 2.4–2.5× as long as wide at base; in lateral view 0.8× as long as pronotum; in basal part subparallel in males, slightly narrower and tapered in females, in both sexes abruptly tapered before antennal insertions, 1.3× as wide at base as at antennal insertion, in both sexes at base 1.53–1.61× as wide as at apex; apical part of rostrum slightly enlarged anteriorly. Antennal insertions between midlength and apical third.

Scapes short and slender, 1.4–1.5× as long as funicle, at apex 0.6–0.7× as wide as club; funicles 5-segmented with first segment longer than others; segment 1 1.3–1.4× as long as wide and 1.4–1.5× as long as segment 2, this 1.1–1.2× as long as wide; segments 3 and 4 as long as wide; segment 5 1.2–1.3× as wide as long; clubs 1.5–1.7× as long as wide.

Pronotum as long as wide or slightly transverse, strongly constricted behind anterior margin, sides sublinear, weakly tapering basad; surface with large round punctures, disc flat, with two dorsal tubercles and two lower humps towards base, anterior margin with four low tubercles; sides with one raised tubercle at point of maximum width, and a lower tubercle towards base; in lateral view tubercles distinctly raised, anterior margin swollen upwards, slightly prominent above head. Base slightly arched.

Elytra 1.05–1.15× as long as wide. Striae with deep round punctures, regularly impressed, as wide as width of interstriae, interstriae 2 with tubercle on dorsum, before declivity, interstriae 3 with two low humps on basal part and one raised tubercle at beginning of declivity, interstriae 4 with basal low hump, interstriae 5 with three tubercles on dorsum and declivity, interstriae 7 with four highly prominent tubercles, regularly spaced from base to apex.

Legs short, protibiae enlarged at midlength, external margin with raised conical granules, narrowed at apex; apex with three large dark spines.

Penis 2.2× as long as wide, widest at apical quarter, here with regularly curved sides, basally slightly tapered, subparallel-sided at basal half, apically constricted, with shortly sinuate sides before short, narrowly rounded tip; in lateral view regularly curved, evenly tapered apicad, sharply pointed. Endophallus with two short, transversely placed sclerites.

Spermatheca with regularly curved cornu; corpus large, rounded; ramus not developed; collum short, tube-shaped, directed forward.

Bionomics. The type specimens were sifted from litter under various small shrubs in mountain fynbos.

Derivation of the name. This species takes its name from the Karoo biome and the Karoo National Park, in which the type series was found. The name is an adjective.

Distribution. South Africa, Western Cape, Karoo National Park, in the lower areas and up to the highest peak of the park ( Figure 18 ).

Remarks. Among the species with 5-segmented funicles, K. maddocki is easily distinguishable from K. karooicus by its very high pronotal and elytral tubercles, its pronotum being longer than wide, scarcely broadened before the anterior constriction, and by its penis having a very slender apex. Khoisan javalae differs in having a brownish integument, the strial punctures small, the scales arranged in one irregular row, dense and raised on declivity, and the penis narrowed anteriorly, whereas K. oneili has the pronotum very strongly narrowed anteriorly, beyond the point of maximum width, and its sides are distinctly narrowed posteriorly; the lateral interstriae have sparse scales.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Khoisan karooicus. Body, dorsum (a), side (b); head with rostrum, dorsal view (g), lateral view (c); antenna (j); pronotum, dorsal view (f), lateral view (h); elytra, dorsolateral view (d), dorsal view (e); protibia (m); ventrites (k); aedeagus, dorsal view (1), penis, profile (i). Scale bar 1 mm; figures not to scale.

FIGURE 18. Distribution map. Symbols with a black dot indicate the locality of the holotype. Map generated from https:// www.openstreetmap.org.