A new species of the genus Acinipe (Rambur, 1838) is described from Catalonia (in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula). Acinipe eulaliae n. sp. was collected in an intact calcicolous rosemary scrub dominated by rosemary (Rosamarinus officinalis). A. eulaliae n. sp. is characterized by the rounded shape of its fastigium, concave in contact with the vertex, and by a penis that is slender and directed upwards. This new species is compared to the similar species A. deceptoria (Bolívar, 1878) and A. segurensis (Bolívar, 1908).
Introduction
There are 27 species belonging to the genus Acinipe (Rambur, 1838), nine of which have been described from the Iberian Peninsula (Llorente & Presa 1997, Descamps & Mounassif 1972, Biondi & Massa 1995). The genus is a member of the family Pamphagidae and a large number of Palearctic species of this genus are endemic, with a restricted distribution of southern African origin (La Greca 1999). In 1934 two females belonging to the Acinipe genus were found in Catalonia and determined as A. deceptoria by Llorente & Presa (1997). A new species of this genus was found (Olmo-Vidal 2002) among new Acinipe material: 3 males and 2 females from Catalonia in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. (All material recollected in the Orpí locality as detailed in Results section.) This new species is represented by eastern populations, comprising the most northerly known populations in Europe of Acinipe.
Methods
The coordinate system employed for designation of localities is the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator), subdivided into 10 × 10 km grid squares. Catalonia corresponds to zone 31T.
Results
Acinipe eulaliensis n. sp.
Figs 1–3, 9, 10
Holotype.—Male (Figs 1, 2). Orpí, Barcelona, Catalonia, UTM: 31TCF89, 475 m, July/1994, J. M. Olmo-Vidal leg.
Paratypes.—1 female, La Juncosa, Tarragona, Catalonia, UTM: 31TCF77,430 m, July/1934 (MZB); 1 female, Montmell, Tarragona, Catalonia, UTM: 31TCF77,430 m, July/1934 (MZB); 2 females, Orpí, Barcelona, Catalonia, 475 m, UTM: 31TCF89, 19/August/1996, J. M. Olmo-Vidal leg; 2 males, Orpí, Barcelona, Catalonia, 475 m, UTM: 31TCF89, 18/July/2004, J. M. Olmo-Vidal leg.
Description.— Male (Holotype).
General color brown and grey with white and black spots. Head and antennae: irons protruding between the eyes (Fig. 1). Lateral margins of fastigium very round and concave, in contact with the vertex in lateral view. Antennae 15-segmented, extending to end of 2nd thoracic tergite, basally flattened. Frontal ridge with longitudinal furrow narrowed below median ocellus.
Thorax: median carina of pronotum well arched in prozona and clearly incised by transverse sulcus. Metazona slightly arched, lower than prozona. Discus and paranoia with tubercles and longitudinal callosities. Hind margin of paranoia rounded. Mesosternal space 1.5 × longer than wide, metasternal space about as long as wide. Prosternai tubercle a smooth hump with its anterior margin strongly elevated.
Abdomen: median carina with only a few tubercles before the hind margin of the tergites. Other parts with callosities and also wrinkles. Epiproct rhombic with deep longitudinal furrow delimited by carinae. Subgenital plate weakly pointed.
Tegmina: squamiform narrowly spatula-shaped with rounded apex, 2.5 × as long as wide. Dorsal margin of tegmina straight. Tegmina extend to end of first abdominal segment.
Legs: hind femora slender. Hind tibiae black-purple.
Genitalia: in lateral view, valves of penis long, directed upwards. Proportion between height of base of valves and total height of the valves (Fig. 2) 1:3. Ventral face of penis slightly concave at mid length. Epiphallus with one row of large teeth.
Female: similar to but larger than male. From below, ventral valves with a triangular shape and transverse carina (Fig. 3).
Measurements.— See Table 1.
Habitat and distribution.— A. eulaliae n. sp. was detected only in an intact calcicolous rosemary scrub, mainly comprised of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris). This scrub was thinned out and high 0.5 to 1 m. Only known from the holotype locality and La Juncosa i Montmell, 23 km distant from the type locality (Fig. 4). Both are continental high plateaus with Mediterranean vegetation.
Etymolology.— Named in honor of my friend Eulàlia Recolons, deseased 1999, for her love of this type of rosemary scrub habitat found in Catalonia.
Additional material examined.—Acinipe deceptoria: 1 male, Albarracín, 12/July/1904, J. J. Presa det. 1982; 1 female, Ciudad Encantada, Cuenca, 23/July/1988 (P. Muñoz leg.). Acinipe segurensis: 1 male, Orgiva, Granada, 23/July/1901, J. J. Presa det. 1982; 1 female, Molinicos de la Sierra, Albacete, [lacking date] (material all of Spain).
Depository.—Holotype and two female paratypes deposited in Museu de Zoologia de Barcelona (MZB); two male and two female paratypes in author's collection.
Fig. 2.
Phallic complex of A. eulaliae n. sp. Abbreviations: a, height base of the valves; b, total height of the valves.
Table 1.
Measurements of Acinipe eulaliae n. sp. (mm). Min- Max, Minimum - Maximum; 
, Mean; SD, Standard Deviation.
Discussion
Morphological characters of A. eulaliae n. sp., placed in the genus Acinipe (Rambur, 1838). Members of the genus Acinipe are often distinguishable only with difficulty: a recent revision requires systematic study of the male genitalia (Descamps & Mounassif 1972, Biondi & Massa 1995). The external appearance of different species of this genus is homogeneous, especially in females.
A. eulaliae n. sp. is similar to A. deceptoria (Bolivar, 1878) and A. segurensis (Bolívar, 1908), but males of A. eulaliae have in lateral view, the rounded shape of the fastigium, concave in contact with the vertex (Figs 1, 10). The prozona and metazona of males is deeply incised by a transverse sulcus in A. eulaliae, but not in A. segurensis or A. deceptoria (Figs 8, 10, 12). The shape of the phallic complex of A. eulaliae (Fig. 2) is similar to that of A. segurensis; although in A. eulaliae the penis is more slender and more upwardly directed than in A. segurensis (Fig. 5). The proportion between the height at the base of the valves and overall height is 1:3 in A. eulaliae, similar to that of A. deceptoria, but the phallic complex of A. deceptoria is directed anteriorly (Fig. 6). The proportion between the base of the valves and the overall length of the valves is 1:1.3 in A. segurensis.
The ventral valves of the females seen from below, are more triangular in A. eulaliae (Fig. 3) than A. deceptoria and A. segurensis (compare Llorente & Presa 1997). The first abdominal tergites bear very tiny tubercles in A. eulaliae and are without tubercles in A. deceptoria and A. segurensis. The female of A. eulaliae is very similar to A. segurensis in the shape of its pronotum, but in its anterior part this is flatter in A. eulaliae (Figs 9, 11). Nevertheless in A. deceptoria it is flatter than A. eulaliae and A. segurensis (Figs 7, 9, 11).
This new species occupies exclusively open habitats of calcicolous rosemary scrub on rosemary (Rosmarinus officionalis). These habitats at the moment are undervalued as they are considered to be secondary growth. Because of its restricted distribution A. eulaliae is proposed as a threatened species on the endangered list of Catalonia (Olmo-Vidal 2006 and ICHN 2008). Management efforts are necessary to protect this interesting species and its habitat.
Fig. 10.
Adult male of A. eulaliae*. Arrows indicate diagnostic shape of fastigium at vertex and transverse sulcus.
Acknowledgments
My gratitude to Vicenta Llorente del Moral for the evaluation of the genitalia of the holotype. Many thanks also for the valuable advice of my friends Núria Gázquez and David Camps. I would also like to thank Pep Muñoz for the gift of material of A. deceptoria.
