Habroloma taxillusi, Kato & Kawakita, 2023

Kato, Makoto & Kawakita, Atsushi, 2023, Diversity and larval leaf-mining habits of Japanese jewel beetles of the tribe Tracheini (Coleoptera, Buprestidae), ZooKeys 1156, pp. 133-158 : 133

Habroloma taxillusi sp. nov.

Figs 1F , 2F , 3F

Material examined.

Holotype: Japan: ♂ (MK-BP-k40), Yakukachi, Amami-shi , Kagoshima Pref. (28.228°N, 129.347°E, 40 m above sea level), 23-V-2009 (as larva on Taxillus yadoriki collected by A. Kawakita), emerged on 7-VI-2009, NSMT-I-C-200268.

Paratype: Japan: 1♀ (MK-BP-k39), same data as holotype, emerged on 2-VI-2009, N NSMT-I-C-200269 .

Diagnosis.

A small wedge-shaped species (length 2.5-2.7 mm) having pronotum with posterior margin trisinuate. Elytra slightly convex around base, ornamentation consisting of yellowish-grey pubescence; on posterior 2/3 with three transverse bands, first two obliquely zigzag, apical one slightly transversely waved. Larvae mine leaves of a mistletoe species, Taxillus yadoriki .

Description.

Adult male: (Figs 1F , 2F , 3F ) Body somewhat wedge-shaped and attenuated posteriorly; above entirely black-aeneous; body beneath, legs, and antennae black, with a very slight aeneous tinge, except tarsal lamellae dark brownish.

Head, seen from above, transverse, broadly excavated between the eyes, with the inferior rim of the eyes strongly produced; frons with the median impression distinct; fovea just above each antennal cavity obsolete and indistinct; surface rather smooth, sparsely scattered laterally with traces of variolate and ocellate punctures, and sparsely clothed with recumbent yellowish-grey hairs; clypeal suture transverse, somewhat arcuate exteriorly; clypeus transverse, ~ 2.6 × as wide as long, with the anterior margin somewhat arcuately emarginate; antennal cavities surrounded posteriorly with elevated carina; antennae short and compact, with the third segment ~ 1.5 × as long as the fourth, and five apical serrated segments.

Pronotum transverse, widest just before the base, as wide as elytra, and ~ 2.4 × as wide as long; sides slightly but distinctly expanded just before the base, then crescent-shaped and strongly attenuated to the anterior angles, which are acute and strongly produced in dorsal aspect; anterior margin deeply, broadly, and arcuately emarginate; posterior margin trisinuate and subtruncate, narrowly and slightly emarginate just before scutellum; posterior angles acute and produced posteriorly; disk dilated laterally, broadly and obsoletely depressed at the anterior half of the lateral dilation on each side, but without fovea, and obsoletely impressed along the basal lobe causing the middle of the disk to be somewhat convex; surface lustrous, punctured the traces of large, obsolete, shallow, somewhat ocellate structures, and sparsely clothed with yellowish gray hairs. Scutellum smooth and triangular.

Elytra slightly convex along base, widest at the base, ~ 1.4 × as long as wide and ~ 3.3 × as long as pronotum; sides feebly sinuate and narrowed or subparallel to the anterior 2/5, and then arcuately attenuated to the apex but with the attenuation somewhat angulate near the apex; humeri slightly prominent; basal depressions along the base transverse; lateral carinae subparallel to the lateral margin; disk constricted behind humeri, narrowly and obsoletely impressed along the inferior side of each lateral carina; surface rather uniformly but coarsely punctate with shallow, ill-defined, irregularly sized punctures, but the punctuation somewhat rugous at the sides. Ornamentation consisting of yellowish grey pubescence arranged on each elytron as follows: at base with two irregular spots, on posterior 2/3 with three transverse bands, first and second ones obliquely zigzag, apical one slightly transversely waved; with transverse irregular spot apically.

Body beneath scattered with very fine inconspicuous cinereous hairs. Prosternal process rounded, ~ 1.27 × broader than long. Metasternum slightly convex and coarsely punctate, with variolate and obsolete punctures at the middle. Abdomen beneath rather uniformly punctate with shallow, obsolete variolate punctures. Legs normal; posterior coxae depressed entirely, with the latero-posterior angles acute and produced latero-posteriorly.

Male genitalia: not studied.

Female. Like the male, but more robust. Ornamentation of elytra is similar but pubescence more whitish in female. Body length: 2.5-2.7 mm, width: 1.5-1.7 mm.

Etymology.

The specific name indicates host plant genus, Taxillus .

Japanese name.

Obayadorigi-hiratachibi-tamamushi.

Host plant.

Taxillus yadoriki (Maxim.) Danser [ Loranthaceae ]

Habitat.

Canopy of primary evergreen forests dominated by Castanopsis sieboldii subsp. lutchuensis (Fig. 5L ).

Distribution.

Japan (Amami-Oshima Island, known only from the type locality).

Leaf mines of Japanese Tracheini species

Leaf mines of Tracheini species have the following characteristics. The mined leaves are mature leaves that have completed expansion and hardening. An egg is laid on the upper side of a leaf and covered by a circular brown glossy coating, which is secreted by an adult female. Pupation takes place within the mine. Hereafter, we describe leaf mines of the 14 Habroloma and 20 Trachys species in Japan.

Figures

Figure 1. Habroloma species of Japan, adult dorsal views A H. liukiuense B H. eximium eupoetum C H. griseonigrum D H. elaeocarpusi E H. lewisii F H. taxillusi G H. nixilla insulicola H H. yuasai I H. marginicolle J H. subbicorne K H. atronitidum. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 2. Habroloma species of Japan, adult lateral views A H. liukiuense B H. eximium eupoetum C H. griseonigrum D H. elaeocarpusi E H. lewisii F H. taxillusi G H. nixilla insulicola H H. yuasai I H. marginicolle J H. subbicorne. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 3. Habroloma species of Japan, adult ventral views (A-J) and male genitalia of H. elaeocarpusi (K-M). A H. liukiuense B H. eximium eupoetum C H. griseonigrum D H. elaeocarpusi E H. lewisii F H. taxillusi G H. nixilla insulicola H H. yuasai I H. marginicolle J H. subbicorne K, L lateral and ventral views of tegmen, pennis and sternite IX M tergite VIII. Scale bars 1 mm (A-J); 0.5 mm (K-M).

Figure 5. Leaf mines of Habroloma spp. on leaves of Fagaceae, Juglandaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Lythraceae, and Loranthaceae A H. griseonigrum on Quercus hondae B-D H. yuasai on Platycarya strobilacea E-G H. elaeocarpusi on Elaeocarpus japonicus H, I H. nixilla on Lagerstroemia subcostata J-L H. taxillusi on Taxillus yadoriki. Arrows indicate oviposition scars.