Pelletierellus bryophilus, Germann & Borovec & Braunert, 2015

Germann, Christoph, Borovec, Roman & Braunert, Carlo, 2015, Four new Entiminae from the Mediterranean region (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae: Phyllobiini, Trachyphloeini), with additional data on the distribution of some poorly known species, Zootaxa 4040 (3), pp. 345-358 : 350-352

Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n.

( Figs 8, 9, 11 , 25, 26 )

HOLOTYPE. ♂, " GREECE, Lesbos Isl., 7 km E Agiasos, Kolpos Geras env., N 39°04′58″ E 26°27′08″, 50m, 26.4.2015, Olive orchard, 249_15.2 [collection number], leg. C. Germann " ( NMBE). Red label: Holotype Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

PARATYPES. 1 ♂ 6 ♀♀, same data as holotype. 2 ♂ "249_15.4 GREECE, Lesbos Isl., 3km W Kalloni, above Mon. Limonos, N39°15′ 03″ E26°10′ 27″, 210m, 27.4.2015, leg. C. Germann" ( CBML, CGTS, RBSC). All with red labels: Paratype Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

Description. Body length: males 2.72–3.09 mm, females 2.81–3.56 mm, holotype 3.09 mm ( Figs 8, 9 ).

Body blackish, short basal part of scape, funicle with club, and tarsi reddish. Appressed scales on body irregularly angular, with one distinct, fine longitudinal keel; scales completely hiding integument, 6–7 of them are across one interval on elytra. Elytral raised setae perpendicularly erect, long, slender, weakly subspatulate, conspicuous, a little shorter than width of one interval, and arranged in one row on each interval, on intervals 2, 4 and 6 missing or very sparse, distance between two setae about twice the length of one seta. Erect setae on pronotum, head and rostrum similar to elytral ones, but about half of length of elytral seta, irregularly scattered.

Rostrum in males 1.06–1.09 times as wide as long, in females as long as wide, in both sexes in basal half distinctly divergent anteriad and in apical half distinctly convergent anteriad, widest at midlength. Epifrons in basal half enlarged anteriad and in apical half tapered anteriad again, widest at about midlength, at widest point 1.09– 1.17 times as wide as at base; epifrons with swollen borders and two arched longitudinal striae, subparallel with margins of epifrons, at middle shallowly longitudinally deepened. Frons very short, glabrous. Epistome small but distinct, narrower than width of epifrons at its apical part. Antennal scrobes in lateral view very narrow, with almost parallel borders, weakly curved, directed towards ventral part of eyes, separated from them by wide squamose stripe, about as wide as diameter of eyes. Head separated from epifrons by shallow and ill-defined depression, with weakly swollen borders above eyes. Eyes moderately large, symmetrical, prominent from outline of head.

Antennal scape robust, funicle moderately slender. Scape longer than funicle, in basal half weakly enlarged, weakly S-shaped, in apical half distinctly gradually enlarged apicad, at apex wider than club and about as wide as protibiae at midlength. Funicle slender; segments 1 and 2 conical; segment 1 1.2–1.3 times as long as wide and 1.2–1.3 times as long as segment 2, which is 1.3 times as long as wide; segments 3–6 1.4–1.5 times as wide as long; segment 7 1.5 times as wide as long; clubs 1.6–1.7 times as long as wide ( Fig. 11 ).

Pronotum 1.48–1.56 times as wide as long, widest at midlength with distinctly rounded sides, in apical half distinctly tapered anteriad, behind anterior border constricted, anterior border distinctly narrower than basal one, base weakly arched. Disc with shallow, ill-defined, moderately wide, longitudinal median furrow along the entire length and with several short, longitudinal, ill-defined furrows in lateral parts. Pronotum in lateral view vaulted, in apical half lowered.

Elytra oval, 1.15–1.24 times as long as wide, with distinctly rounded sides and with rounded humeri, at apex broadly rounded. Striae narrow, distinct, intervals almost flat. Elytra in lateral view vaulted.

Apex of protibiae laterally straight, mesally weakly enlarged, rounded, with 7 sparse, short, stout, black spines. Tarsi moderately slender; tarsal segment 2 1.2 times as wide as long; segment 3 1.3 times as wide as long and 1.4 times as wide as segment 2; onychium 1.3–1.4 times as long as segment 3. Claws fused on basal half.

Penis slender and long, widest at base, apically distinctly, almost regularly tapered with faintly rounded sides, apex lengthily pointed; in lateral view slender, almost regularly curved ( Figs 25, 26 ).

Female genitalia. Sternite VIII in dorsal view with slender, subtriangular plate with slender, sharp tip and with V-shaped sclerotization. Gonocoxites subtriangular, distinctly tapered apicad with long and slender subapical styli with setae. Spermatheca with weakly curved, moderately wide cornu; corpus large, semicircular; ramus large, longer than wide; nodulus small, tubercle-shaped ( Fig. 35 ).

Sexual dimorphism. Males have a shorter rostrum, slightly wider than long, while females have rostrum that is as long as wide.

Etymology. The new species is named after the mosses (Bryophyta) where most of the species of Pelletierellus can be found, either hiding in, or feeding on.

Bionomy. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. was sifted at two localities on the island from mosses growing on rocks, and mosses on walls built in olive orchards ( Fig. 41 ).

Differential diagnosis. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. belongs to the P. championi (Formánek, 1907) -species group, as defined by Borovec (2015) by the black spines on apical part of protibiae, and raised elytral setae on all intervals. Based on the basally distinctly depressed epifrons, its pronotum with depressions and the long and slender penis, P. bryophilus sp. n. is closely related to P. bialookii Borovec, 2015 , described from northwestern Turkey. It can be distinguished by the slenderer antennal funicle, with segment two 1.3 times as long as wide and segments three to six 1.4–1.5 times as wide as long ( Fig. 11 ) ( P. bialookii has funicle segment two isodiametric to 1.1 times as long as wide and segments three to six 1.8–1.9 times as wide as long ( Fig. 12 )), by the onychium which is 1.3–1.4 times as long as segment 3 ( P. bialookii has onychium 1.1 times as long as segment 3), by the penis with apex elongately pointed ( Figs 25, 26 ) ( P. bialookii has penis with shortly obtuse pointed apex ( Fig. 27 )), and by the spermatheca with ramus almost perpendicular to corpus ( P. bialookii has ramus parallel with corpus).

Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. is, according to the perpendicularly erect elytral setae, rostrum in its basal part regularly enlarged, symmetrical eyes and slender penis, also similar to P. fleischeri (Formánek, 1911) , known from Romania. It is distinguishable from it by the rostrum and epifrons, which are distinctly enlarged anteriad and tapered anteriad in apical half, widest at about midlength ( P. fleischeri has rostrum regularly enlarged anteriad, without abrupt widening in basal part and epifrons in basal two thirds more or less parallel-sided), by the elytral setae shorter than width of one interval, weakly subspatulate with tip obtuse ( P. fleischeri has elytral setae equally long as elytral interval, parallel-sided, pointed), by the onychium which is 1.3–1.4 times as long as segment 3 (in P. fleischeri it is equal in length to segment 3), and by the penis widest at base instead of widest at basal quarter as in P. fleischeri .

Figures

FIGURES 1 - 12. 1. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. male habitus dorsal. 2. Ditto female. 3. Argoptochus albisetus (Borovec, 1998), male. 4. A. hystricus (Borovec, 1998), male. 5 - 7. Antennae of 5. A. sappho sp. n. 6. A. albisetus. 7. A. hystricus. 8. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. male habitus dorsal. 9. Ditto female. 10. Pelletierellus bialookii Borovec, 2015 male habitus dorsal. 11. Head and antennae of P. bryophilus sp. n. 12. Ditto P. bialookii.

FIGURES 22 - 39. 22, 23. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 24. A. albisetus (Borovec, 1998) penis ventral. 25, 26. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 27. P. bialookii Borovec, 2015 penis ventral. 28, 29. Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 30, 31. C. inflatiscapus Escalera, 1918 penis ventral and lateral. 32, 33. C. tenuiscapus Fairmaire, 1884 penis ventral and lateral. 34 - 39. Spermathecae of 34. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. 35. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. 36. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. 37. C. atlasicus Borovec & Bahr, 2008. 38. C. meyeri sp. n. 39. C. agadiriensis Borovec & Bahr, 2008.

FIGURES 40 - 43. Different habitats of 40. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. collected under Cistus salviifolius and Lavandula stoechas at the east coast of Lesbos Island (photo: C. Germann). 41. Pelletierellus bryophilus consisting of old, moss-covered stone walls in olive groves on Lesbos island (photo: C. Germann). 42. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. in mountain steppe with Astragalus (Tragacanthus) sp. and sporadic perennial vegetation in the Moroccan middle Atlas mountains (photo: M. Košťál). 43. C. meyeri sp. n. in Serra da Estrela on Bornhardt-rocks in northern Portugal (photo: C. Germann).