Omiamima tarensis Pešić & Borovec, 2024

Pešić, Snežana B. & Borovec, Roman, 2024, Omiamima tarensis Pešić & Borovec sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Еntiminae) from Tara Mountain in Serbia, Zootaxa 5541 (1), pp. 51-60 : 54-58

Omiamima tarensis Pešić & Borovec sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6D9F9727-0037-4BE2-9242-A8D08EED28FF

( Figures 4–6 )

Type material

Holotype: SERBIA: 1 ♂ ( NHMBEO Ot 1; on Fig. 4 ); Tara Mt. , near the center of the Kaluđerske Bare touristic settlement , in the Duga Kosa area ; 43°53’36″ N, 19°33’45″ E; 940 m; 5 May 2002, at 7.30 a.m.; S. Pešić leg.; pine forest behind the house of Milica Josifović , on Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis (Schaeff.) Rothm.

Paratypes (12): SERBIA: 1 ♀ ( FSUKG Ot 2), pine forest , Tara Mt., Sređ (43°53’56″ N, 19°31’40″ E; 980 m), 1 May 1991, S. Pešić leg; 1 ♀ ( FSUKG Ot 3), pine forest , Tara Mt., Kaluđerske Bare , Golubac, near the road Kremna-Kaluđerske Bare (43°53’6.6″ N, 19°32’59″ E; 1085 m), 1 May 2002, S. Pešić leg.; 1 ♀ ( RBCZ), C. ratisbonensis in pine forest, Tara Mt., Kaluđerske Bare , Golubac (43°53’9″ N, 19°32’52″ E; 1100 m), 1 May 2002, S. Pešić leg.; 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ ( RBCZ one male, ZIN male & female, FSUKG Ot 4 one female), pine forest , Tara Mt., Kaluđerske Bare, Sređ (43°53’38″ N, 19°32’28″ E; 1060 m), 2 May 2002, S. Pešić leg.; 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ ( FSUKG Ot 5 to 9), the same place as for holotype, 3 May 2002, at 6.45 a.m.; S. Pešić leg .

Etymology

Toponymic; named after Tara Mountain in western Serbia. According to a legend, Tara Mountain was the home of an ancient Slavic god named Tar. Tara Mountain (Sanskrit = star) was named after the Illyrian mountain tribe Autariyat , who lived in the area of Tara during the Bronze Age ( Tomić et al. 2018).

Differential diagnosis

Omiamima tarensis is morphologically similar to O. mollina but differs in shorter erect elytral setae, but mainly in shorter rostrum with a short, not prominent epistome in males.

Description

Body length 2.75–3.25 mm, holotype 2.84 mm. Elytra dark brownish, pronotum and head black, rostrum in some specimens paler, brownish; antennae and legs ferrous-red, in some specimens legs yellowish red. Elytra sparsely clothed with short, appressed, white piliform setae, 3–5 across one interstria, not forming rows, not covering integument ( Fig. 4 ). Elytral interstriae with semi-erect, white, narrowly sub-spatulate setae, on disc short, about as long as appressed setae, on posterior declivity distinctly longer, slightly shorter than width of one interstria; setae dense ‒ distance between them shorter than their length, in males forming 2–3 irregular rows, in females forming one regular row. Pronotum and head with rostrum sparsely covered with short appressed white setae and very short semi-erect piliform setae, visible only in lateral view. The vestiture on pronotum and head with rostrum scattered in lateral parts, dorsal area almost glabrous ( Fig. 4 ); ventral part sparsely covered with short fine appressed setae. Dorsal part of body shiny.

Rostrum in males 1.07–1.13× as wide as long, in females 1.15–1.23× as wide as long, at base in males 1.11– 1.14× as wide as at apex ( Fig. 5A ), in females at base 1.15–1.18× as wide as at apex, with distinctly concave sides, narrowest behind scrobes, in basal half distinctly tapering anteriorly, then forming pterygia and broadly rounded around antennal scrobes ( Fig. 5B ). Epifrons with concave sides, between antennal insertions narrower than space between eyes, dorsally flat, finely, sparsely punctured, apical half with short longitudinal median stria inside shallow, longitudinal, subtriangular depression with ill-defined margins. Epistome short, V-shaped, posteriorly barely distinct from epifrons. Scrobes dorsally visible in apical portion of rostrum; in lateral view distinctly enlarged posterior and not reaching eyes, with dorsal margin parallel with dorsal margin of rostrum and ventral margin curved downwards, directed below eye. Vertex wide, regularly domed, lacking fovea, sparsely and finely punctured. Eyes moderately large, slightly convex and hardly prominent from outline of head in dorsal view ( Fig. 5A–B ).

Antennae slender; scapes thin, 1.2–1.3× as long as funicles, slightly curved, enlarged at its short apical portion, at apex 0.7–0.8× as wide as clubs. Funicle segments 1 and 2 long, conical, subequal in length, 2.2–2.4× as long as wide; segments 3 and 4 1.1× as long as wide; segments 5 and 6 isodiametric; segment 7 1.1–1.2× as wide as long; club slender, spindle-shaped, 1.8–1.9× as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.33–1.39× as wide as long, widest at midlength with regularly rounded sides, anterior and posterior margin almost subequal in width; base straight; disc shiny, regularly domed, finely and sparsely punctured, distance between punctures longer than their diameter ( Fig. 4 ); pronotum in lateral view slightly regularly vaulted.

Elytra long oval, more slender in males than in females, in males 1.25–1.31× as long as wide, in females 1.24– 1.29× as long as wide, widest slightly before middle with regularly rounded sides, apically narrowly rounded; striae distinctly punctured; interstriae flat, wider than striae ( Fig. 4 ); in lateral view regularly vaulted.

Legs in males slightly stouter than in females; femora edentate; protibiae with straight lateral margin and slightly bisinuate inner margin, apically rounded and fringed by short and fine, yellow setae, mucronate; mesotibiae in males with moderately long mucro, slightly exceeding fringe of short setae around; metatibiae in males with short mucro, subequal in length to fringe of setae around; mesotibiae in females with short mucro, subequal in length to fringe of setae around; metatibiae in females with unobtrusive mucro, shorter than fringe of setae around. Tarsi short; segment 2 is 1.3–1.4× as wide as long; segment 3 is 1.3–1.4× as wide as long and 1.4–1.5× as wide as segment 2; onychium short, 0.9–1.0× as long as segment 3; claws solidly fused at basal half, subparallel.

Abdominal ventrites subtriangular, 1.13–1.16× as long as wide; ventrite 1 in middle as long as ventrite 2; ventrite 2 longer than ventrites 3 and 4 combined; ventrite 5 apically narrowly rounded, not differing in sexes. Suture between ventrite 1 and 2 sinuose, the others straight. Metaventral process narrower than transverse diameter of metacoxa, weakly rounded.

Penis in dorsal view narrow, subparallel-sided, in apical third evenly tapering apically with slightly concave sides, tip narrowly rounded; in lateral view narrow, feebly curved, apical portion slightly elongated, tip narrowly rounded ( Fig. 6A ); temones about 1.5× as long as body of penis, apically enlarged; tegmen with short manubrium, about as long as diameter of ring, with moderately long parameres, connected at base.

Spermatheca with moderately short, curved cornu; corpus rounded; ramus subtrapezoidal, 1.5× as long as at base wide; collum small, hump-shaped ( Fig. 6B ). Gonocoxites short, apically rounded lacking styli, with several scattered short apical setae ( Fig. 6C ). Sternite VIII with long and slender apodeme; plate small, subtriangular, with slender basal and apical margin, apically fringed with short setae ( Fig. 6D ).

Sexual dimorphism

Males are distinguished from females by a slightly longer rostrum ( Fig. 5A–B ) and elytra and also by a slightly longer mucro on meso- and metatibiae, but mainly by 2–3 irregular rows of erect setae on each interstria, whereas females have only single regular row of setae.

Remarks

Omiamima tarensis , by having long erect elytral setae, is clearly distinguished from species in which such setae are absent: O. desbrochersi (Reitter) , O. fulgida (Formánek) , O. leonhardi (Formánek) , O. metallescens (Seidlitz) and O. pygmaea (Hustache) . Omiamima tarensis is easily distinguished from O. elymorum Colonnelli & Paladini by the finely and sparsely punctured head and pronotum, and also by funicle segments 1 and 2 subequal in length. In Omiamima , the newly described species is very similar to O. mollina with which it could be easily mistaken ( Fig. 4 ). Both species are possible to distinguish by the following set of characteristics:

O. tarensis : Erect setae in lateral view on elytral posterior declivity slightly shorter than the width of one interstria, twice as long as very short erect setae on elytral disc. Apical half of epifrons with shallow, longitudinal, subtriangular depression with ill-defined margins. Rostrum in males is shorter, 1.07–1.13× as wide as long, with the epistome not lengthened and not prominent from the outline of a head ( Fig. 5A ). Spermatheca with ramus 1.5× as long as wide ( Fig. 6B ).

O. mollina : Erect setae in lateral view on elytral posterior declivity as long as the width of one interstria, only slightly longer than long erect setae on elytral disc. The apical portion of epifrons slightly declined apical, in males slightly longitudinally striolate. The rostrum in males is longer, 1.04–1.09× as long as wide, with tips of epistome lengthened and protruding from the outline of the rostrum ( Fig. 5C ). Spermatheca with ramus as long as wide.

Biology

All 13 adult specimens of O. tarensis were collected at the beginning of May. The discovery of both sexes (five ♂, and eight ♀) indicates that this is likely the period of reproduction in the species. The fact that all six discoveries were from the pine forests indicates a connection between the weevil and pine phytocenosis, under humid montane climate conditions, on northern and northwestern exposures. In two discoveries the insects were collected on Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis (Schaeff.) Rothm. ( Fabaceae ) ( Pešić 2002, incorrectly considered as C. elongatus (Waldst. & Kit.) Link ) which was actively flowering during that time and may be a possible host.

Distribution. Endemic— Serbia, Tara Mountain ( Figs 1–3 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographical position of Tara Mt. in Serbia (left) and its relief with marked Omiamima tarensis sp. nov. area (right). (modified https://www.skitanje.com/tara-geografski-i-hidrografski-uslovi/)

FIGURE 2. Zones of protection in NP Tara and Omiamima tarensis area of discovery. (modified https://www.nptara.rs/vesti/417- pocinje-izrada-prostornog-plana-nacionalnog-parka-tara.html)

FIGURE 3. Map of localities for Omiamima tarensis.

FIGURE 4. Dorsal habitus of Omiamima tarensis, ♂, holotype.

FIGURE 5. Head with rostrum, dorsal view. Omiamima tarensis: A. ♂. B. ♀. Omiamima mollina: C. ♂. D. ♀. Scale 0.50 mm.

FIGURE 6. Structural details of Omiamima tarensis. A. Penis in dorsal and lateral view (scale 0.50 mm). B. Spermatheca (scale 0.125 mm). C. Gonocoxites (scale 0.50 mm). D. ♀ sternite VIII (scale 0.50 mm).