Socotractus peteri, 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 : 372-375

Socotractus peteri sp. nov.

( Figs 90–91 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J ( NMPC), ‘ Yemen, Socotra // Al Haghier Mts. , wadi // Madar, 1180-1230 m // 12°33.2′N, 54°00.4′E // 12-14.xi.2010, P. Hlaváč leg. ’. PARATYPES: 2 JJ 1 ♀ (2 NMPC, 1 ECRI).

Description. Male holotype. Body length 4.7 mm. Piceous, opaque, funiculus and claws ferruginous, apical comb of setae brown. Dorsal surface moderately densely covered by golden recumbent lanceolate and hair-like scales, lanceolate ones forming two ill-defined longitudinal stripes on sides of pronotum and some scattered small patches on elytra. Epifrons, head and pronotal disc with sparser vestiture. Elytral intervals on declivity with a series of curved, half recumbent hair-like scales. Legs rather densely clothed by slightly to moderately erect golden setae, with faint trace of femoral light middle ring. Ventral surface with sparse erect golden setae, paler and more erect on meso- and metacoxae ( Fig. 90 ).

Head. Rostrum hardly wider than long, sides barely converging from base to middle, then widening to moderately protruding pterygia. Epifrons almost flat, at narrowest point about 0.81 times as wide as of rostrum between antennal insertion, with coarse elongate punctures and keel from base to just basad of antennal insertion, then progressively smoother towards ill-defined epistome, sides gradually sloping. Head separated from rostrum by straight deep sulcus, distance between eyes almost twice than that between antennae at base, space between eyes faintly depressed and with deep elongate longitudinal sulcus, vertex hardly convex, finely transversely strigose at extreme base and apically punctured, temples hardly shorter than greater diameter of eye and slightly converging forward. Eyes moderately large, elliptical and convex. Antennae relatively thick; scape just little curved at base and moderately clubbed; funicular antennomere I hardly longer and barely wider than II, antennomeres III to VII progressively diminishing in length, antennomere VII not transverse; club fusiform, hardly shorter than three preceding antennomeres.

Pronotum 1.14 times wider than long, widest at middle, quite flat dorsally, sides little rounded, base with series of short semierect feather-like whitish scales, anterior margin little narrower than basal one; disc with irregular smooth flattened granules more numerous on sides.

Elytra oval, 1.36 times longer than wide, 1.60 times as wide as pronotum, maximum width at basal third, moderately depressed on basal half, then regularly convex in profile, base concave, apical declivity slightly acute in lateral view. Striae sulciform and formed by confuse rows of irregular rather large punctures. Intervals about twice as wide as striae, roughly granulate and little convex.

Legs quite elongate; femora clubbed; pro- and mesotibiae slightly curved inwards at apex, their internal margin with four rasp-like tubercles from each of which originates blackish stiff seta, metatibiae more strongly curved inwards, their inner margin granulate, meso- and metatibiae with internal acute laminate honey-red mucro at inner apical margin; tarsi robust with stiff semierect whitish thin microsetae, tarsomere I longer and slightly wider than II which is as wide as long, tarsomere III strongly bilobed and broader than long, tarsomere IV projecting from III by almost twice length of III.

Ventral side. Metaventrite and abdominal ventrite I with large common median depression extending also to metacoxae.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus as depicted in Fig. 91 .

Variability. Paratypes are very similar to the holotype. The colour of scales on dorsal surface is golden and greenish instead of just golden as in the holotype, so that these specimens are more evidently mottled. The single female has some low blunt tubercles on odd elytral intervals and lacks of tibial mucros and abdominal impressions. In one of the males the base of elytra is not clearly depressed as in the other specimens.

Body length 4.3–5.2 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Size and general shape of this species approaches it to Socotractus angusticollis , from which it differs by less elongate antennae with not abruptly clubbed scape, elytra less broader that pronotum, much smaller and lower tubercles of female elytra, and differently shaped aedeagus ( Figs 85–91 ). From S. micans sp. nov. the new species immediately differs by its dark colour and larger size.

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Peter Hlaváč, Slovak specialist in Pselaphinae, who collected all the known specimens.

Distribution. Endemic to Socotra Island.

Figures

Figs 85–91. 85–89 – Socotractus angusticollis (Taschenberg): 85 – habitus of the male lectotype; 86 – locality label borne by the lectotype; 87 – collection label after which is placed the lectotype; 88 –aedeagus of a male from Wadi Madar in dorsal view; 89 – habitus of a female from Scant Mt. 90–91 – Socotractus peteri sp. nov., holotype: 90 – habitus; 91 – aedeagus in dorsal view.