Khoisan umbrosus 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 : 21-23

Khoisan umbrosus Meregalli & Borovec sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4A0F47D6-1B1C-450B-B01A-EC5108A62265

Figure 11

Type locality: South Africa, Western Cape, Stellenbosh .

Material examined: Holotype: ♂, RSA Western Cape, Stellenbosch, Marais Park, 121 m, 33°55.848'S, 18°52.630'E [-33.93081° 18.87716°], 15.x.2019, R. Borovec & M. Meregalli lgt., sifting under Oxalis sp. in border of forest ( TMSA). Paratypes: 3 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( MMTI, RBSC); 6 ex. RSA Western Cape, Stellenbosch, Marais Park, -33.964452° 18.876308°, 07.ix.2018 (4 ex), 27.vi.2019 (2 ex), Julien Haran legit, JHAR 2573, from the base of Oxalis purpurea and Oxalis obtusa (CBGP) ; 3 ex RSA, Western Cape, Tygerberg, -33.875° 18.596°, Julien Haran legit, JHAR 1213 ( CBGP).

Description. Body length 2.13–2.75 mm, holotype 2.31 mm. Body including antennae and legs dark brownish. Scales on basal part of rostrum, pronotum and elytra broad, longitudinally concave, on elytra aligned in one row along even interstriae, regularly spaced, on tubercles scales longer, densely packed; scales with border thickened, internal part very thin, on middle of pronotum and base of elytra brown, on dorso-lateral and lateral parts of pronotum and elytra, on rostrum, legs and underside of body whitish, translucent or pale ochreous, round, appressed to integument; setae dark brown, narrow, long, erect, inserted on top of tubercles, on anterior margin of pronotum, along scaled part of rostrum, one long erect seta on medial expansion of protibiae.

Rostrum in male 2.94× as long as wide at base, in females 3.14–3.38× as long as wide at base; in lateral view in both sexes 1.1× as long as pronotum; in both sexes in basal part evenly tapering apicad with sinuate sides, apical part narrower than basal part, with slightly concave sides, broadened apicad; rostrum at base in male 1.42× as wide as at apex, in females 1.27–1.33× as wide as at apex. Antennal insertions at apical third.

Scapes slender, distinctly curved, 1.6–1.7× as long as funicle, at apex 0.7–0.8× as wide as club; funicles 4- segmented, first two segments conical; segment 1 twice as long as wide and twice as long as segment 2, this 1.4–1.5× as long as wide; segment 3 as long as wide to 1.1× as wide as long; segment 4 1.1–1.2× as wide as long; clubs 1.6–1.7× as long as wide.

Head moderately concave in lateral view.

Pronotum 1.04–1.09× as wide as long, widest at anterior third, distinctly constricted behind anterior margin, regularly tapered basad. Dorsum flat, with two distinct humps in median part and four humps on dorso-lateral parts, a tubercle on sides at point of maximum width, before anterior constriction, lateral parts with two tubercles, with an additional hump on sides; anterior margin not swollen, moderately prominent above head. Base and apex slightly arched.

Elytra oval, 1.03–1.08× as long as wide; striae broad, with deep round punctures, on dorsum wider than width of interstriae, on sides as wide as width of interstriae, punctures curved around tubercles; interstriae 2 with small tubercle on dorsum, another one before declivity, and a smaller one at apex, interstriae 3 with five tubercles, one broad at base, two on dorsum, one on declivity and one at apex, interstriae 5 with two tubercles at midlength, interstriae 7 with four tubercles along sides, equally spaced.

Legs short, protibiae angularly broadened outwards before apex, much narrowed at apex, 2.6× as long as wide at subapical expansion, 4.8× as long as wide at apex.

Penis 3.44× as long as wide, in dorsal view at basal half with slightly rounded sides, at apical half tapered apicad with slightly sinuate sides, lamella narrowly rounded; in lateral view regularly curved, evenly tapered apicad, sharply pointed. Endophallus not examined.

Spermatheca with slender, regularly curved cornu; corpus large, rounded; ramus and collum very small, hump-shaped, almost indistinct.

Bionomics. The type material was sifted below trees in a park, from a shallow layer of litter with Oxalis plants, and on the hill in Cape Town, again at the base of an Oxalis plant (Haran, personal communication).

Derivation of the name. The species epithet is formed from the Latin noun umbra, shadow, and refers to the place where the specimens were found, a cool, shady spot under trees, in contrast to the usually dry and sunny habitats where the other species of the genus were found. The name is an adjective.

Distribution. South-western part of Western Cape province, on a hill in Cape Town and in Stellenbosh ( Figure 18 ).

Remarks. This species shares the character of 4-segmented funicles with K. mendeli and K. harani , which differ in having scarcely raised elytral tubercles and lacking a denser coating of scales; the former also has a reddish apex of the rostrum, legs and tarsi and the penis with straight sides and a more elongate lamella.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Khoisan umbrosus. Body, dorsum (a), side (b); head with rostrum, dorsal view (i), lateral view (c); antenna (1); pronotum, dorsal view (j), lateral view (e); elytra, dorsolateral view (d), dorsal view (h); protibia (m); ventrites (f); penis, dorsal view (g), profile (k). 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.