Bruchidius uberatus ( Fåhraeus, 1839 ), Fahraeus, 1839

Delobel, Alex, Ru, Bruno Le, Genson, Gwenaëlle, Musyoka, Boaz K. & Kergoat, Gael J., 2015, Molecular phylogenetics, systematics and host-plant associations of the Bruchidius albosparsus (Fåhraeus) species group (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 3931 (4), pp. 451-482 : 473

Bruchidius uberatus ( Fåhraeus, 1839)

Bruchus uberatus Fåhraeus, 1839:40

Bruchus baudoni Caillol, 1908:8 (synonymy in Decelle, 1966:111) Bruchidius baudoni (Caillol) : Pic, 1913:17

Bruchidius uberatus (Fåhraeus) : Decelle, 1966:110

Material examined. Egypt: 1♂ Philae, 8.v.2002, ex Vachellia nilotica (G. Fédière) [ CBAD, CBGP]; 3♂, 1♀, Bahareya, 21.xii.2000, ex V. n. tomentosa [1♂ 0 0 201, 1♀ 02614] (G. Fédière) [ CBAD]; 1♂, Bahareya, 19.ii.2003, ex V. nilotica [1♂ 06303] (G. Fédière) [ CBAD, CBGP]; 1♂, Maadi, 22.xii.2000, ex V. n. tomentosa [1♂ 01301] (G. Fédière) [ CBAD]. Senegal : 1♀, Dakar-Hann, 16.xii.1994, ex Senegalia senegal, (M. Tran) [ CBAD]; Richard-Toll, 21.iii.1999, ex V. n. adansonii [specimen U41 used for DNA extraction] (M.T. Gueye) [ CBGP]; Popenguine, 31.xi.1994, ex V. nilotica (H. & A. Delobel) [ CBAD]; 3♂, 2♀, M’Bour, 21.xii.1994, ex V. nilotica (H. & A. Delobel) [ CBAD]; M’Bour, 18.i.1995, ex V. n. adansonii (H. & A. Delobel) [ CBAD]; Bandia, 18.i.1995, ex V. n. (H. & A. Delobel) [ CBAD]; Ross-Bethiot, 20.v.1995, ex V. n. tomentosa (H. & A. Delobel) [ CBAD]. United Arab Emirates: 1♂, Hatta, 4-11.iv.2006, light trap [1♂ 03810] (A. van Harten) [ CBGP].

A medium to large-sized (2.6–4.7 mm) species, body light to dark brown, antennae and four anterior legs testaceous, often darkened, posterior legs reddish brown; pronotum with dense white setae on basal lobes and two lateral dots; elytra with white elongated spots separated by brown to black intervals in odd interstriae, even interstriae yellowish to largely dark brown; last visible tergite entirely white or with a median line of white setae, dark spots at base and middle, apex largely dark; female usually darker than male. Other distinctive morphological traits are as follows: antenna short, strongly serrate from segment 4 in male; base of interstria 4 bulging, with two wide teeth; first ventrite with small basal patch of erect setae; last visible tergite strongly turned under apically in male; in female antenna shorter, serrate from segment 5, last visible tergite regularly convex except faint bulge beyond middle, often almost bare, shining, without foveae.

Genitalia ( Figs. 25–26 ): Median lobe elongated, almost cylindrical (maximum width excluding basal hood/ total length = 0.14), basal hood moderately widened; ventral valve large, subtriangular, with two lateral groups of 6 setae; no hinge sclerite; basal half of internal sac with 12–16 large thorn-like sclerites with broad base and blunt tip, followed by two median, hooked circular sclerites, then a pair of large thorn-like sclerites; posterior part of internal sac with a cluster of stout spicules; apical third with dense setation, ending in a setose tube; gonopore not sclerotized; basal strut narrow, with large keel; lateral lobes cleft to about 3/4 their length; apex straight, bearing about 18 short and long setae. In female, vagina long, entrance of bursa copulatrix with dorsal ovoid sclerite bearing a strong thorn-like spine oriented posteriorly, its surface lined with minute teeth.

Biology. Examined material was reared from the seeds of Vachellia nilotica (including V. n. tomentosa and V. n. adansonii ) and Senegalia senegal . Also occasionally obtained from seeds of Vachellia flava , V. tortilis , and V. sieberiana in Mali and Senegal ( Nongonierma 1978) .

Discussion. As underlined beforehand B. uberatus is morphologically closely related to B. haladai .

Distribution. Angola ( Decelle 1975), Burkina Faso ( Nongonierma 1978), Egypt, Guinea ( Zacher 1936), India ( Allard 1895), Ivory Coast ( Gillon et al. 1992), Mali, Mauritania ( Nongonierma 1978), Namibia ( Zacher 1936), Republic of South Africa ( Van Tonder 1985), Senegal , Sudan ( Fåhraeus 1839), and United Arab Emirates.

Figures

FIGURES 25 – 26. Bruchidius uberatus (male): 25 — median lobe (ventral view); 26 — lateral lobes (ventral view).