Metapocyrtus kitangladensis, Cabras, Analyn A., Medina, Milton Norman D. & Zhang, Guanyang, 2019

Cabras, Analyn A., Medina, Milton Norman D. & Zhang, Guanyang, 2019, Metapocyrtuskitangladensis sp. n., a new Pachyrhynchuscumingii GR Waterhouse, 1841 mimic from Mindanao Island, Philippines, ZooKeys 853, pp. 119-129 : 119

Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n. Figs 1-4, 5-10, 11-12, 14

Material.

Holotype (Fig. 1A, B), male: Philippines - Mindanao / Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park/ Bukidnon / July, 2018 / coll. Medina. Presently in UMCRC, it will be deposited in Philippine National Museum of Natural History (PNMNH) formerly Philippine National Museum (PNM). Paratypes. 3♂♂, 1 ♀: Philippines - Mindanao / Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park/ Bukidnon / V-VII.2018 / coll. Medina; 1 ♂: Philippines- Mindanao / Marilog District / Davao City / June, 2018 / coll. Van Dam; 1 ♀: Mindanao Marilog District / Davao City / June, 2018, presently deposited in UMCRC; 22 ♂♂, 16 ♀♀: Philippines - Mindanao / Mt. Katapagan / (Davao del Sur Province) / IX-X.2012 / coll. Bollino; 1 ♂: Philippines - Mindanao / Katapagan / (Davao del Sur Province) / IX-XI.2016 / coll. Bollino; 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀: Philippines - Mindanao / Buda Brgy. / (Davao City, Davao del Sur) / V.2017 / coll. Bollino; 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀: Philippines - Mindanao / Mt. Apo / XI 2010 / coll. Bollino, all in MBLI.

Diagnosis.

Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n. is similar in general appearance to Metapocyrtus perpulcheroides Schultze, 1923 which was described from Kalinga Province, Luzon Island. In addition to the unique scaly markings on the pronotum and elytra of Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n., the new species differs from Metapocyrtus perpulcheroides for having a subglobular pronotum, a less prominent transverse groove on rostrum, and having unique male and female genital structures.

Description.

Dimensions: LB: 10.5-11.5 (holotype 10.5 mm). LR: 1.5-2.0 (1.7 mm). WR: 1.4-1.7 (1.5 mm). LP: 3.5-3.8 (3.6 mm). WP: 3.9-4.0 (3.9 mm). LE: 7.5-8.1 (7.5 mm). WE: 5.2-5.6 (5.4 mm). N=5 for all measurements.

Body black; pronotum, head and legs coppery black, weakly lustrous with sparse pale yellow, green and violet scales; body surface weakly lustrous with golden yellow, orange, greenish, turquoise and bluish scales. Eyes, antennae, and tarsomeres black.

Head with the following markings: a) dense elongated pale orange and turquoise stripes under eye on each lateral side diminishing towards apex of rostrum, and b) elongated stripe of yellow, green, and orange scales from vertex to basal half of the rostrum at times confluent with lateral stripe. Rostrum rugose, longer than wide with minute light yellow setae and long yellow hairs towards the apex; dorso-apically slightly convex; prominent transverse basal groove, and longitudinal median groove forming a cross shape. Front with deep depression covered with dense scales. Eyes small and weakly convex. Antennal scape as long as the funicle plus club, with flattened hairs and sparse scales. Funicular segments I and II almost of the same length, three times longer than wide; segments III–VII as long as wide; club subellipsoidal, nearly three times longer than wide.

Pronotum subglobular, widest at middle, weakly convex, glabrous, with very minute and sparse punctures; thin strips of golden yellow to turquoise scales at the anterior, posterior and latero-ventral margin; three thin longitudinal stripes dorsally at times with transverse stripe intersecting the median stripe forming a cross.

Elytra with regular weakly striate-punctate intervals with sparse scales, moderately convex, with few short hairs. Each elytron with the following golden yellow and turquoise to light blue markings: 1) three longitudinal stripes from behind base at interval II, IV and VI which may or may not be reach median transverse stripe; stripes confluent at base; 2) stripe on lateral margin extending from base towards the apex of the elytra; 3) thin transverse band in the middle part of elytra, medially; 4) thin longitudinal stripe between interval I and II extending from middle of the elytra to apex and confluent with lateral margin stripe, may or may not be connected with median transverse stripe; 5) apical triangular stripe extending from apex of each elytron to apical third, laterally connected with median marking. Underside weakly lustrous, pubescent with pale yellow and green scales on the basal margin of the pronotum and latero-ventral side of ventrites I and II and sometimes including ventrites III and IV.

Legs with strongly clavate femora. Femora covered with short hairs and sparse scales along posterior margins. Each tibia fringed with pubescence along internal margin, sparsely mixed with short hairs. Apical part of femora with dense orange and violet scales and short setae. Tibiae with sparse scales and short setae, with toothed projections along internal edge.

Tarsomeres covered by sparse pubescence.

Male genitalia as shown in Figures 5-7.

Everted endophallus as shown in Figures 11, 12.

Etymology.

The new species is named after Mt Kitanglad Range Natural Park (MKRNP), the park where the holotype was collected. It is a Latinized adjective.

Notes on the ecology and distribution

Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n. was collected in the secondary forest of Barangay Cinchona, MKRNP as well as the degraded secondary forests of Marilog District, both at around 1200 m a.s.l. The new species was mostly collected on the leaves of Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst.) Hoffm. ( Marattiaceae ) in the sloppy trail towards the forest edge (Fig. 13). It was noted that the young leaves of this fern are the main food source of this species. In Marilog District, the specimens were collected in the vegetation along the trails of Epol Falls and forest edges of Mt Malambo. All specimens collected from Marilog and MKRNP were collected in open areas often in ridges and along the streams.

Metapocyrtus kitangladensis sp. n. has been recorded from MKRNP, Mt Dulang-dulang, Mt Kiamo (Bukidnon), Marilog District, Barangay Buda, and Davao del Sur (Davao region) in Mindanao Island. These localities belong to Central Mindanao biogeographic region (Dickerson, 1928). Mindanao has five known biogeographic regions namely Eastern Mindanao, Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao, Southwestern and Northwestern Mindanao biogeographic regions (Dickerson, 1928). Based on collection and field observation, Bukidnon and Marilog’s Pachyrhynchini fauna shows hefty similarities. Some of the notable species recently found in Marilog District which are also found abundantly in Bukidnon are Pachyrhynchus sulphureomaculatus Schultze, 1922, Pachyrhynchus erichsoni GR Waterhouse, 1841, Pachyrhynchus speciosus GR Waterhouse, 1841, Metapocyrtus lanusinus Schultze, 1922, and Metapocyrtus insulanus Schultze, 1919, among others. The trend of faunistic composition of Pachyrhynchini between Marilog and Bukidnon seem to follow this biogeographical demarcation which can be attributed to the flightless nature of these weevils with very limited dispersal capabilities. However, more data are needed to confirm this hypothesis.