Laparocerus roudieri, Machado, Antonio, 2007

Machado, Antonio, 2007, New species of Laparocerus Schönherr, 1834 from La Gomera, Canary Islands (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae), Zootaxa 1643, pp. 1-38 : 22-23

Laparocerus roudieri n. sp.

( Figs. 7 B, 13C–D, 17A, 18I)

Measurement of holotype (ɗ). Length: total (without rostrum) 4.60 mm, head 1.20 mm, rostrum 0.52 mm, scape 1.20, mm, funicle 1.42 mm, segments (1st/ 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th) 0.26 /0.38 /0.18 / 0.18 mm, club 0.54 mm, eyes 0.28, pronotum 0.90 mm, elytra 3.43 mm, tibiae (fore /mid /hind) 1.30 /1.10 / 1.34 mm. Width: head (with eyes) 0.88 mm, head (between eyes) 0.50 mm, rostrum (with pterygia) 0.60 mm, rostrum (minimum dorsal / ventral) 0.34 mm / 0.52 mm, rostrum (base) 0.60 mm, scape (maximum) 0.12 mm, club 0.14 mm, pronotum (anterior /maximum /posterior) 0.90 /1.30 / 1.15 mm, elytra (maximum) 2.20 mm. Height: abdomen 1.75 mm.

Male. Length 3.5–4.8 mm, oval and convex. Integument piceous, shiny, with less striking, sparse vestiture of small, linear, white or glaucous scales; devoid of protruding setae on elytra. Legs somewhat paler. Antenna long and slender, scape 1.3× longer than pronotum, slightly arcuate, clearly capitate in apical third; funicle 1.2× longer than scape; 2nd segment markedly longer than 1st, as long as 3rd + 4th together; club oblong, narrow, about length of three previous segments combined. Head robust; vertex somewhat inflated; rostrum quadrangular, much narrower dorsally than ventrally (genae clearly visible from above); prorostrum weakly delimited; epistomal keel obsolete; pterygia broad, moderately prominent (antennal base exposed); metarostrum not canaliculate, convergent apicad, trapezoidal. Frons slightly depressed; median frontal fovea usually very short. Eyes small (major axis 0.56× of interocular distance), protruding, hemispherical (convexity 78%), not reaching border of frons; integument shortly and slightly raised behind eye. Dorsal integument smooth or with isodiametric microreticulation, some shallow punctures and few scales. Pronotum 0.59 × width of elytra, moderately transverse (L/W ratio 0.8), sides evenly curved, maximum width at middle; anterior margin narrower than posterior, basal margin thinly rimmed. Surface shiny, variable (smooth, uneven or microreticulate), with shallow large and small punctures intermixed; median line obsolescent. Scales usually transversely orientated at base and on flanks. Scutellum triangular, small, usually bare. Elytra broadly oval-elongated (L/W ratio 1.6), evenly convex; 3.8 × longer than pronotum; base straight; sides less curved in middle third; maximum width at or slightly behind middle; shoulders moderately prominent, rounded, occasionally slightly and shortly angular. Deep broad punctures along striae, separated by own diameter; intervals shiny, smooth or microrugulose, 8th slightly inflated, visible from above at base. Vestiture composed of sparse, short, decumbent, whitish or glaucous, linear scales (4–5 across interval) forming an obscure pattern; easily abraded. Short, testaceous, curved setae along intervals, not protruding from vestiture of scales and barely distinct. Legs. Protibia shortly curved inwards at apex; outer angle broadly rounded, internal angle sharp, with small mucro; meso- and metatibia hardly incrassate at apex, with small mucro. Ven t er. Integument shiny, with denser cover of larger and thinner scales than on dorsum; intermesocoxal ridge hardly developed; last ventrite apically truncate. Abdominal convexity 79%. Aedeagus (fig. 13C–D) 0.65× length of elytra, smoothly arcuate, evenly convergent at apex; apex blunt, simple, in profile slightly curved upwards. Internal sac at rest not much longer than temones; with two short, median, parallel rows of short, thick denticles and a smaller, single group distally. Denticles of muscular sheath weakly developed.

Female. As male but broader and rounder (length 4.2–5.0 mm). Elytra shorter, broader (L/W ratio 1.4 instead of 1.6), laterally more evenly curved, shoulders square, occasionally a little porrect. Protibia straight, unarmed. Last ventrite rounded apically. Ventrite VIII as in fig. 17A, round at apex and with parallel-sided plate, spermatheca as in fig. 18I.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Adrien Roudier (1913–2000), French specialist in Curculionidae who contributed much to the knowledge of Laparocerus of the Canary Islands and Madeira.

Remarks. Laparocerus roudieri is easily distinguished from the other Laparocerus species of La Gomera by its small size (<5 mm), fairly rounded appearance (especially in the females), shiny, dark integument with less distinct vestiture of scales and devoid of additional setae and, particularly, by the small, prominent, almost hemispherical eyes. Specimens from coastal vegetation at Tamargada and Playa de Hermigua have rounded shoulders in both sexes but show no other consistent differences.

Material examined. Holotype: La Gomera: Bco. del Clavo, 365 m (UTM = 28R 0 276378 3119008), 17- 2-2004, leg. A. Machado, 1 ɗ ( TFMC, reg. CO-15529). Paratypes: same data, 54 exx. ( AMC, 2 NHM, 1 TFMC, 2 MNCN); Vallehermoso, 11-4-1967, leg. T. Palm, 2 exx. ( ZMUL); same locality, 13-7-2001, leg. R. García, 10 exx. (RGB). Other specimens: Tamargada, 450 m, 7-12-2002, leg. A. Machado, 60 exx. (many teneral) ( AMC); Tamargada, km 33, 500 m, 29-3-1994, leg. Liberto, 1 ex. (AL); Playa de Hermigua, 10 m, 7- 12-2002, 34 exx.; same locality, 8-12-2006, leg. A. Machado, 4 exx. ( AMC); same data, 19-1-2003, 7 exx.; Taguluche, 17-2-2003, leg. P. Oromí, 1 ex. (POM).

Distribution and ecology. Laparocerus roudieri is endemic to La Gomera, where it occurs in the northern part of the island at low altitudes (10-400 m) in natural scrub vegetation as well as on weeds in agricultural land or along roadsides. The type series was collected on Rubia fruticosa and Ferula linkii and the other specimens on Argyranthemum fruticosum , Shizogyne sericea , Mercurialis annua, Bidens pilosa, Artemisia thuscula , Rubus ulmifolius and Sonchus sp. It is apparently a fairly polyphagous, nocturnal species active in winter.

Figures

FIGURE 7. New Laparocerus species from La Gomera, holotypes: (A) L. junonius, (B) L. roudieri. Scale = 2 mm