Restiopria Audisio, Jelínek & Cline, 2011

Audisio, P., Jelínek, J., Cline, A. R., Mancini, E., Trizzino, M., Cerretti, P. & Antonini, G., 2011, Description and taxonomic position of a new genus and species of southern African pollen beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), Zootaxa 2927 (1), pp. 49-56 : 50-52

Restiopria Audisio, Jelínek & Cline , gen. nov.

( Figs 1–20 )

Type species: Restiopria biondii Audisio, Jelínek & Cline , sp. nov.

Generic diagnosis. Restiopria Audisio, Jelínek & Cline , gen. nov., sp. nov., is easily differentiated from any other known Meligethine ( Audisio 1993; Audisio et al. 2009) by the peculiarly shaped protibiae (possessing no teeth, but with elongate dark spicules along the outer edge, a condition unknown in all other known Meligethinae taxa), and by the peculiarly shaped male genitalia, with asymmetrically denticulate distal margin of the parameres (again, a condition absent in all other known Meligethinae ). The following characters also are diagnostic: a simple Pria –like hypopygydium, lacking arcuate lateral impressions; a small, but elongate and narrow antennal club without sexual dimorphism; a wide axillary space on the first abdominal ventrite; and a strongly reduced and scarcely visible dorsal pubescence.

Generic description. The single inclusive species varies moderately in size (2.0– 2.3 mm length), and exhibits the following combination of characters.

Body color and pubescence: dorsal body surface ( Fig. 15 ) usually unicolored dark yellow to orange–brown, rather shining, and apparently nearly glabrous; pubescence golden to silvery-whitish, extremely short and fine dorsally, recumbent and indistinct (each seta nearly as long as the longitudinal diameter of each discal pronotal puncture), never obscuring the dorsal body surface; pronotal and elytral sides narrowly flattened, typically same color as disc; lateral margin of pronotum and elytra with a series of faintly distinct short setae, each seta 0.5–0.7X as long as those on elytral disc; posterior margin of pronotum with peculiarly small, short, distally bifid subtruncate microsetae ( Fig. 17 ), sparsely and irregularly distributed medially, just anterior to scutellum. Ventral pubescence golden, recumbent, fine, but nearly 2X longer than dorsal setae.

Dorsal habitus: body slightly convex, slender and oval ( Figs. 1 , 15 ); anterior margin of clypeus truncate anteriorly, not bordered, without any medial bulge, and with moderately blunt outer angles ( Fig. 20 ); circum-ocular furrows on dorsal side of head absent ( Fig. 20 ); dorsal punctures on discal portion of pronotum nearly as large as eye facets, distinctly and densely impressed; pronotum with almost completely rounded posterior angles ( Fig. 1 ); scutellum regularly but shallowly punctured on most of exposed portion; elytra with simple punctures, not transversely strigose; elytral humeral angle moderately distinct, blunt, not protruding laterally; elytral humeral striae absent; elytral pre-sutural striae hardly distinct anteriorly and in posterior half, terminating at elytral apex, and delimiting posteriorly, on each elytron, a barely distinct, flat, narrow unraised sutural border, nearly as wide as proximal width of 3rd antennomere; elytral apices truncately rounded in both sexes ( Figs. 1 , 15 ); pygidium partially exposed, moderately convex, apically rounded in both sexes ( Fig. 2 ); proximal portion of pygidium (concealed under elytral apices) in both sexes with inner apices of basal arched impressions fused medially, forming a short blunt bulge ( Fig. 2 ).

Ventral habitus: labrum wide with anterior margin widely and deeply incised medially ( Fig. 9 ); antennal furrows shallow, moderately convergent posteriorly, ending in a C–shaped shallow and ill-defined impression ( Fig. 16 ); mentum short and strongly transverse, subpentagonal ( Fig. 16 ); prosternal antennal furrows on anterior margin of prosternum distinct, scarcely raised, short, and markedly divergent posteriorly ( Figs. 7 , 16 ); prosternal process relatively narrow, subapical portion dilated 1.8–2.0X as wide as maximum width of 1st antennomere, apex bluntly rounded ( Figs. 6 , 16 ); lateral borders of prosternal process delimiting shallowly impressed and barely distinct furrows, distally terminating over predistal lateral expansions, approximating prosternal posterior margin; posterior margin of mesoventrite simple, not medially incised; male impressions on metaventrite faint; first two visible abdominal ventrites simple in both sexes, without tufts of setae; caudal marginal lines of metacoxal cavities simple, parallel and narrowly contiguous to posterior margin of metacoxal cavities, with moderately distinct arched impressions of outer ‘axillary’ line curving posterolaterally ( Fig. 18 ); ‘axillary’ space on first abdominal ventrite widely developed, ‘axillary’ angle broadly obtuse ( Fig. 18 ); basal portion of last visible abdominal ventrite simple, without distinct traces of impressed arched impressions ( Fig. 3 ).

Appendages: in both sexes 1st antennomere 0.9–1.0X as long as maximum width of protibiae ( Figs 1, 5 ); 3rd antennomere in both sexes slender, ~3.0X as long as wide, 1.2–1.3X as long as but distinctly thinner than 2nd antennomere ( Fig. 5 ); 4th and 5th antennomeres in both sexes subequal, moderately slender, distinctly longer than wide; antennal club long and narrow but compact, mid–sized, simple, comprising last 3 antennomeres in both sexes (8th antennomere scarcely widened, 0.4X as wide as 9th antennomere), slightly narrower than width of protibiae, sexual dimorphism absent; labial palpi moderately long in both sexes, terminal segment ~2.1X as long as wide ( Figs. 11 , 16 ); maxillary palpi long and slender in both sexes, terminal segment ~2.3X as long as wide ( Figs. 10 , 16 ); mandible mid-sized, apex acuminate, retinaculum moderately prominent on inner side ( Fig. 8 ), no sexual dimorphism; tarsal claws simple, never toothed at base; tarsi of normal size and shape, 0.5–0.6X as long as corresponding tibiae ( Figs 1, 4 ); protibiae lacking teeth along lateral margin, instead only large, dark and conspicuous spicules are present ( Figs. 4 , 19 ); meso- and metatibiae along lateral margin bearing a single even row of fine, long pegs, without U-shaped sinuosity at distal third; meso- and metatibiae long, slender and narrow, never subtrapezoidal or securiform ( Fig. 1 ); sexual dimorphism not expressed in metatibiae; tarsal plates of prolegs slightly wider in males; posterior margin of metafemora simple in both sexes, without tubercles or projections.

Male genitalia: processes along inner side of parameres absent ( Fig. 12 ), with deeply and narrowly incised distal margin, and without deep median longitudinal desclerotization from proximal portion of tegmen extending to medial distal V-shaped excision; apex of paramera with peculiarly shaped and asymmetrycal denticulations ( Fig. 12 ); median lobe of aedeagus relatively short and parallel–sided, narrowly spatulate distally, without distal excision or emargination ( Fig. 13 ).

Female genitalia (ovipositor): relatively large and slender; styli long, symmetrical and cylindrical, ( Fig. 14 ), inserted close to apex of contiguous gonostyloids; each gonostyloid more sclerotized and pigmented distally, with a simple, never indentate outer portion of basicoxites, and a single, small and narrow, faintly pigmented and sclerotized arcuate area along outer subdistal portion of gonostyloids. ‘Central point’ of ovipositor located slightly proximad of midlength, without spicule directed proximad.

Geographic distribution. Restiopria gen. nov. currently includes only the type species from southwestern South Africa described below .

Etymology. This new genus is so named from the related genus Pria Stephens 1829 , and from the stem of the plant family name Restionaceae , including both known host–plants of the type species (see below). Gender feminine.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Restiopria biondii gen. nov., sp. nov. (♂ holotype and ♀♀ paratypes from South Africa, Cape Town, Table Mountain. 1. Body outline of male holotype. 2. Female pygidium (dorsal view). 3. Female hypopygidium (ventral view). 4. Right female protibia and protarsus. 5. Female right antenna. 6. Female prosternal process (ventral view). 7. Female anterior portion of prothorax (ventral view), with anterior portion of prosternum. Scale bar = 1.0 mm (Fig.1); = 0.20 mm (Figs 4–6); = 0.45 mm (Figs 2, 3, 7).

FIGURES 8–14. Restiopria biondii gen. nov., sp. nov. (♂ holotype and ♀♀ paratypes from South Africa, Cape Town, Table Mountain. 8. Right mandible (female paratype). 9. Labrum (female paratype). 10. Right maxilla and maxillary palpus (female paratype). 11. Rigth labial palpus (female paratype). 12–13. Tegmen and median lobe of aedeagus (male holotype). 14. Ovipositor (female paratype). Scale bar = 0.13 mm (Figs 8–11); = 0.20 mm (Figs 12–14).

FIGURES 15–20. Restiopria biondii gen. nov., sp. nov. (♂ paratype and ♀♀ paratypes from South Africa, Western Province, Concordia indigenous forest, east of Knysna. 15. Habitus (male paratype). 16. SEM image of ventral view of head with antennal furrows and prosternum (female paratype). 17. SEM image of microsetae on posterior edge of pronotum (female paratype); 18. SEM image of ventral view of outer left portion of metaventrite and first abdominal ventrite, with axillary line and axillary space of left metacoxal cavity (female paratype); 19. SEM image of outer edge of right protibia in lateral view (female paratype); 20. SEM image of lateral-frontal view of head (female paratype). Scale bar = 1 mm (Fig. 15); = 40 µ (Figs 17).