Springbokia sacculus, Borovec & Meregalli, 2021

Meregalli, Massimo, Borovec, Roman, Cervella, Piero, Santovito, Alfredo, Toševski, Ivo, Ottati, Sara & Nakládal, Oto, 2021, The Namaini, a new weevil tribe with six new genera from South Africa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193, pp. 95-123 : 111-117

SPRINGBOKIA SACCULUS BOROVEC & MEREGALLI , SP.

NOV.

( FIGS 8, 10F, M, T, 11F, M, T) Z o o b a n k r e g i s t r a t i o n: u r n: l s i d: z o o b a n k. org:act: E716D353-E73B-4A54-9D65-9F8EBDF982DF

Diagnostic description: Body length 1.44–1.91 mm, holotype 1.63 mm. Elytra with one regular row of short semi-appressed setae on each interstria, at most as long as half the width of interstria, subspatulate, apically rounded; rostrum subparallel-sided with straight sides; epifrons wide, regularly flat; antennal sockets in lateral view with ventral border reaching ventral border of eyes and dorsal border directed above eyes and vanishing there; scapes curved at midlength, at apical half robust, widest at middle of apical half, here as wide as clubs; elytra short oval; protibiae robust, apically subtruncated with a dense fringe of yellowish long setae; penis regularly triangular, from base evenly tapered apicad to sharp tip; endophallus short with elongate sclerite;

KEY TO THE GENERA OF THE NAMAINI 1. Antennal sockets in lateral view reaching eyes. Epifrons flat, at most with slender median longitudinal stria. Eyes with less than 35 ommatidia. Subgena glabrous at least in middle part.................................................... 2

-. Antennal sockets in lateral view separated from anterior margin of eyes by squamose stripe shorter than eye diameter. Epifrons usually with U- or V-shaped stria open anteriad, posteriorly reaching vertex. Eyes with more than 35 ommatidia. Subgena densely squamosa........................................................................... 3

2. Frons densely squamose. Epistome posteriorly carinate. Antennal funicle 6-segmented. Antennal sockets in profile reaching eyes with ventral margin touching ventral margin of eyes. Subgena in narrow middle part glabrous, laterally densely squamose. Protibiae of uniform width along the entire length. Ventrites densely squamose. Plate of sternite VIII of females apically rounded. Gonocoxites with apical styli. Size 1.4–2.1 mm .................................................................................................................................... Springbokia

-. Frons glabrous, matt. Epistome hardly visible, posteriorly not separated from frons. Antennal funicle 5-segmented. Antennal sockets in profile not directly reaching eyes, with ventral margin directed to dorsal margin of eyes. Subgena glabrous, only narrow lateral part sparsely squamose. Protibiae widest at basal third, slightly narrowed apicad. Ventrites glabrous. Sternite VIII of females with plate apically lengthened, forming distinct apical process. Gonocoxites lacking styli. Size 1.7–2.1 mm ……….......................... Pentamerica

3. Antennal sockets in dorsal view hardly visible as narrow furrow; in lateral view narrowly furrow-shaped, with ventral margin well edged, reaching ventral margin of eye and dorsal margin barely noticeable, vanishing before eyes. Procoxae touching anterior margin of prosternum. Tegmen lacking parameres. Ventral border of rostrum in profile long, equally long as rostral thickness. Gena glabrous. Size 1.8–2.6 mm ......................................................................................................................................................... Cederbergia

-. Antennal sockets in dorsal view visible in anterior half to two-thirds of length as narrowly reniform; in lateral view with dorsal and ventral margin equally developed. Procoxae in middle or before middle of pronotum, not touching anterior margin of prosternum. Tegmen with parameres, these sometimes weakly sclerotized. Ventral border of rostrum in profile short, conspicuously shorter than rostral thickness. Gena in apical half densely squamosa .......................................................................................................................4

4. Abdominal ventrite 2 long, as long as or longer than ventrites 3 and 4 combined. Suture between ventrites 1 and 2 straight or slightly sinuose. Tibiae long and slender, protibiae 4.6–6.7 × longer than wide, apically fringed by short setae. Apodeme of sternite VIII of females terminating at base of plate and creating short basal margins. Appressed elytral scales small, 6–8 across width of interstria, raised setae create 1–2 dense irregular rows on each interstria..................................................................................................................... 5

-. Abdominal ventrite 2 short, as long as ventrite 3 or 4. Suture between ventrites 1 and 2 deeply arched. Tibiae short and robust, protibiae 4.3–5.9 × longer than wide, apically armed with short and sparse spines. Apodeme of sternite VIII of females terminating inside of plate, basal margin of plate membranous. Appressed elytral scales bigger, 3–5 across width of interstria, raised setae create one regular row on each interstria ............................................................................................................................................................6

5. Antennal sockets in lateral view narrow, slightly enlarged posteriad, with ventral border directed against dorsal border of eye and dorsal border directed above eye. Antennal scapes conspicuously enlarged apicad, at apex distinctly wider than club. Suture between ventrite 1 and 2 straight. Size 2.9–4.4 mm .......... Cervellaea

-. Antennal sockets in lateral view wide, distinctly enlarged posteriad, with ventral border directed against ventral border of eyes and dorsal border directed against dorsal border of eyes. Antennal scapes slightly enlarged apicad, at apex at most as wide as club. Suture between ventrite 1 and 2 slightly sinuose. Size 2.4–4.1 mm .................................................................................................................................. Namaquania

6. Epifrons narrow, at apex 0.5–0.7 × wide as rostrum. Protibiae apically subtruncated, laterally slightly enlarged, armed with sparse, short, fine or stout yellowish spines. Pronotum in all species with sides regularly rounded. Gonocoxites with long styli, distinctly longer than wide. Size 1.7–2.4 mm ....................... Yamalaka

-. Epifrons wide, at apex 0.7–0.9 × wide as rostrum. Protibiae apically distinctly rounded, laterally distinctly enlarged, armed with conspicuous, sparse, stout yellow or black spines. Some species with conspicuous, laterally prominent lobes in basal half of pronotum. Gonocoxites with short styli, only slightly longer than wide. Size 1.7–4.9 mm .............................................................................................................................. Nama

116 M. MEREGALLI ET AL .

spermatheca with ramus distinctly bigger than collum, almost as long as wide; collum short, elongate, slender, curved at tip.

Etymology. From the Latin sacculus , a small bag, in reference to the method of collecting these weevils. Noun in apposition. All specimens were collected

over the course of several days from inside a small b a g c o n t a i n i n g s o i l s i f t e d f r o m u n d e r Euphorbia shrubs.

Ecology: The specimens were sifted from soil below large shrubs of Euphorbia dregeana , in karroo-type vegetation.

Type material: Holotype: species 422, ♂, RSA (South Africa), Northern Cape, Namaqua NP, E Wildeperdehoek Pass, 29°56.837’S, 17°38.276’E, 496 m, 13.xi.2016, sifting of detritus, dead leaves and branches below shrubby Euphorbia, R. Borovec, M. Meregalli lgg. ( TMSA) . Paratypes: same data as the holotype, 47 ex ( RBSC, MMTI, TMSA, SANC, BMNH, NMPC) .