The Namaini, a new weevil tribe with six new genera from South Africa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)

Abstract

Based on a phylogenetic analysis of a large number of mainly undescribed edaphic Entiminae from South Africa, a new tribe of entimine weevils is described, which includes six new genera. Taxa included in Namaini trib. nov. are clustered into seven clades that are used to delimit the following genera: Nama, type genus of the tribe, plus the new genera Cederbergia gen. nov., Cervellaea gen. nov., Namaquania gen. nov., Pentamerica gen. nov., Springbokia gen. nov. and Yamalaka gen. nov. A key to the genera is given and four new species are described.

Barcoding pest species in a biodiversity hot-spot: the South African polyphagous broad-nosed weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae)

“…A small barcoding gap between the mean of maximum intraspecific genetic distance and the mean distance to closest heterospecific is observed, even without comprehensive sampling and multiple sequences per species for most of the PBNWs in this study. However, this result is not unexpected for Coleoptera (Meier et al 2008, Bergsten et al 2012 or, indeed, in other groups that have been well sampled (Meyer and Paulay 2005). The significant geographic distance between many of the sampled specimens in taxa, where multiple sequences were obtained, probably contributes to the high intraspecific genetic distances here observed (Fig.…”

“…The greatest challenge to successful barcoding of PBNW is undoubtedly inadequate taxonomic coverage of this group. The taxonomy of South African Entiminae is complex and many tribal/genus/species classification is still in the process of being resolved, with new species, genera and even tribes constantly being described (Meregalli et al 2021 (Borovec and Skuhrovec 2018, Borovec 2019, Borovec and Skuhrovec 2019, Meregalli et al 2021). Some 'older' genera like Eremnus still contain a multitude of undescribed species (Oberpri eler 1988).…”

Late Cenozoic environmental changes drove the diversification of a weevil genus endemic to the Cape Floristic Region

“…A large part of the weevil diversity, however, is still undescribed in South Africa as shown by the description of entire new clades and a large number of new taxa in recent years ( e.g. , Haran, 2021; Meregalli et al, 2021). Among them, Entiminae is the largest subfamily of Curculionidae with more than 12,000 described species worldwide (Marvaldi et al, 2014; Oberprieler et al, 2007).…”

“…Thanks to their worldwide distribution and very diverse morphology and biology, weevils are often used as models to investigate diversification patterns in relation to biotic and abiotic drivers (e.g., Baird et al, 2021;Condamine & Kergoat, 2021;Haran et al, 2021;Letsch et al, 2018;Toussaint et al, 2014). South Africa, and the CFR in particular, presents a high level of endemicity for weevil lineages, both at the generic and tribal level (Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999;Meregalli et al, 2021;Oberprieler, 2014). Weevil diversity in this region reaches unusually high levels, as exemplified by the genus Brachycerus Olivier, which encompasses hundreds of species in the CFR while only 50 species are known in the southwestern Palearctic region (Oberprieler, 2014).…”

“…Weevil diversity in this region reaches unusually high levels, as exemplified by the genus Brachycerus Olivier, which encompasses hundreds of species in the CFR while only 50 species are known in the southwestern Palearctic region (Oberprieler, 2014). A large part of the weevil diversity, however, is still undescribed in South Africa as shown by the description of entire new clades and a large number of new taxa in recent years (e.g., Haran, 2021;Meregalli et al, 2021). Among them, Entiminae is the largest subfamily of Curculionidae with more than 12,000 described species worldwide (Marvaldi et al, 2014;Oberprieler et al, 2007).…”