Tarphius floresensis Borges & Serrano

Borges, Paulo A. V., Amorim, Isabel R., Terzopoulou, Sofia, Rigal, François, Emerson, Brent C. & Serrano, Artur R. M., 2017, Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species, Zootaxa 4236 (3), pp. 401-449 : 423-426

Tarphius floresensis Borges & Serrano , new species

( Fig. 14 )

Tarphius wollastoni in Borges (1990, p. 112) ( Flores Isl.)

Tarphius wollastoni in Borges (1991, p. 2) ( Flores Isl.)

Tarphius wollastoni in Borges et al. (2005b , p. 207) ( Flores Isl.) Tarphius wollastoni in Oromí et al. (2010 , p. 232) ( Flores Isl.) Tarphius wollastoni in Amorim et al. (2012, Fig. 2 ) ( Flores Isl.)

Type locality. The Azores, Flores Island, Morro Alto.

Type material. HOLOTYPE, male, deposited at DTPC, labeled: Lajes, 10/07/1989 (UTM 25S 655803, 4368774), Paulo Borges leg.. PARATYPES, 462 specimens—between Caldeira Funda and Caldeira Comprida (Altitude: 597 m), 13/08/2013, António Machado leg.; Caldeira Branca , Margem de Ribeira (T03) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), VIII.1999 (107 exx) (UTM 25S 655883, 4374629); Ribeira da Fazenda (T04) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), VIII.1999 (18 exx) (UTM 25S 65 5809, 4377246); Juniperal (T06) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Caldeiras Funda e Rasa ), VIII.1999 (63 exx), VIII.2010 (15 exx) (UTM 25S 655838, 4370215); Encosta da Caldeira Funda (T07) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Caldeiras Funda e Rasa ), VIII.1999 (9 exx), VIII.2010 (2 exx) (UTM 25S 655817, 4370019); Morro Alto Este (T08) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), VIII.1999 (1 ex.) (UTM 25S 655809, 43 76293); Caldeira Rasa Callunetum (T09) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Caldeiras Funda e Rasa ), VIII.1999 (3 exx) (UTM 25S 6 55850, 4371356); Caldeira Comprida (T14) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), IX.2000 (11 exx) (UTM 25S 655846, 4374777); Pico da Sé (T15) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), IX.2000 (2 exx) (UTM 25S 655830, 4377715); Ribeira do Cascalho (T16) ( Natural Forest Reserve of Morro Alto e Pico da Sé ), IX.2000 (57 exx), VIII.2010 (18 exx) (UTM 25S 655899, 4378652); Cross between Lagoas Caldeira Funda e Caldeira Comprida in Cryptomeria japonica (TT21) VIII.2009 (2 exx) (UTM 25S 655800, 4373277); Criptomeria plantation near T16 (TT25) VIII.2009 (111 exx) (UTM 25S 655882, 4379185); Regional road in Cryptomeria japonica (TT26) VIII.2009 (1 ex.), (UTM 25S 65 5829, 4372551), Paulo Borges et al. leg.. Caveira , Lomba (Z07) VIII.2007 (5 exx) (UTM 25S 655834, 4369258); Ponta Delgada , in Acacia woodland (Z10) VIII.2007 (1 ex) (UTM 25S 655817, 4381525); Ponta Delgada , in Acacia woodland, Km 18 (Z11) VIII.2007 (36 exx), (UTM 25S 655818, 4381526) Paulo Borges & Fernando Pereira leg.. Deposited at FCULC, SNM and DTPC.

Etymology. The name refers to the island of Flores, to where this distribution of this species is restricted.

Diagnosis ( Fig. 14 ). Small to medium species (2.25–3.68 mm; mean: 3.07± 0.45 mm), being the smallest species in the complex azoricus-wollastoni-depressus; body dorsal surface reddish or reddish-brown to dark brown, antennae, mouth-parts and legs light reddish; body strong arched (convex); lateral margins of pronotum highly arcuate ( Fig. 6 D), narrower than elytra between posterior angles, small and transverse, on average 1.35 times as broad as long (1.24x and 1.50x), disc with dense, medium rounded granules, each one with a yellowish, recumbent slightly acuminate seta ( Figs. 5 D and 6D); width ratio pronotum / elytra 0.92+0.04 (see Appendix S6); the ratio between width and length of the pronotum is smaller than in T. depressus Gillerfors , and statistically significant (see Appendix S5).

Description. Body length of holotype: 3.14; small to medium size (length 2.25–3.68 mm; mean: 3.07± 0.45 mm); width 1.10 mm – 1.76 mm (mean: 1.51± 0.19 mm), body convex and subquadrate-ovate, reddish or reddishbrown, setose, with rigid recumbent slightly acuminate setae ( Fig. 5 D) and medium granules.

Head: Genae parallel; anterior clypeal margin straight; vertices protrude under the anterior margin of pronotum; surface brown or reddish brown, lighter in clypeus, with dense medium granules, except in clypeus which is more or less smooth, each one with one semi-erect fine hair-like seta slightly directed anteriorly; eyes clearly protruding, glabrous; antennae with segment II shorter than III, segment III 1.8x longer than IV, V shorter than IV, segments VI–VII equal length, compact club 2-segmented (segments X and XI); mouth-parts with mandibles brown, the other pieces lighter showing the general morphological pattern of the genus.

Pronotum: Transverse, on average 1.35 times as broad as long, quite variable (1.24x to 1.50x); surface reddish-brown to reddish, widened in the middle; anterior margin deeply bisinuate, anterior angles strongly protrude and acuminate ( Fig. 6 D); hind margin largely bisinuate, in middle broadly produced rearwards; lateral margins highly arcuate ( Fig. 6 D), contrasting with straight lateral sides in T. depressus ( Fig. 6 E), with two irregular rows of medium/long, slightly acuminate setae (20–25 each one) ( Fig. 6 D), slightly sinuate just before the posterior angles which are prominent; disc with a clear median longitudinal sulcus, half medium latera-posterior region with a slight nodule; a distinct transverse channel just before the extreme base between the two lateral notches; lateral surface variable in terms of flatness; dorsal upper surface with uniformly dense distinct medium rounded granules, each one with one rigid semi-erect slightly acuminate yellowish seta ( Fig. 6 D); ratios width pronotum/width elytra 0.92±0.04 and length pronotum/length elytra 0.61±0.05 (see Appendix S6); ratio between width and length of the pronotum is 1.35±0.07, smaller than T. depressus (1.42±0.06), and statistically significant (see Appendix S5).

Elytra: On average 0.90 times as broad as long, quite variable (0.80x to 1.01x); in general, 1.09 x (mean) as broad as pronotum, but also quite variable (1.00 to 1.20) and at shoulders distinctly broader than pronotum between hind angles; disc reddish to reddish-brown, convex, rugosely seriate-punctate, and wrinkled transversally on dorsal surface which is covered with dense granules each one with a recumbent slightly acuminate, yellowish or golden seta ( Fig. 5 D); nodules or gibbosities distinct with a pattern formula 3, 3, 2, 1, covered with setae more aggregate which confers the appearance of a small pom-pom.

Ventral side. Prosternum as granulose as mesosternum and metasternum; grooves on anterior half of prosternal sides slightly present.

Legs. Tibia normal not expanded apically; tarsi 4-segmented, simple, first three tarsomeres of all legs and in both sexes covered ventrally with several very long hyaline fine setae.

Aedeagus: Similar to T. tornvalli (see Fig. 6 in Gillerfors 1985).

Bionomics. Most specimens were collected by pitfall trapping in natural forests and Cryptomeria japonica stands ( Borges et al. 2005a).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Bayesian inference tree for Tarphius beetles of the Azores based on 915 bp of nuclear DNA (Elongation Factor 1 alpha). Clade credibility values are shown for nodes with a posteror probability ± 0.95.

FIGURE 5. Details of setae in elytra for the species in of the complex “ azoricus-wollastoni-depressus ”: T. azoricus (restricted to São Miguel and Flores) (A); Tarphius wollastoni (restricted to Faial) (B); Tarphius gabrielae sp. nov. (restricted to Pico) (C); and Tarphius floresensis sp. nov. (restricted to Flores) (D). Scale 0.1 mm (Photos: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 6. Details on the number of seta on the external row of the lateral margin of pronotum in the complex “ azoricuswollastoni-depressus ”: T. azoricus (restricted to São Miguel and Flores) (A); Tarphius wollastoni (restricted to Faial) (B); Tarphius gabrielae sp. nov. (restricted to Pico) (C); Tarphius floresensis sp. nov. (restricted to Flores) (D); and T. depressus (restricted to S. Maria) (E). Scales 0.25 mm (Photos: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 14. Habitus of Tarphius floresensis sp. nov.. Scale 0.5 mm (Photo: Erno-Endre Gergely).