Tazarcus aeaea, Grebennikov, 2020

Grebennikov, Vasily V., 2020, Tazarcus, a new phylogenetically unplaced genus of two flightless weevils with metapleural ridge from the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae), Zootaxa 4766 (3), pp. 421-434 : 426

Tazarcus aeaea sp. n.

Figs 1 , 4 , 5

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3EA886A2-BA5C-4F0A-AA07-49558CD9A936

Type locality. Tanzania, West Usambara Mts., Mkusu Forest, S4.76585° E38.36022°, 1576 m.

Description. Length of pronotum and elytra in dorsal view 2.0– 2.5 mm (n=7); lateral body contour in dorsal view not constricted between pronotum and elytra; lateral sides of posterior half of pronotum and elytra at middle evenly curved; disc of pronotum completely covered by dense whitish pilosity; procoxae separated by distance greater than half their length; elytral punctures on striae small, their diameter not greater than 0.2 of width of interstriae; elytral interstriae with row of prominent appressed scales as long as width of interstriae; male genitalia: Figs 5 E–F; DNA: Table 2 .

Geographic variability. Adults of the new species from South Pare and West Usambara populations appear morphologically indistinguishable, even though genetically distinct ( Fig. 4 ).

Material examined. Holotype ( CNC), male, “ TANZANIA, W. Usambara Mts., Mkusu For., S4.76585° E38.36022°, 1576m, 14.i.2013, sift47, V.Grebennikov”, “CNCCOLVG00005480” . Paratypes ( CNC), 3: same data as holotype, specimens 5479, 9337, 9338. Additional material: 4 ( CNC): in ethanol, same data as holotype; 1 (in collection of D. McKenna): same data as holotype; 1 ( CNC): “ TANZANIA, South Pare Mts., Chome For., S4.26865° E37.92944°, 2318m, 3.i.2013, sift36, V.Grebennikov”, 2 ( CNC): “ TANZANIA, South Pare Mts., Chome For., S4.26945° E37.92814°, 2239m, 3.i.2013, sift37, V.Grebennikov”.

Distribution. This species is known from two nearby EAM localities in Tanzania, South Pare and West Usambara.

Etymology. The species epithet is a Latinized Greek mythical name of Aeaea, an island of the goddess Circe, who is known for transforming her offenders into animals, and it is a noun in apposition.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of the genus Tazarcus gen. nov. detected in three (among 14, indicated by circles) sampled Tanzanian forests. Map designed using online SimpleMappr tool (Shorthouse 2010).

FIGURE 4. Maximum Likelihood inference phylogram. Terminal labels consist of a specimen ID (last four digits of the format CNCCOLVG0000XXXX, see Table 2), followed by the taxonomic name of maximal precision. Digits at internodes are bootstrap values (shown only for clades with>50%). Three clades with specimens possessing metapleural ridges are numbered 1–3 and illustrated to scale. HT and PT designate holotypes and paratypes, respectively.

FIGURE 5. Tazarcus aeaea sp. nov., male holotype. A–D: habitus, dorsal (A), left lateral (B), ventral (C) and left fronto-lateral (D); E–F: aedeagus and tegmen, dorsal (E) and ventral (F).