Cathormiocerus kostali, 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 : 353-354

Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n.

( Figs 13, 17 , 36 , 42 )

HOLOTYPE. ♀, "[ Morocco] Mittl. Atlas [Moyen Atlas] Col de Zad, lg. H. Franz, Sp 810 [handwritten, reverse side]" ( NHMW). Red label: Holotype Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

PARATYPES. 1 ♀, same data as holotype ( NHMW); 2 ♀♀, " MAROCCO c., Moyen Atlas Mts., Bou-Anguer pr. Azrou, N 33°04.6′, W 05°00.7′, 2100m, 5.v.2012, Michael Košťál lgt. ( MKBC)". All with red labels: Paratype Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

Description. Body length: 2.88–3.66 mm, holotype 3.25 mm ( Fig. 13 ).

Body dark brownish, femora and tibiae brownish red, tarsi reddish yellow, spines at apex of all tibiae yellowish. Body densely covered by appressed scales, funicles and tarsi glabrous, clubs finely setose. Appressed scales rounded, overlapping, depressed in the middle, on elytra only weakly depressed, moderately large, three scales across the width of one elytral interval. Elytra with one dense, regular row of conspicuous semierect subspatulate setae, setae on disc shorter, about as long as half the width of one interval, on posterior declivity almost as long as width of one interval, distance of two setae slightly shorter than twice the length of one seta. Pronotum, head with rostrum, legs and antennal scapes with similar semierect setae as on elytral disc, only slightly shorter and narrower, densely irregularly scattered, on pronotum, scapes and legs exceeding lateral outline. Funicle with bristle-shaped, semierect setae.

Rostrum short and wide, 1.58–1.69 times as long as wide, regularly tapered anteriad with straight sides, at base 1.16–1.21 times as wide as at apex. Epifrons distinctly regularly tapered apicad with shallow, moderately wide longitudinal median furrow along the whole length. Antennal scrobes in dorsal view visible in apical half of rostrum, pit-shaped; in lateral view furrow-shaped, with ventral edge almost straight reaching ventral border of eyes and dorsal edge curved, reaching middle of eyes. Eyes small, subcircular, distinctly vaulted, hardly prominent from outline of head; in lateral view small, space below eyes about twice as wide as their diameter.

Antennae robust. Scape in basal part S-shaped curved, first curvature just at base, second in about basal third. Scape in apical two thirds weakly gradually enlarged to apex, about as wide as club or protibia at midlength. Funicle short, segment 1 robust, 1.2–1.3 times as long as wide and 1.6–1.7 times as long as short segment 2, which is isodiametric; segments 3–6 1.2–1.3 times as wide as long, segment 7 1.4–1.5 times as wide as long. Club 1.6–1.7 times as long as wide ( Fig. 17 ).

Pronotum wide, 1.23–1.31 times as wide as long, widest at midlength, narrower at apex than at base, with weak constriction behind anterior margin, regularly vaulted, without any depression on disc. In lateral view weakly vaulted.

Elytra elongate-oval, 1.36–1.41 times as long as wide, widest at midlength. Striae narrow, hidden by appressed scales, intervals almost flat. Elytra in lateral view almost flat.

Femora edentate. Protibiae slender, mesal edge double-sinuated, lateral edge straight, apex rounded, with 8 slender, stout, sparse yellowish spines and with mucro at mesal angle. Meso- and metatibiae with apical surface fringed outside by dense row of moderately long bristles; mesotibiae with one, metatibiae with two mucros of unequal length. Tarsi slender; segment 2 1.2–1.3 times as wide as long; deeply bilobed segment 3 1.5 times as wide as segment 2 and 1.4–1.5 times as wide as long; slender onychium 1.4–1.5 times as long as previous segment. Claws of all legs free.

Male genitalia. Unknown.

Female genitalia. Sternite VIII with slender and long, umbrella-shaped plate, apically elongated to slender tip; apodeme with distinct caput, terminated inside of plate and almost reaching its point, about equally long as plate. Gonocoxites large, flat, subtrapezoid, with slender long apical stylus. Spermatheca with distinct rounded caput, long ramus and shorter, distinctly slenderer, tube-shaped nodulus; cornu moderately long, regularly curved ( Fig. 36 ).

Etymology. The newly described species is dedicated to one of the collectors of the type material, a friend for many years of the second author and renowned expert of weevils, in acknowledgement of his making the effort of using a sifter to search for beetles.

Bionomy. Part of the material was sifted on south-facing slopes of a hill whose vegetation was a grazed mountain steppe with violet, cushion-like shrubs of Astragalus (Tragacanthus) sp. and sporadic perennial vegetation ( Fig. 42 ) (M. Košťál, pers. comm.).

Differential diagnosis. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. belongs to the C. spinosus (Goeze, 1777) -species group, as defined by Borovec & Bahr (2008), by the matte appressed scales on the whole body and the pronotum which is densely squamose, obscuring the structure of the integument. C. kostali sp. n. is similar to three parthenogenetic species known only from the high mountains of Morocco - Cathormiocerus atlasicus Borovec & Bahr, 2008 , C. quezeli Hoffmann, 1952 and C. tizintesti Escalera, 1914 . All three species are known from the Haut Atlas, only C. tizintesti was found also in the Moyen Atlas in Ifrane. These four species (including the newly described one) differ from all other Cathormiocerus in their matte appressed scales, in the antennal scapes which are not abruptly enlarged in the basal part, in the antennal scrobes reaching the eyes in lateral view, in the epifrons which is tapered regularly anteriad with straight borders, and in the raised elytral setae, standing equally dense on odd and even intervals, and which are shorter than the width of one elytral interval.

Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. differs from the other three similar species mainly by its very short funicle segment two, which is isodiametric ( C. atlasicus , C. quezeli and C. tizintesti have segment 2 1.3–1.8 times as long as wide), small eyes, in lateral view with space belwo eyes about twice as high as their diameter ( C. atlasicus , C. quezeli and C. tizintesti have this space equal to or only slightly longer than longitudinal diameter of eyes), slenderer pronotum, 1.23–1.31 times as wide as long ( C. atlasicus , C. quezeli and C. tizintesti have pronotum 1.30– 1.48 times as wide as long) and elytral setae on the disc semierect and only slightly shorter and narrower than those at posterior declivity ( C. atlasicus , C. quezeli and C. tizintesti have elytral setae on the disc distinctly shorter, narower and more appressed than setae at elytral declivity).

Because of its short and wide rostrum, (1.58–1.69 times as long as wide), and the subspatulate elytral setae, C. kostali sp. n. is most similar to C. atlasicus , which has a rostrum 1.61–1.70 times as wide as long. Apart from all characters already mentioned above, C. kostali sp. n. differs from C. atlasicus also by its shorter elytra, 1.36–1.41 times as long as wide ( Fig. 13 ) and the ramus of the spermatheca, which is distinctly longer than wide and subparallel-sided ( Fig. 36 ). Cathormiocerus atlasicus has elytra which are 1.40–1.45 times as long as wide ( Fig. 15 ), the ramus of the spermatheca is short and robust, as long as wide, rounded to subtrapezoidal ( Fig. 37 ).

Figures

FIGURES 13 - 21. 13. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. female habitus dorsal. 14. C. meyeri sp. n. male habitus dorsal. 15. C. atlasicus Borovec & Bahr, 2008 female habitus dorsal. 16. C. agadiriensis Borovec & Bahr, 2008 ditto. 17 - 19. Heads and antennae of 17. C. kostali sp. n. 18. C. meyeri sp. n. 19. C. agadiriensis. 20 - 21. Antennae of male and female of C. inflatiscapus Escalera, 1918.

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).