Khoisan harani 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 : 19-21

Khoisan harani Meregalli & Borovec , sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BFEC276F-2C6C-4A32-B406-3E945EC38EDF

Figure 10

Type locality: South Africa, Western Cape, ca. 50 km NE of Ceres.

Holotype: ♂, RSA Western Cape, Crossing R355 – R 356, 747 m, 33°12.345'S, 19°43.771'E [-33.20575° 19.72952°], 13.xi.2018, R. Borovec lgt., sifting of litter under shrubby Euphorbia (TMSA) .

Description. Body length of holotype 2.23 mm. Elytra and rostrum blackish, pronotum brownish, antennal clubs dark brown, antennal scapes and funicles, legs with tarsi and ventrites yellowish. Scales on basal part of rostrum, pronotum and elytra erect, spaced, broad, as long as wide, concave, with thickened margins, dark brownish to blackish on dorsum of pronotum and elytra, pale ochreous or whitish on sides of pronotum and sides and lateral parts of elytral declivity, from interstriae 3, slightly more thickened on tubercles, scales on head and base of rostrum ochreous, towards antennal insertions white; setae sparse, dark, short, usually inconspicuous, inserted on top of tubercles on elytra and on tiny tubercles on protibiae.

Rostrum 2.38× as long as wide at base; in lateral view 1.18× as long as pronotum; basal half of rostrum in dorsal view distinctly tapered apicad with straight sides; sides strongly narrowed beyond antennal insertion, distinctly broadened to apex; rostrum at base 1.9× as wide as at apex; antennal insertions before apical 2/3 of length.

Scapes slender, 1.94× as long as funicle, at apex 0.64× as wide as club; funicles 4-segmented with first segment oblong; segment 1 1.8× as long as wide and 1.8× as long as segment 2, this 1.5× as long as wide; segments 3 and 4 as long as wide; clubs 2.2× as long as wide.

Pronotum as long as wide, widest at midlength, scarcely constricted behind anterior margin, regularly tapered basad; dorso-lateral and lateral humps low, small, almost indistinct. Base weakly curved, anterior margin moderately prominent above head, slightly raised in profile, slightly curved, not sinuate at middle.

Elytra subtriangular, as long as wide; punctures of striae small, shallow, distantly spaced, scarcely visible, slightly broader on sides; interstriae 2 with tubercle on declivity, interstriae 3 with tubercle before declivity; tubercles on interstriae 5 low, scarcely raised, interstriae 7 with four larger tubercles, first two obtuse, moderately raised, two post-median higher, rounded on top, and a minute subapical additional tubercle.

Protibiae robust, 3.6× as long as wide at apex, with small raised granules on external side, slightly broadened towards apex, apex straight, lacking spines.

Penis 2.6× as long as wide, in dorsal view in basal half slightly concave, in apical half curved, sinuate before small rounded apical lamella; ostium with sides convergent basally; in lateral view regularly curved, evenly tapered apicad. Endophallus with small oblong sclerite.

Female genitalia not known.

Bionomics. The type specimen was found by sifting litter under a shrubby Euphorbia in dry habitats. This species is a taxonomic and biogeographical vicariant of K. mendeli . The two species are separated by the Langeberg, a mountain range aligned in a west-east direction, which forms an important barrier between the drier, higheraltitude plateau to the north and the lower, more humid coastal plains to the south.

Derivation of the name. This species is named after our friend Julien Haran (Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations, Montpellier, France), who very kindly assisted us during our stay in Stellenbosch, showing us some interesting habitats. During his research in South Africa he also found some specimens of Khoisan umbrosus .

Distribution. South Africa, Western Cape, plateau north of the Langeberg ( Figure 18 ).

Remarks. Khoisan mendeli differs from K. harani in having the penis longer, with a narrow apical lamella and the ostium with sides subparallel basally, the elytra dark reddish, the rostrum reddish, the elytral tubercles small and narrow, with those on interstriae 7 acutely pointed, and the scapes shorter; in K. umbrosus the penis has a slightly longer apical lamella and the elytra have a dense coating of scales around the higher tubercles.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Khoisan harani. Body, dorsum (a), side (b); head with rostrum, dorsal view (h), lateral view (c); antenna (i); pronotum, dorsal view (g), lateral view (e); elytra, dorsolateral view (d), dorsal view (f); protibia (1); ventrites (k); penis, dorsal view (j), profile (m). 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.