Yamalaka, 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 : 108

YAMALAKA BOROVEC & MEREGALLI , GEN. NOV.

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: 537D2C1A-33B5-4B55-A8DF-F625C0D3F5B6

Type species: Nama erikae Borovec & Meregalli, 2013: p.508 , here designated ( Figs 6, 10G, N, U, 11G, N, U).

Diagnostic description: Very small to small Namaini 1.7–2.4 mm long; rostrum continuous with head with U-shaped stria on epifrons; ventral border of rostrum in profile short, conspicuously shorter than rostral thickness; frons squamose; gena and subgena densely squamose; antennal sockets in dorsal view narrowly reniform, laterally subtriangular, longer than wide, not reaching eyes; procoxal cavities placed in middle of prosternum; metatibiae with apical surface densely squamose; ventrites squamose; tegmen with parameres; female sternite VIII with long and slender apodeme, terminating just inside of plate, plate oval to widely oval; gonocoxites with long apical styli.

Etymology: During our 2013 trip with our colleague Andrea Battisti, we camped one night in an area with several large burrows of an unknown animal, possibly an aardvark [ Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766) ]. We did not know what it was and the fantasy name Yamalaka was coined. Since then we always think of a Yamalaka following and protecting us during our expeditions. We name this genus after our fictional protector.

Included taxa and distribution: In addition to the type species, Yamalaka erikae ( Borovec & Meregalli, 2013) comb. nov., Yamalaka iuliae ( Borovec & Meregalli, 2013) comb. nov. and five additional taxa are included in Yamalaka , based on the mt-Cox1 analysis and/or their morphology. They are distributed in South Africa: Northern Cape ( Fig. 15).

SUBCLADE B