Curelius johnsoni, Esser & R, 2017

Esser, Jens & R, Afrotropical, 2017, On Curelius CASEY, 1900 and Ephistemus STEPHENS, 1829 (Coleoptera, Cryptophagidae) from the Afrotropical Region, Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (2), pp. 1139-1145 : 1140-1142

Curelius johnsoni nov.sp.

Type material: Holotype Ƌ: " R. S. Africa, 13.-14.XI.1997, 33°59’S / 22°38’E, Cape Province: Wilderness NP: car catcher, leg. M. + B. Uhlig " [ TMP].

Paratypes: 22 ex. with the same data as the holotype [ MFNB: 13 ex., TMP: 2 ex., SAMCT: 2 ex., MMUM: 2 ex., cES: 5 ex.] ; 1 ex. " R. S. Africa, 30.XI.1996, 33°59.0’S / 22°40.6’E, Cape Province: Wilderness NP: Langvlei, Malachite bird hide, Juncus krausi + bush litter sievings, leg. B. + M. Uhlig " [ MFNB] ; 2 ex. " R. S. Africa, 14.XI.1997, 33°59.0’S / 22°40.6’E, Cape Province: Wilderness NP: Langvlei, Malachite bird hide, Juncus + bush litter + Phragmites sievings, leg. M. Uhlig " [ MFNB] ; 4 ex. „ R. S. Africa, 3.XII.1996, 34°27.2’S / 20°24.2’ E Cape Prov.: De Hoop NR: De Hoop Vlei: Phragmites sievings, leg. M. + B. Uhlig " [ MFNB] ; 15 ex: " R. S. Africa, 17.XI.1993, 34°27’S / 20°24’E, leg. Uhlig, Cape Province: De Hoop Nat. Res. , lake shore, reed sievings" [ MFNB: 12 ex., TMP: 1 ex., SAMCT: 1 ex.] .

E t y m o l o g y: To the honour of Colin Johnson, an important worker on Cryptophagidae and the "re-discoverer" of Curelius.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Male, 1,15 mm, chestnut brown. Body convex, sparsely punctured. Elytra between puncture with skin-liked shagreen, in the posterior half with longitudinal striae, puncture more obsolete ( fig. 2 ). Elytral epipleuron smooth. Eyes normal, one eye smaller than the diameter between the eyes (like in figs 6 & 7 ). No furrows for antennae next to the prosternal process developed. Legs slender and pale. Antennae slender and pale, 11 segmented with a 3 segmented club, segments 9, 10 and 11 slightly asymmetric, 10 and 11 jointed nearly in the middle of the previous segment (like usual in most Curelius).

C o m m e n t: Similar in colour to C. uhligi nov.sp. and Ephistemus globulus (PAYKULL, 1798) . From the latter distinguished by lacking antennal furrows, from C. uhligi by its typical longitudinal striae on elytra. C. jaegeri nov.sp. and C. japonicus (REITTER, 1878) lacking also the longitudinal striae and their puncture on elytra is more dense.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Known from South Africa.

Figures

Fig. 1-4: (1) Curelius jaegeri nov.sp., paratype; (2) Curelius johnsoni nov.sp., paratype; (3) Curelius uhligi nov.sp., paratype; (4) Curelius japonicus (REITTER, 1878) from South Africa.

Fig. 5-7: Heads of (5) Curelius japonicus (REITTER, 1878), (6) C. jaegeri nov.sp., (7) C. uhligi nov.sp.