Microplinthus godawaricus Meregalli, 2020

Meregalli, Massimo, 2020, Revision of the Nepalese genus Microplinthus Zherichin, 1987 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae), with description of 25 new species, Zootaxa 4794 (1), pp. 1-63 : 38-40

Microplinthus godawaricus Meregalli n. sp.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D3A96218-E7D6-428C-8242-DCFFC8024B2E

Fig. 19

Material examined: Holotype ♀: “ Phulchoki b. Kath- / mandu [= Phulchowki , 27°34’N 85°24’E], Nepal, lg. Franz / [back] Pa 15” ( NHMW)

Diagnostic description. Length 3.63 mm. Body elongate, dark ferruginous, moderately glossy. Vestiture composed of sparse spatulate setae, setae on elytra of two types, small very short, oval appressed to integument and larger, spatulate, recumbent, suberect, aligned on odd intervals, denser on declivity. Rostrum short and thick, dorsal sides almost parallel, interantennal width barely larger than at base, in lateral view strongly and regularly curved, thick, apex narrower, junction with head slightly concave, dorsal sculpture composed of 6 series of longitudinally aligned deep punctures, partly fused in rows, partly reciprocally isolate, but reciprocally adjacent, longitudinal lines clearly delimited, slightly curved, merged on head, apex glossy smooth, posterior margin of the apical smooth part semicircular, extended a bit before antennal insertion medially. Antennal scape short, sharply thickened apicad, with some thick erect setae; funicle antennomere 1 shortly globose, 2 conical, shorter than wide, 3–7 transverse, 7 slightly larger; club shortly oval. Eye oval, slightly convex, with about 30 ommatidia. Pronotum longer than wide, subcylindrical, sides weakly and regularly curved, maximum width at midlength, median line scarcely developed, narrow and irregular, more distinct in median part; sculpture composed of dense and deep round punctures more or less regularly impressed, interspaces almost as large as punctures, almost reticulate, slightly convex, here and there on disc higher. Elytra elliptical, with linear convex intervals, with low oblong humps relatively well differentiated, particularly on odd intervals, striae as wide as intervals, particularly at base, with regularly impressed punctures. Femur thick, strongly constricted at articulation with tibia, with a distinct median tooth; tibia regularly thickened apicad, with dense suberect setae on outer part, apex obliquely cut; tarsomere 3 small, lobes scarcely developed, claws simple. Ventrites matt, sides slightly sinuate from 2 to 4, 1 and 2 sparsely punctured, interspaces much wider than punctures, 3–4 with a few punctures on sides, 5 semicircular, rough. Female sternum VIII with arms joined for a short tract, divergent at around 50°, almost reaching apex of lamina, lamina triangular, scarcely sclerotized at margin, branches short.

Differential remarks. This is a species very similar to M. jaegeri , from which it differs in the rostrum with clearly delimited longitudinal rows of punctures (punctures irregularly impressed in M. jaegeri ), sides of pronotum slightly curvilinear, with maximum width at midlength (sides of pronotum subparallel), punctures on pronotum densely impressed, interspaces narrow, with a visible median line (punctures large, spaced, interspaces between them near as wide as punctures, lacking a median line), elytral striae as wide as intervals until declivity (elytral striae narrower that intervals, excepting at base), humps on intervals clearly distinct (humps very low, distinct only on declivity). Microplinthus godawaricus is sympatric with, and relatively similar to, M. phulchowkianus , from which it differs in the extremely short funicle antennomeres 1 and 2, the punctures on the rostrum forming deep longitudinal rows, the pronotum longer than wide and with weakly rounded sides, with dense punctures and a median line (pronotum as long as wide, sides curved, dorsum with regularly impressed and distributed round punctures, lacking any trace of a median line), elytral setae large, spatulate, suberect (elytral setae narrow, scarcely raised), arms of female sternum VIII joined and distinctly extended to almost apex of lamina (arms not joined at base, not sharply delimited on lamina), lamina triangular (lamina subrectangular), branches short (branches slender, curved upwards). Microplinthus newarorum , also sympatric with M. godawaricus , belongs to a completely different species group and cannot be confused (see illustrations and description).

Origin of the name. This species name derives from Godawari, a municipality in the Latipur district, south-east of the type locality in Kathmandu, and includes the Godawari Forest.

Distribution. Central Nepal, south-east of Kathmandu, Godawari forest, in the Phulchowki mountain ( Fig. 29 ).

Figures

FIGURE 19. Microplinthus godawaricus, Holotype ♀. Body (A, B); rostrum (E, H); antenna (C); pronotum (F); elytra (D); femur (L); foretibia (K); apex of foretibia (G); claws (M); ventrites (J); female sternum VIII (I). Bar: 2 mm.

FIGURE 29. Distribution map of some species of Microplinthus. Map data: Google Earth, Maxar Technologies, used according to Google Earth Terms of Service..