Brachysomus (Brachysomus) podlussanyi, Yunakov, 2022

Yunakov, Nikolai, 2022, A review of the genus Brachysomus Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae), Zootaxa 5193 (1), pp. 1-165 : 49-50

Brachysomus (Brachysomus) podlussanyi sp. n.

Figs. 100–102 , 204 , 235B http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:158BC912-56D8-4413-ABD0-0EC9B73AA4E2

Description. Measurements: Body length 2.3–3.0 (2.59) mm, width 1.12–1.66 (1.35) mm. Vestiture: Body densely pilose, hairs long. Head and body densely covered with suberect, piliform, light scales, and light, acute, piliform, erect setae. Erect setae longer than width of elytral interstriae. Suberect setae moderately shorter than interstrial width. Legs sparsely covered with light, piliform scales. Ventral side of body evenly and sparsely covered with pale hairs and piliform scales. Colouration: integument of body, legs and antennae pale-brown.

Head: Rostrum almost as long as wide [RL/RW = 1.00–1.26 (1.11)]. Pterygia weakly projecting from outline of rostrum. Antennal sockets partly hidden by lateral margins of epifrons. Epifrons, parallel-sided, flat in basal half, glossy, sparsely punctate, not separated from vertex by transverse depression. Median longitudinal sulcus short, distinctly developed in anterior half. Punctures of epifrons round. Epistome without carina, glabrous, bearing 4–5 pairs of setae and thorn-shaped process in lateroapical angle. Postepistome flat, glabrous. Apical half of epifrons almost bare, basal half of epifrons and vertex bear dense suberect piliform scales. Eyes medium large [VW/ELD = 1.71–2.50 (2.10)], oval, in male moderately convex, in female strongly convex, dorsal margin situated near level of vertex. Antennal scrobes directed behind and across rostrum, down to ventral margin of eye. Dorsal and ventral margin of antennal scrobe divergent, well visible. Vertex weakly convex transversally and almost flat longitudinally, slightly wider than epifrons. Antennae: Scape weakly and evenly curved, swollen apically; funicular antennomeres: 1st and 2nd elongate; 1st 2x as long as, and 1.5x wider than 2nd; 3rd–5th as long as wide, globose; 6th and 7th transverse. Club wide, spindle-shaped, weakly set off from funicle.

Thorax: Pronotum transverse [PL/PW = 0.68–0.81 (0.74)], moderately convex at disc and sides, sparsely and finely shallowly punctate, in female strongly constricted anteriorly and gently posteriorly, in male pronotal constriction less developed. Spaces between punctures 1.5x narrower than puncture diameter. Elytra: broadly-oval [EL/EW in male = 1.22–1.38 (1.32); in female = 1.16–1.54 (1.27)], strongly convex at disc; maximum width situated proximally of elytral middle in male, in middle of elytra in female. Base of elytra weakly convex. Interstriae flat, glabrous, and 2x wider than striae. Punctures well separated, spaces between punctures as long as puncture diameter. Legs: Femora strongly swollen at middle. Fore tibiae in male distinctly curved inwards, internal angle acute; external apical angle in male truncate; in female—evenly rounded, not projected outwards, internally strongly acute, almost as in male but weaker mucronate. Grooming brush moderately long and dense, reaches basal third of the tibia. Hind tibiae weakly sinuate, in male strongly mucronate, in female weakly mucronate, internal angle not acute.

Abdomen: Male 5th ventrite flat, without subapical depression, apical margin weakly emarginate. Sternite 8 th membranous. Pygidium coarsely punctate. Male genitalia: Aedeagus moderately sclerotized. Median lobe heavily sclerotized only in apical 1/3, ventral wall of median lobe mostly membranous, apex strongly protruded. Median lobe 0.5x as long as apodemes. Endophallus with small needle-shaped sclerite with lobe at base. Endophallus evenly and densely covered with microscopic spiculae. Parameres connate at basal half. Spermatheca: with short collum and long ramus.

Diagnosis. Brachysomus podlussanyi sp. n. is very similar to B. mihoki in the structure of the mandibles, the type of erect pilosity, and the male genitalia, but differs by its smaller body size (in B. mihoki 2.55–4.25 mm), absence of recumbent scales, suberect, sparse piliform scaling of the elytra, uniformly light and not forming a darkbrown spotted pattern at the elytral disc, and asparsely and finely punctate, shiny pronotum and dorsal surface of the head, fore male tibiae distinctly curved inwards, internal angle acute (in B. mihoki fore tibiae of male straight, right angled internally), erect piliform scales in the interstriae of elytra light (in B. mihoki erect piliform scales brown to dark-brown), disc of pronotum slightly convex, pronotum evenly densely suberect pilose (in B. mihoki pronotum strongly convex at the disc, with dense scaling on the sides). From B. pseudosetiger sp. n., which is similar in size, coloration, and general appearance, B. podlussanyi sp. n. differs by long erect setae and dense suberect pilosity on the elytral interstriae, absence of recumbent scales, sparse dotting of head and pronotum, tibiae denser and longer pilose internally, median lobe with apical process strongly acute.

Distribution. Greece (Thessalia, Pilion Mt.).

Bionomics. This species inhabits leaf litter in submontane Mediterranean forests.

Type material. Holotype: ♂ (HNHM), ‘Greece, prov. Thessalia, Mt. Pilio Tsangarada, 380 m, 2009. V. 3’/ N39° 23.271′ E 23°50.621′ L. Nádai, A. Podlussány & K. Székely’ / ‘coll. A. Podlussány’. Paratypes: 1♂ 2♀ (HNHM) with the same labels as in holotype; 10♂ 10♀ ‘distr. Larissa, Mt. Ossa, 8 km W Karitsa, N39° 50.593′, E 22°43.640′ 28.04.2013 Podlussány A. leg. sifting leaf litter, h=760m’; 1♂ (HNHM) ‘distr. Larissa, Mt. Ossa, 8 km W Karitsa, N39° 50.593′, E 22°43.640′, 28.04.2013, Podlussány A. leg., sifting leaf litter, h=760m’; 1♂ (HNHM) ‘Görögo., prov. Thessalia, distr. Larissa, Mt. Ossa, Spilea env., WGS84, N39° 50.00′, E 22°41.76′, 09.05.2013, Németh T. leg., sifting leaf litter, 1050m’; 3♀ (HNHM) ‘Görögo., prov. Thessalia, distr. Larissa, Stomio env., WGS84, N39° 51.08′, E 22°43.59′, 10.06.2014, Szénási V.leg., sifting leaf litter, h=470m’; 2♂ 1♀ (HNHM) ‘GREECE, Larisa env., Mt. Ossa, 2 km SW Stomio, 24.05.2011, leg. Kotán A., Márkus A. & Németh T., sifting leaf litter, h=300m’; 2♂ (HNHM) ‘GR., Larisa env., Mt. Ossa, 5 km SW Stomio, 10.06.2014, Szénási V. leg., sweeping, h=1060m’.

Subgenus Hippomias Yunakov, 2006

Type species: Brachysomus kubanensis Reitter, 1888 (by original designation).

Yunakov, 2006: 302.

This is the most species-rich subgenus of Brachysomus , including species of the ‘first group’ (‘1. Gruppe’) by Formánek (1905) and the B. transsylvanicus group by Košťál (1992), except for Brachysomus zellichi , which has been transferred to the genus Amicromias Reitter ( Yunakov 2005) . Morphologically, the species of Hippomias may be divided into three species groups. These groups are based on external morphological characters of the head and body structure, and distinctive structure of the genitalia.

Two Balkan groups, the B. ponticus group and B. transsylvanicus group are species-rich. The members of the B. ponticus group are characterized mainly by dense scale coverage ( Figs. 65, 67 ). Among them, B. ponticus and B. commutatus are undoubtedly modified ones along the xeromorphic trend. The rest of the species are less xeromorphic; they are distributed very locally in humid environments of the mountain forests and subalpine meadows. Their ranges are bounded by the Balkan Peninsula.

The B. sulcatus group includes Carpathian, Crimean and Caucasian species. They have the following characters typical of all forest species: thin pubescence, femora strongly swollen in the middle part, tibiae short and wide. This group also includes three vicariant species, B. merkli from Dobruja, B. sulcatus from Crimea, and B. alexeevi from North Caucasus, whose distributions are delimited by large geographic gaps.

Three forest species from the Western Caucasus are included in the B. kubanensis group. A single species of the B. rhinomioides group from Turkey and Crimea has an unusual structure of the head (epifrons noticeably widened apically), vestiture of the body, and well-developed, long parameres on the tegmenal ring.

Diagnosis. Hippomias differs from Brachysomus s. str. in absence of intero-basal tooth of mandibular process ( Fig. 216G ); epifrons distinctly narrowed apically and at the level of the antennal insertion much narrower (ca. 0.5x) than the vertex ( Fig. 228D ); pterygia strongly project from the contour of the rostrum and are not covered by the lateral margin of the epifrons ( Fig. 228D ); only the ventral margin of antennal scrobe is distinct and long, while the dorsal margin is indistinct in distal section ( Fig. 209E ); antennal scape is coarsely granulate and punctate, extends beyond the anterior margin of the pronotum; tegmen and the ventral wall of the median lobe are weakly sclerotised, and the dorsal wall of the median lobe is membranous; tip of median lobe nearly always short, not protruding; paramera nearly always reduced (only exception B. (H.) rhinomioides ); aedeagal apodemes 3–4x as long as the median lobe.

Figures

FIGURE 204. Brachysomus podlussanyi: A: aedeagus; B: tegmen; C: endophallic sclerite; D: spermatheca; E: sternite IX and hemisternite VIII; F: tergite VIII; G: head of male; H: antenna; I: pronotum.

FIGURE 209. Brachysomus simulans: A: aedeagus; B: tegmen; C: spermatheca; D, E: head; F: antenna; G: scales of antennal scape; H: scales of elytra.

FIGURE 216. Brachysomus fallax: A: aedeagus; B: tegmen; C: spermatheca; D: head; E: hind tibia of male; F: scales of elytra; G: deciduous process.

FIGURE 228. Brachysomus kubanensis: A: aedeagus; B: tegmen; C: spermatheca; D: body; E: hind tibia of male.

FIGURE 235. Occurrence map of Brachysomus: A: B. echinatus; B: Brachysomus s. str.

FIGURES 100–105. Brachysomus, details: 100: B. podlussanyi sp. n. main view. 101: podlussanyi sp. n., head dorsal view. 102: B. podlussanyi sp. n., head lateral view. 103: B. pseudosetiger sp. n., main view. 104: B. pseudosetiger sp. n., head dorsal view. 105: B. pseudosetiger sp. n., head lateral view.

FIGURES 63–70. Brachysomus, details: 63: B. hirtus, 64: B. fasciatus. 65, 66: B. ponticus. 67, 68: B. commutatus. 69: B. ponticus. 70: B. commutatus.