Tychius thompsoni Caldara, 1990

Jiang, Chunyan, Caldara, Roberto & Zhang, Runzhi, 2020, The genus Tychius Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae) in China, with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4856 (1), pp. 1-62 : 15

10. Tychius thompsoni Caldara, 1990

Tychius thompsoni Caldara, 1990: 136 .

Material examined. Holotype female labelled “ Tibet, Kyishong 14,500 ft 10.VII.1924 leg. Hingston ” ( British Museum of Natural History ) described by Caldara (1990).

Redescription. (from Caldara 1990). Female. Length 2.80 mm. Integument blackish brown except for reddish apical two thirds of rostrum, antennae and legs; on dorsum hidden by elongate hair-like whitish and light brown scales (former more numerous at midline of pronotum and sides of elytra); wide subelliptical white scales covering interstria 1 and interspersed on other interstriae and sides of pronotum but absent on legs. Rostrum (Rl/Pl 0.93) in lateral view distinctly curved at base then almost straight and of same width to apex. Antennal funicle 7-segmented. Eyes nearly flat. Pronotum subrectangular (Pw/Pl 1.17), with rectilinear sides, weakly convex. Elytra suboval (El/ Ew 1.35), with slightly rounded sides from base, widest between basal and middle third (Ew/Pw 1.29). Legs without sexual characters. Femora unarmed. Claws with robust medial teeth, as long as half of claw. Genitalia not examined. Male unknown.

Remarks and comparative notes. This species is known only from the female holotype, studied by Caldara (1990). It is related to T. oriens and T. perrinae . From the former it differs by a longer rostrum, the third tarsomere being only slightly wider than the second, and less dense vestiture.

Biology. No data are available.

Distribution. The single known specimen was collected in Southwest China (Tibet, Kyishong) at about 4400 m during an Everest expedition organized by the British Museum of Natural History.