Molybdotus mixtus, Colonnelli, 2014

Colonnelli, Enzo, 2014, Apionidae, Nanophyidae, Brachyceridae and Curculionidae except Scolytinae (Coleoptera) from Socotra Island, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 295-422 : 391-392

Molybdotus mixtus sp. nov.

( Figs 109, 112 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J ( MCCI), ‘ Socotra ( YE) // Berber spring // 8.X.2007 - R. Sindaco’ . PARATYPES: 2 ♀♀, same label data as holotype (1 MUPI, 1 ECRI).

Description. Male holotype. Body length 7.3 mm. Piceous, antennae dark brown. Dorsal surface covered by recumbent subpolygonal adpressed yellowish, golden-brown, brownish and white scales forming two irregular lateral stripes on each side of pronotum and whitish rather large irregular patches on elytra, and by barely visible slightly erect elongate curved silvery scales. Ventral side with wide recumbent partly embricate irregularly oval white scales intermingled with few brownish ones in form of dots ( Fig. 109 ).

Head. Rostrum 0.82 times as long as wide, sides subparallel, extreme apex of scrobes visible from above. Epifrons slightly concave, hardly wider than interocular distance, dorsum with thin sulcus continuing on space between eyes, sides abruptly sloping laterally. Epistome V-shaped, smooth and weakly keeled posteriorly. Head large, interocular space slightly convex and sulcate. Antennae slender; scape almost straight, scaled and gradually clubbed at apex; funiculus almost as that of M. viridiaureus sp. nov. Eyes comparatively large, moderately convex, little sunken.

Pronotum as long as wide, widest at middle, quite flat dorsally, sides rather strongly rounded, apex and base slightly convex, base weakly keeled and barely wider than apex; disc with deep irregular large punctures, and with barely visible trace of thin median longitudinal sulcus. Scutellum minute, roundish, sunken and scaled.

Elytra elongate oval, 1.44 times longer than wide, 1.38 times as wide as pronotum, maximum width at apical third, rather flat on basal half, then moderately convex in profile towards apex, base concave and weakly keeled, apical declivity acute. Striae sulciform, punctures on them hidden by scaling but larger and obvious in basal half. Intervals much wider than striae, almost flat, barely narrowing posteriorly.

Legs moderately robust; femora clubbed; protibiae slightly curved inwards at apical third and, starting from basal third, with some rasp-like granules at base of each of which is inserted a honey-red stiff thick seta, meso- and metatibiae almost straight and with fewer minute granules; inner margin of all tibiae in addition with long silvery semierect setae; tarsi as in preceding species.

Ventral side. Metaventrite and abdominal ventrite I with very shallow common median depression.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus as depicted in Fig. 112 .

Variability. Females are almost identical to the holotype, the colour of both specimens is just a little less contrasting, and their abdomen is barely convex instead of very weakly impressed.

Body length 7.3–7.7 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Small species combining some characters of the two preceding ones. The body shape of M. mixtus sp. nov. resembles that of M. viridiaureus sp. nov. but, apart from the different aedeagus, the colour pattern of M. mixtus is quite diverse, its legs are shorter, and the rostrum is much more elongate and keeled on sides. On the contrary, the rather similarly scaled M. minor sp. nov. has even longer rostrum, obviously shorter pronotum and plumper ovate elytra, so that it is impossible to confuse it with M. mixtus sp. nov. ( Figs 107–109 ).

Etymology. This species is somewhat intermediate between the preceding two ones, and its name, Latin adjective mixtus (- a, - um) meaning ‘mixed, blend’, refers to this fact.

Distribution. Endemic to Socotra Island.

Figures

Figs 107–112. 107, 110 – Molybdotus minor sp. nov.: 107 – habitus of the holotype; 110 – aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view.108, 111 — Molybdotus viridiaureus sp. nov. 108 – habitus of the holotype; 111 – aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view. 109, 112 – Molybdotus mixtus sp. nov., holotype. 109 – habitus; 112 – aedeagus in dorsal view.