Eupholus bhaskarai, Grasso, 2020

Grasso, Matteo, 2020, A New Species Of Eupholus Boisduval (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) From West New Guinea, Munis Entomology & Zoology 15 (1), pp. 1-10 : 3-4

Eupholus bhaskarai sp. nov.

( Plate 1 : A-B; Figs. 1-4 , 9 , 11 )

Holotype (male): [ Indonesia], Irian Jaya, Jayapura province, Klaisu, South Gresi , V.2019 local collector, in MGC.

Paratypes (5 males, 4 females (one female marked as “allotype”)): same date and location as holotype, in KPC, MGC and STMI.

Diagnosis: An Eupholus species with a large, vertical stripe that starts by pronotum and ends at 2/3 of the elytra. Sometimes the stripe appears just visible, because of this, is easy to confuse Eupholus bhaskarai sp. nov. with Eupholus loriae ( Gestro, 1902) .

Description: total length 19.92 mm; pronotum+elytron 14.82 mm.

Head dorsal surface covered with green and light blue metallic oval scales, sometimes milky except for glabrous areas located between and laterally behind the eyes. Distance between the eyes 2.12 mm.

Rostrum width at the base 1.68 mm, 3.50 mm height, maximum width in front of antennal insertion. Dorsal area densely covered with suboval light green and light blue scales, interspersed with subrecumbent setiform scales; medially with low glabrous costa. Antennal scrobe complete in not dilated pterigo. Apex of the rostrum with suberect yellowish colored setae. Epistome heart-shaped with no ridges and with elongated scales posteriorly, glabrous anteriorly.

Antenna with funicle+club 7.43 mm; scape and funicle densely covered with suboval green and light blue scales mixed with witish setae. Funicle slender and elongate. Scape retracted ends at 1/3 of the eye. Funicles covered with whitish setae. Club dark brown.

Pronotum base 4.81 mm, 3.68 mm height; characterized in the dorsal part by wide black glabrous median depression, more deep in median area. Two lateral glabrous stripes give way for two subequal areas covered by subrotund light blue and green scales.

Scutellum glabrous and almost covered by elytra.

Elytron distance between the humeri 6,30 mm, 11,14 mm height. Humeri callosity with rectangular projection; a glabrous ridge continue behind humeral callus to 1/3 of elytron. Almost completely absent apical calluses. Median longitudinal and glabra stripe, large at base and thinner towards the scutellum, likely to connect itself with the one wich starts at base of the pronotum; elytron densely covered with light blue-green circular scales, strial punctures deeply impressed and quite large, with subrotund shape.

Thoracic venter densely squamose with green and light blue, round to lanceolate and recumbent scales. Posteriorly, area between forecoxae process glabrous.

Legs evenly covered by green light blue round scales on femora and tibiae, scales become blue-violet and interspersed with setae, elongated and lying on the tarsi.

Genitalia. Aedeagus ( Figs. 1-2 ) with subparallel sides until apical orifice, then in quite straight line converging to rounded apex. In lateral view somewhat of weakly swollen and quite truncate. Endophallus with symmetrical transfer apparatus as in picture 3. Tegmen with two thin and elongated paramers, barely rounded at apex ( Fig. 4 ).

Differential diagnosis: as mentioned E. bhaskarai sp. nov looks relationed to E. loriae ( Gestro, 1902) from which often differs by the presence of the large glabrous median and longitudinal stripe on the elytra. A larger and deeper strial punctures, a glabrous elytral suture only up to 2/3 of elytra ( E. loriae has all glabrous elytra suture) and a different genitalia as in figs. 1-4 and 5-8 with illustrated tegmen by both species as in figs. 4, 8 make possible to confirm validity of E. bhaskarai sp. nov. It is often possible to observe a glabrous transversal band in apical calluses for E. bhaskarai (as in plate 1: B) and could be easy to think it is barely hinted in apical calluses of E. loriae but this feature is never showed and as Gestro writes for this last species, both the glabrous stripes laterally on pronotum are dispersed with points which has reddish setae inside; instead E. bhaskarai has easy to see black setae in the same place.

Distribution: the new species is known from [ Indonesia], Irian Jaya, Jayapura province, Klaisu, South Gresi.

Etymology: this species is named in honor of Edy Bhaskara (East Java, Indonesia) who helped the author to recognize the new species.

Figures

Plate 1. Habitus of Eupholus species; A: Eupholus bhaskarai, male holotype; B: Eupholus bhaskarai, female allotype; C: Eupholus loriae (Gestro, 1902), male; D: Eupholus faisali, female allotype.

Figures 1-4. Male genitalia of Eupholus bhaskarai sp. nov. holotype; 1. Aedeagus in dorsal view; 2. Aedeagus in lateral view; 3. Transfer apparatus, resting position; 4. Paramers of tegmen.

Figures 9-10. Details of strial punctures of Eupholus species; 9. Eupholus bhaskarai sp. nov. holotype; 10. Eupholus loriae.

Figures 11-12. Head and rostrum of Eupholus species; 11. Eupholus bhaskarai sp. nov. holotype; 12. Eupholus loriae.