Cobososia pallescens ( Wollaston, 1854 )

Telnov, Dmitry & Gompel, Nicolas, 2021, Review of Aderidae Csiki, 1909 (Insecta: Coleoptera) of Cabo Verde, Zootaxa 4963 (2), pp. 365-374 : 368-369

Cobososia pallescens ( Wollaston, 1854)

( Figs. 1B, G & 2C )

Xylophilus pallens Desbrochers des Loges, 1881

Xylophilus punctigera Mulsant et Rey, 1886a

Xylophilus punctigera Mulsant et Rey, 1886b (homonym)

Wollaston (1854: 538) original description, as Xylophilus pallescens .

Wollaston (1867: 217) as Xylophilus gravidicornis , records (Brava, Fogo, Santiago, Santo Antão).

Pic (1906: 13) as Hylophilus pallescens , checklist.

Báguena Corella (1948: 349, 500, 519, 523) in part as as Otoleus pallescen [sic!], transcribed original description & redescription, key, distribution (Brava, Fogo, Santiago, Santo Antão), checklist.

Báguena Corella (1962: 14, 17 & 19) key, new combination (to Cobososia Báguena Corella nec Collado & Alonso-Zarazaga (1996)), synonymy, general distribution.

Geisthardt (1986: 76) as Cobososia , records (“ Brava: 26.X.1979 leg Groh; S. Tiago: S. Jorge, XII.1982 – II.1983, 1.VI.– 15.VIII.1983, 16.–31.X.1983, II.1984 ”, mainly attracted to light, leg. A van Harten), general distribution.

Franz (1987: 102) as Cobosia [sic!] pallescens , record (“Fogo, Cha de Caldeira, 1700 m, Gesiebe unter Congobohne und Periploca chevalieri , 1 Ex. 21. September 1985.”).

Geisthardt (1988: 198) checklist, distribution (Branco, Santo Antão, Fogo, Santiago).

Geisthardt (1996: 93, 96, 107, 109, 111 & 114) checklist (considered endangered), distribution (Brava, Fogo, Santiago, Santo Antão).

Oromi et al. (2005: 78) as Cobososia , checklist (“possibly native”), distribution (Brava, Fogo, Santiago, Santo Antão).

Anonymous (2002: 890) listed among nationally protected species in Cabo Verde.

Type material. holotype ( BMNH): 715 [handwritten, underside of specimen’s mounting card] / Type [printed, label circular, red framed] / Xylophilus pallescens type Woll. [handwritten] / HOLOTYPE [printed, label circular, red framed] / MADEIRA ISLANDS Madeira T.V. Wollaston Coll. B.M. 1855–7. [printed] / Standing in Wollaston coll. as Xylophilus pallescens [printed] / HOLOTYPE Xylophilus pallescens Woll. [handwritten] det. R.G. Booth 2019 [printed].

Additional historical material. 2 specimens ( BMNH), same labels as in holotype ; 7♂ ♀ ( BMNH): CAPE VERDE IS. S. Iago T.V.Wollaston Coll. B.M. 1867-82 [printed] / Standing in Wollaston coll. as Xylophilus pallescens [printed] ;

New records: Republic of Cabo Verde, Brava: 26.X.1979, suction trap, Groh K. leg. (1 specimen, coll. SMNS) ; Santiago, São Jorge:. II.1983, van Harten A. leg. (2 specimens, coll. SMNS) ,. II.1983, light trap, van Harten A. leg. (1 specimen, coll. SMNS) ,. VIII.1983, light trap, van Harten A. leg. (1 specimen, coll. SMNS) ,. X.1983, light trap, van Harten A. leg. (1 specimen, coll. SMNS) ,. II.1984, light trap, van Harten A. leg. (3 specimens, coll. SMNS) ,. II.1984, suction trap, van Harten A. leg. (3 specimens, coll. SMNS) ,. III.1984, suction trap, van Harten A. leg. (8 specimens, coll. SMNS) ,. VIII.1984, suction trap, van Harten A. leg. (2 specimens, coll. SMNS) ,. VIII.1984, light trap, van Harten A. leg. (1 specimen, coll. SMNS) ,. I.1985, suction trap, van Harten A. leg. (2 specimens, coll. SMNS) .

Redescription. holotype ♂: Dorsum and venter uniformly pale reddish-orange, pronotum inconspicuously darker. Dorsal vestiture very dense, short and appressed, concealing the dorsal sculpture of the body. Vestiture consists of whitish setae arising from one from each puncture and of interspersed tactile setae arising from intervening spaces. Head opaque dorsally, with large and prominent compound eyes occupying almost whole head sides, but narrowly separated from the base by very short tempora (best visible in lateral view). Interfacetal setae short, inconspicuous. Head base concave. Frons broad. Punctures of frons gentle and dense, very shallow, giving the appearance of a smooth surface. Antennae progressively thicken starting from 3 rd antennomere. Antennomeres 2–4 short and slender, 6–10 transverse, shortened and slightly widened distally. Terminal antennomere asymmetrically conical, pointed, about 2.5–2.6x as long as penultimate antennomere. Pronotum as wide as to slightly broader than head, widest across anterolateral angles, broadly subtrapezoidal, opaque dorsally, broadly rounded on anterior margin, with obtuse angulate anterolateral angles. Lateral margins nearly straight, slightly convergent towards the broadly rounded base. Pronotal punctures small but distinctly larger and deeper than those on head, most often separated by less that their own diameter. Elytra subopaque dorsally, subcylindrical, laterally broadly rounded. Dorsal elytral punctures larger than those of dorsal forebody, ovoid, intervening spaces smaller than to as large as punctures. Legs inconspicuous. Aedeagus with phallobase and apicale not separated ( Fig. 2C ).

Sexual dimorphism. Male prothoracic tarsomere one thickened and widened.

Distribution. Mediterranean species ( Gompel et al. 2010). Algeria, Cyprus, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal (Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands), Syria ( Nardi 2020). The record from France in the most recent catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera ( Nardi 2020) is based on an almost 100-years old citation ( Sainte-Claire Deville 1937). This species has not been recollected in France since then and was intentionally excluded from two most recent checklists of French aderids ( Gompel & Barrau 2002; Gompel 2014). We also note that the species’ geographical range has dramatically expanded, as the second author recently studied several specimens from Brazil (collected in Brasilia between 2000 and 2003, always in October and November). On Cabo Verde, it occurs on both the Northern (Santo Antão) and the Southern (Brava, Fogo, São Tiago) chain.

Figures

FIGURE 1. External morphology of Cabo Verde Aderidae species. A–D—Habitus, dorsal view: A—A. gravidicornis (Wollaston, 1867) ♂; B—C. pallescens (Wollaston, 1854) ♂ holotype; C—C. reducta (Wollaston, 1867) ♂; D—C. feai (Pic, 1906) ♂ holotype; E–G—Lateral outline of head, drawn from types, with arrow highlighting the distance from the eye to the posterior margin of the head: E—syntype ♀ A. gravidicornis; F—holotype ♂ C. reducta; G—holotype ♂ C. pallescens; H–I—♂ fore- tibia: H—C. reducta; I—C. feai. Scale bars: A–D—1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Male genitalia of Cabo Verde Aderidae species.A–C—Male genitalia in dorsal (left) and lateral (right) view:A—C. feai (holotype); B—C. reducta; C—C. pallescens (holotype). D—Male genitalia in dorsal view—A. gravidicornis, inset: outline of the distal apicale. Scale bars: 100 µm.