Acylophorus dankalensis Bordoni

(Figs 6, 37, 56, 82, 114)

Acylophorus dankalensis Bordoni, 1994: 311; Herman, 2001: 3028.

Diagnostic characters. Bordoni’s description contains illustrations of the aedeagus, head, maxillary palpi and posterior tarsi in addition to a textual description of morphological features. Note, however, that the illustration of the aedeagus in Bordoni (1994) is incorrectly labelled. Fig. 8 in that work shows the aedeagus of A. dankalensis, not fig. 7. The following section contains additional diagnostic features as well as variations exhibited by further specimens studied.

Length 7–7.5mm. Head black. Pronotum brown to dark brown. Elytra brown. Abdomen brown and iridescent. Legs pale. Antennae pale with segments II to VIII infuscated. The maxillary palpi are uniformly pale.

Head large (pronotum 1.6x wider than head), as long as wide with rounded temples and antennal insertion right on front margin (Fig. 6). Eyes relatively small. Micro-punctures sparse and concentrated toward front of head. Dense short pubescence behind eyes. Two pairs of interocular setae. A line of five postocular setae plus an additional short seta on hind margin of eye. Underside of head sparsely pubescent, strongly depressed at base with gular sutures separate, but very proximate toward base. Mandibles with outer margin strongly curved. Right mandible with medial tooth and flange; left mandible with one sharp tooth and one blunt tooth (Fig. 37). Maxillary palpi with terminal segment elongate and densely pubescent, almost symmetric, longer than glabrous penultimate segment which is also elongate (Fig. 56). First segment of antenna longer than next three. Segments I to VIII elongate, X transverse (Fig. 82).

Pronotum only slightly transverse (1.2x wider than long) with rounded sides and widest in basal half. Shining with no micro-punctures. One pair of dorsal setae. One pair of lateral setae. Marginal setae long. Elytra transverse (1.4x wider than long) with pubescence arising from relatively fine asperate punctures. Apical fringe of thick bristles slightly longer than the hairs on the rest of the elytra. Abdominal tergites with long semi-erect pubescence arising from asperate punctures, longer than marginal fringe of bristles.

Paramere bilobed, lobes parallel, narrow and proximate, each lobe strongly ridged, though not as strongly as in A. orientalis, pegs arranged confusedly in apical half of each lobe (Fig. 114). Median lobe not longer than paramere with rounded and slightly expanded apex, flattened at tip.

Type material. Holotype 3: “ SIERRA LEONE MT i LOMA CASCATE DENKALE m 800 ca 25– 26.xi.84 Leg. W. ROSSI / HOLOTYPUS / HOLOTYPUS Acylophorus dankalensis sp. n. Bordoni det. 1992” (cBord).

Further material examined. R.D. CONGO: Kivu: Masisi, Mutakato, 800m, N. Leleup, ix.1953, 13 (ISRNB); Tshuapa: Lac Tumba, Mabali, 350m, N. Leleup, x.1955, 13 (ISRNB). NAMIBIA: Popa Falls, Snizek, i.1994, 13 (cJanak).

Distribution and bionomics. Collected from waterfalls in Sierra Leone and Namibia and from forest humus at two localities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Fig. 142).

Comparative notes. Distinguished within the species group by a combination of the small eyes, the elongate antennal segments, the curved mandibles and the arrangement of medial teeth, as well as the form of the aedeagus.