﻿Calothecanigromaculata species-group from sub-Saharan Africa with descriptions of two new species from KwaZulu-Natal (Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini).

Elizabeth Grobbelaar,Mattia Iannella,Maurizio Biondi,Paola D'Alessandro

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1084.73175

Abstract

Calotheca Heyden is a flea beetle genus with a largely sub-Saharan distribution and currently comprising 34 species. The examination of new material is revealing an increase in species richness and intraspecific variability. Calothecacarolineaesp. nov. and C.wanatisp. nov., both from KwaZulu-Natal in the Republic of South Africa, are here described and attributed to the C.nigromaculata (Jacoby) species group, mainly based on genitalic characters. Photographs of the main diagnostic characters are provided, including the habitus, median lobe of the aedeagus, and spermatheca. Information on the geographic distribution and host plants of these species is also provided.

Highlights

Calotheca Heyden, 1887 is a flea beetle genus (Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini) that is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa where is common in the eastern and southern parts, with some records from Israel and the Arabian Peninsula (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2010a, 2012; Biondi et al 2017; D’Alessandro et al 2018a)
We describe two new species, Calotheca carolineae sp. nov. and C. wanati sp. nov., both from KwaZulu-Natal in the Republic of South Africa
Calotheca carolineae sp. nov. displays major similarities with C. nigromaculata and C. wanati sp. nov., more so than with other known Calotheca species. It is mainly characterized by the differently shaped median lobe of the aedeagus (Figs 1B, 2F, 3B) which is not sinuate in lateral view, and widely rounded in the apical part in ventral view

Summary

Introduction

Calotheca Heyden, 1887 is a flea beetle genus (Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini) that is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa where is common in the eastern and southern parts, with some records from Israel and the Arabian Peninsula (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2010a, 2012; Biondi et al 2017; D’Alessandro et al 2018a). Up to now this genus comprised 32 species, mainly associated with plants in the family Anacardiaceae, Searsia spp., which are distributed in several different forest and savannah environments (D’Alessandro et al 2018a, 2020, 2021; Iannella et al 2021). The three species are attributed to the Calotheca nigromaculata species group, based on the morphology of the pronotum and spermatheca

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