Diplotrichus minor ( Schedl, 1950 )

Jordal, Bjarte H., 2021, An integrated taxonomic revision of Diplotrichus (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) supports a Malagasy origin and single colonisation of South Africa, Zootaxa 5047 (2), pp. 101-122 : 110-111

Diplotrichus minor ( Schedl, 1950)

( Figs 25, 27, 29, 30 )

Landolphianus minor Schedl, 1950: 108 , orig. spelling

Lanurgus frontalis Schedl, 1953: 85 , syn. by Jordal, 2021b

Type material. Syntypes, male and female: Madagascar, Ambila [ GIS: -22.00, 47.97], 28XI.1952, Dr K.E. Schedl [ NHMW] . Lectotype, Lanurgus frontalis : Madagascar, Plaines de Finerena , F. Geay 1905 [ NHMW] .

Diagnosis. Length 1.3–1.5 mm, 2.3–2.6 × as long as wide, colour reddish brown; female frons broadly concave from eye to eye, from epistoma to vertex, surface velvety; scapus with long, thin spike on its dorsal side, with setae on its inner margin as long as the funiculus.

Distribution. Madagascar. Found on both east and north-western lowlands.

New records. Madagascar, Ankarafantsika Nat. Park [ GIS: -16.264, 46.828], 200 m, 8v2019 , ex. liana, B. Jordal, leg. (4, ZMUB) .

Remarks. Sexually dimorphic also on elytral declivity, which in males is slightly sulcate. This is the only described species of Diplotrichus with a long spike on the dorsal side of the female scapus. It has a special position in the phylogeny of the genus, with a long connecting branch to the other species in the genus ( Fig. 7 ). It has nevertheless the typical enlarged flagellum of the male aedeagus, and split setae on ventrites, further supporting inclusion in Diplotrichus .

New collections were made from dead lianas about 1–3 cm in diameter. Galleries were star shaped, with two, three or four females joining a male in each family group. Brood sizes per female were 20– 30 larvae (n=4). This species was previously known from bark of climbing Embelia shrubs (Primulaceea, Ericales ) ( Schedl 1977).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Maximum likelihood tree topology for Diplotrichus based on nucleotides from five gene fragments. Node support values from 100 bootstrap replicates are shown on branches.

FIGURES 25–32. Dorsal, lateral, and front view of Diplotrichus minor female (25, 27, 29) and male (30), and Diplotrichus falcatus sp. nov. female holotype (26, 28, 31) and male allotype (32).