Afromicracis congona ( Eggers, 1940 )

Jordal, Bjarte, 2021, Small, uniform, and rarely collected-an integrated taxonomic revision of Afromicracis bark beetles (Coleoptera, Scolytinae), Zootaxa 4981 (1), pp. 70-88 : 82-84

Afromicracis congona ( Eggers, 1940)

( Figs 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46 )

Miocryphalus congonus Eggers, 1940 (original spelling)

Type material. Holotype, female: [ Congo] Congostaat, Kivu, Lacs Mokoto [GIS: -1.221, 29.018] ( RMCA); paratype (1): Congo, Kivu, Kahunda [GIS: -1.50, 28.90], VIII-1937, J. Ghesquiere ( NMW).

Diagnosis. Length 1.1–1.4 mm, 2.2–2.3 × as long as wide; frons smooth and finely punctulate, with fine short setae; antennal scapus with fine tuft of setae as long as the scapus; antennal club corneous, with one distinct procurved suture near apical margin; pronotal asperities broad, subcontiguous, in concentric rows near summit; elytral setae narrowly spatulate; protibiae with one lateral and two apical denticles.

Distribution. Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania.

New record: Cameroon, SW province, Limbe , Ekande, 1000 m, [GIS: 4.081, 9.172], ex Symphonia globulifera , 20.Nov.2007, B. Jordal, leg.

Remarks. Specimens collected in Cameroon are slightly shinier and interstrial setae are slightly more separated compared to the paratype collected in Eastern part of Congo, although these features vary within the Cameroon collection site. The holotype is intermediate between the two depicted specimens ( Figs 39–40 ). One host plant is previously reported, Guarea laurentii (Meliaceae) , and the new record from Symphonia globulifera involves a new host family ( Clusiaceae ) for this species. In Cameroon, pairs of one male and one female were dissected from young galleries in twigs and thin branches.

Figures

FIGURES 38–46. Dorsal lateral and front view of Afromicracis brevipilosa female holotype (38, 41, 44), Afromicracis congona female paratype (39, 42, 45), and A. congona female specimen from Cameroon (40, 43, 46).