Meibomeus kirki Romero and Johnson

Romero, Jesús & Johnson, Clarence Dan, 2002, Five New Species Of Meibomeus Bridwell From The New World With Host Records For Them And Six Named Species (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 56 (2), pp. 182-202 : 192-196

Meibomeus kirki Romero and Johnson , new species

Male. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.6–1.7 mm. Width l.0 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.8–0.9 mm.

Integument Color. Body black, not metallic, appendages black, except first 2 antennal segments and apices of pro­ and mesothorax tibiae, and femora light brown; eyes golden.

Vestiture. With recumbent, moderately dense to sparse white to intermixed white and golden hairs as follows: eye with vague medial fringe of white hairs; ocular sinus with dense white or golden hairs; postocular lobe with short white hairs; postocular patch of sparse to dense white hairs; pronotum with sparse white to intermixed white and golden hairs, median basal lobe covered with dense white hairs; elytron and pygidium with sparse intermixed white and golden hairs in no apparent pattern; undersurfaces and legs with sparse white hairs.

Structure. Head. Frons with medial longitudinal carina; eyes not sexually dimorphic, about 5 rows of facets behind ocular sinus; interocular ratio 0.5; antenna extended to about 0.4 length of elytron, pedicel about 0.7 of scape length and about 0.7 as long as segment 3, 5–10 eccentric, segment 11 slightly more elongate than 10, acuminate at apex.

Prothorax. Disk subcampanulate with many punctations in no apparent pattern, cervical sulcus deep, extending from near coxal cavity to 0.6 distance to pronotal midline; lateral prothoracic carina vague, extending from base to about 0.3 distance to coxal cavity; prosternum separating procoxae for about 0.8 their length; short median basal line on median basal lobe usually not obscured by white hairs.

Mesothorax and Metathorax. Scutellum small, quadrate, bifurcate at apex; elytron with broad, flat, smooth basal area ending in a short spine at base of an abbreviated stria 4, flat, basal area also slightly abbreviating striae 3 and 5 at base, small spines at bases of striae 3 and 5; elytron about twice as long as broad; striae deep, punctate; strial intervals punctulate; metasternum not deep nor rounded in profile; metasternum without 2 strong medial spines projecting ventrally at apex on either side of midline, but with a narrow, elongate medial sulcus separating metasternum; hind femur constricted basally and apically, expanded medially to slightly more than width of coxa ( Fig. 10); outer ventral surface with vague longitudinal carina without spines or spinules, inner surface usually without carina; femur armed on inner margin near apex with one large acuminate spine about as long as width of tibial base followed by 4 small, subapical acuminate spines each about 0.4 as long as first spine ( Fig. 10); tibia with ventral, lateroventral, lateral and dorsomesal glabrous carinae; dorsal surface of tibia without fossa but sometimes rugulose; tibial corona with one vague dorsal spinule, mucro short, about 0.1 as long as first tarsomere; tarsomere 1 with vague ventral, lateral and mesal glabrous longitudinal carinae.

Abdomen. First abdominal sternum with small line of white hairs basomedially, with polished lateral apical band; sterna 2–4 unmodified, fifth sternum about 1.3 times as long as fourth, emarginate at apex, apex not produced ventrally. Pygidium with many fine punctations, apex gently curved ventrad, convex in lateral view.

Genitalia. Median lobe elongate, slightly constricted on lateral margins near apex, lateral margins heavily sclerotized, especially near apex; in ventral view ventral valve about 0.8 as wide as apex of median lobe; dorsal valve not sclerotized, rounded apically; armature of internal sac with two elongate lateral masses near apex, middle usually with spine with large round base that varies to triangular, 3 to 4 large, forked spines clumped near base, internal sac lined with many fine spines ( Fig. 11 ). Lateral lobes elongate, cleft to 0.1 their length, apical portion of each lobe enlarged, covered with many fine setae ( Fig. 12 ).

Female. Length (pronotum­elytra) 1.6–1.8 mm. Width 0.7–1.0 mm. Maximum thoracic depth 0.6–0.8 mm.

Similar to male except antenna reaching only to 0.2 length of elytron; basal gibbosity of elytron abbreviating striae 3–6; sternum 5 about 2 times longer than fourth, not emarginate at apex.

Host Plants. Aeschynomene paniculata Willd. ex Vogel : Venezuela: Anzoategui: 10 km N Soledad , X­9­83, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3035­83 ). Monagas: 6 km S Chaguaramas , VIII­3­84 ( CDJ #3439­84 ) . Zornia marajoara Huber : Venezuela: Monagas: 16 km S Mata Negro , X­7­83, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3016­83 ) .

Type Series. Holotype male: Monagas: 6 km S Chaguaramas , VIII­3­84 ( CDJ #3439­84 ) . Allotype female and one paratype: Venezuela: Anzoategui: 10 km N Soledad , X­9­83, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3035­83 ). Four paratypes: Venezuela: Monagas: 16 km S Mata Negro, X­7­83, C.D. Johnson collector ( CDJ #3016­83 ) . Holotype and allotype deposited in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History , Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Paratypes deposited in the CDJ and JRN collection.

Distribution. Venezuela (Anzoategui, Monagas).

Discussion. M. kirki is very near M. surrubresus (Pic) in external structure and keys to M. surrubresus . The male genitalia are also similar to M. surrubresus . The spines of the internal sac are distinct from M. surrubresus in that the internal sac has a triangular spine about 0.3 from the apex, three to four large, forked spines clumped near the middle, the internal sac is lined with many fine spines, and, especially, there are larger, more heavily sclerotized spinules lining the base of the internal sac ( Fig. 11 ). The apex of the median lobe of M. kirki is more broad and less pointed than M. surrubresus and the forked spines medially in the internal sac of M. kirki are less sclerotized than the 3 to 4 large, dark spicules in M. surrubresus . Meibomeus kirki is also similar to M. hidalgoi but M. hidalgoi is more robust, has a hind femur with large tooth and 3 spines, as opposed to four spines in M. kirki ( Fig. 10) and M. kirki has an abbreviated 4th stria with tooth at base which M. hidalgoi does not possess. To our knowledge, a species of Zornia has never been reported as a host for bruchids so Z. marajoara is a unique host. These two reports of M. jacki and M. kirki feeding in the seeds of this species should be verification that the hosts are valid. The two species are distantly related, however, so we believe these host records should be verified.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of the second author’s son Kirk

Donald Johnson for his assistance in collecting bruchids and plants.

Figures

Figs. 11–12. Meibomeus kirki male genitalia. 11) Median lobe; 12) lateral lobes.