Coptoborus villosulus (Blandford, 1898) Smith & Cognato, 2021

Smith, Sarah M. & Cognato, Anthony I., 2021, A revision of the Neotropical genus Coptoborus Hopkins (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ZooKeys 1044, pp. 609-720 : 609

Coptoborus villosulus (Blandford, 1898) comb. nov. Figure 19A-C, J

Xyleborus villosulus Blandford, 1898: 204.

Theoborus villosulus (Blandford): Wood and Bright 1992: 662.

Theoborus theobromae Hopkins, 1915: 57. syn. nov.

Xyleborus pseudococcotrypes Eggers, 1941: 105. Synonymy: Wood 1962: 79.

Xyleborus coccotrypoides Eggers, 1943: 388. Synonymy: Wood 1976: 349.

Xyleborus villosus Schedl, 1948: 270. Synonymy: Wood 1976: 34.

Xyleborus hirtellus Schedl, 1948: 271. Synonymy: Schedl 1952: 163.

Type material.

Holotype Xyleborus villosulus (NHMUK), examined. Holotype Theoborus theobromae (NMNH), examiened. Lectotype Xyleborus hirtellus (NHMW).

Holotype Xyleborus pseudococcotrypes (MNHN) not examined. Holotype Xyleborus coccotrypoides (MNHN), not examined. Syntypes Xyleborus villosus (NHMW), not examined. New records. Brazil: Bahia, Camacan, Serra Bonita Reserve, 15°23.429'S, 39°33.810'W, 700-100 m, 6-14.V.2013, AI Cognato, SM Smith, CAH Flechtmann (MSUC, 7). Ecuador: El Cotopaxi, La Mana, Yakusinchi Nature Reserve, 00°57.030'S, 79°08.717'W, 3-16.iii.2017, R Osborn, C Bateman, & M Martinez, ex galleries (MSUC, 1). Napo Prov. [= Orellana Prov.], Res[erva]. Ethnica Waorani, 1 km S. Okone Gare Camp, Trans[ect]. Ent[omology]., 00°39'10"S, 076°26'W, 220 m, October 1995, T.L. Erwin et al. collectors, insecticidal fogging, terra firme forest, trans[ect] 7, sta[tion] 1, Erwin lot #1581 (ICB, 1); as previous except: Tiputini Biodiversity Station, 00°37'55"S, 076°08'39"W, 220-250 m, February 1999, T.L. Erwin et al. collectors, insecticidal fogging, terra firme forest, trans[ect] 2, sta[tion] 1, Erwin lot #2010 (ICB, 1; NMNH, 1); as previous except: trans[ect] 5, sta[tion] 8, Erwin lot #2047 (ICB, 1); as previous except: June 1998, trans[ect] 7, sta[tion] 2, Erwin lot #1861 (NMNH, 1). Panama: Verguas Pr., 8 km W. Sante Fe, Cerro Tute, el 300 ft, 08°30'26"N, 81°6'49"W, 24-vii-1999, J.B. Woolley 99/053 (TAMU, 1).

Diagnosis.

1.7-2.2 mm (mean = 1.94 mm; n = 5), 2.43-2.57 × as long as wide. This species is distinguished by the elytral apex broadly rounded and entire, posterolateral margins of elytra rounded, declivity convex, interstriae never impressed, and discal interstrial punctures confused.

Similar species.

None.

Distribution.

Argentina ( Tucumán), Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia (Cochabamba), Brazil (Bahia*, Mato Grosso, Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Colombia (Cundinamarca, Huila, Valle de Cauca), Costa Rica (Cartago, Limón, Puntarenas), Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador* (El Cotopaxi, Orellana), French Guiana (Cayenne), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique, Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz), Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Panama ( Panamá, Veraguas*), Peru (Cusco, Junín, Madre de Dios), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Aragua, Barinas, Bolívar, Mérida).

Biology.

This species has been recorded from diverse hosts including: Alexa imperatricis , Erythrina costaricensis , Inga ( Fabaceae ), Ochroma , Theobroma cacao ( Malvaceae ), Miconia ( Melastomataceae ), Guarea ( Meliaceae ), Ficus ( Moraceae ), Pinus elliotti ( Pinaceae ), Piper sp., Piper tucumanum ( Piperaceae ), Coffea ( Rubiaceae ), Cestrum ( Solanaceae ), Cecropia ( Urticaceae ) ( Wood and Bright 1992; Bright and Skidmore 1997; Wood 2007; Córdoba and Atkinson 2018). Wood (1982) reported collecting specimens from unthrifty, cut, or broken branches ~2-5 cm in diameter. Specimens were also collected by canopy fogging.

Remarks.

Wood (1982, 2007) considered T. theobromae and T. villosulus to be closely related and separated based only on minute differences in pronotal puncture size, granule density and body size, 1.8 vs. 2.3 mm, respectively. Wood also considered these species to have overlapping ranges with T. theobromae in the West Indies and Costa Rica to Colombia and Venezuela and T. villosulus occurring from Guatemala to Bolivia and Brazil. Specimens used as part of this study were found to be continuous in size from 1.7-2.2 mm and the punctures and granules to form a continuous spectrum of variation as well. Extensive COI and CAD sampling from many of the populations given above had differences of <10% and <2%, respectively ( Cognato et al. 2020b), supporting the recognition of a single species, T. villosulus (Cognato, unpublished).

Figures

Figure 19. Dorsal, lateral, frontal and declivital view of Coptoborus villosulus, 1.7 - 2.2 mm (A-C, J), C. vrataski holotype, 3.2 mm (D-F, K), C. yar holotype, 2.8 - 2.9 mm (G-I, L). All photographs by SMS.