Oromia aguiari Alonso Zarazaga, 1990

Machado, Antonio & López, Heriberto, 2015, A new species of Oromia (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from the Canary Islands, Zootaxa 3931 (1), pp. 117-126 : 125

Oromia aguiari Alonso Zarazaga, 1990

Studied material. Tenerife, Altos de Los Realejos, Palo Blanco (830 m a.s.l., UTM 28R3444-31379): 1 ♂ (Holotype), 1-XI-1985, A. Aguiar leg; 3♂, 1♀, 14-VII-2013, P. Oromí & H. López leg.; 1 ♀, 10-II-2014, P. Oromí & H. López leg.

Biology and ecology. Only two specimens of O. aguiari were previously known ( Alonso-Zarazaga 1990), despite sampling efforts in different subterranean habitats of Tenerife over three decades. They were collected with pitfall traps placed in a colluvial MSS that was quite silted by soil sediments, on a steep hillside covered by a remnant of laurel forest and some scattered introduced trees (pine, cypress and chestnut). In order to obtain fresh material for genetic analysis, we set more effective MSS pitfall traps in the same spot and collected five individuals over the last four years, together with other blind edaphobiont weevils of the genus Paratorneuma . Individuals usually have their integument largely impregnated by soil particles, in some cases covering the striking complex of foveolae and ridges that characterize this species. This frequent dirt is probably acquired while crawling through the soil, confirming that O. aguiari is an edaphobiont. The specimens recently collected have a broader range of body size variation than those used for the description of the species, so the total length now varies from 2.35–3.90 mm (s.r.) and the maximum width of elytra from 1.17–1.72 mm.