Paratranes zimmermani, Hsiao & Oberprieler, 2021

Hsiao, Yun & Oberprieler, Rolf G., 2021, A review of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994, Xanthorrhoea-associated weevils of the Tranes group (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Molytinae), with description of a new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 767 (1), pp. 117-141 : 131-138

Paratranes zimmermani sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:25298AC5-CC8A-4E10-8DA1-D5137DCE0776

Figs 3C–D , 4C–D , 5B , 6B, D, F, H , 7C–D, F, H, J , 8D–F , 9D–F , 10B, D , 12

Tranes xanthorrhoeae auct. – misidentification.

Diagnosis

The species is readily distinguishable from P. monopticus , as given in the diagnosis of the latter above.

Etymology

The specific epithet is dedicated to the late Dr Elwood Curtin Zimmerman, former weevil taxonomist at the ANIC who is renowned for his invaluable works on Australian weevils and who was the first to recognise the distinctiveness of this species among the type series of Tranes xanthorrhoeae .

Material examined

Holotype AUSTRALIA • ♂; “Kalbarri, W.A. / Sept. 1968 / G. Hill // C.G.L. Gooding / Collection / donated to / A.N.I.C. 1975 // HOLOTYPE / Paratranes zimmermani / Hsiao & Oberprieler 2021”; ANIC.

Paratypes (all labelled “PARATYPE / Paratranes zimmermani / Hsiao & Oberprieler 2021”) AUSTRALIA • 2 exx.; “New / Holland”; NHMUK • 1 ex.; “ Australia // Sharp Coll. / B.M. 1948- 336.”; NHMUK • 1 ♀, 1 ex.; “ Australia / RMY’69 // E.Y. Western Coll. / B.M. 1924–176.”; NHMUK . – Western Australia • 1 ex.; “30890 // De / Boulay // Nov Holl / Occid. // Fry Coll. / 1905-100.”; NHMUK • 1 ex.; “De / Boulay // Nov Holl / Occid. // Fry Coll. / 1905-100.”; NHMUK • 1 ex.; “n.w. australia // 699 / m // NW aust. // Sharp Coll. / 1905-313.”; NHMUK • 4 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; ANIC • 2 ♂♂; “ K. G. Sound ”; ANIC • 1 ♂; “ Kaiarena / W.A. HJC [H.J. Carter]”; ANIC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ Wembley Park / WA”; ANIC • 1 ex.; “Swan R. / W. Australia / J. Clark // G.A.K. Marshall / Coll. / B.M. 1950-255.”; NHMUK • 1 ♀; “ Denmark / W.A. (DuB[oulay])”; ANIC • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; “ Pinjarra, W.A. / E. Goerling ”; ANIC • 1 ex.; “5192 / Melville Park , / W.A. / H. M. Giles. / 6.11.03 // G.A.K. Marshall / Coll. / B.M. 1950-255. // Tranes / sp. not in BM. / Det G.A.K. Marshall”; NHMUK • 1 ♂; “F. H. Uther Baker / Stirling Ra. WA / 21.3.49 // F.H. UTHER BAKER / BEQUEST / 1992 // Tranes / monopticus Pasc. / J. Balfcur-Browne [sic] det. / Comp.type. // These three doubtfully Tranes / monopticus – check o. descr. / Not xanthorrhoeae – / det. F. H. Uther Baker / Femora edentate not T. roei // NOT / T. m.”; ANIC • 1 ♀; “F.H. Uther Baker / Jandakot / Western Australia / 17.IX.65 // F.H. UTHER BAKER / BEQUEST / 1992”; ANIC • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; “ 3 mi. W. of Augusta, / WA. 34.19S 115.10E / 14.xi.69 Xanthorrhoea / inflorescences / E.B. Britton ”; ANIC • 1 ex.; “WEST. AUST. / MADDINGTON / 10-XII-69 // ex collection / A. Walford-Huggins // Coll. / A. WRIGHT / 5133 // E. Gowing-Scopes / collection / BMNH (E) 2005–4 // Tranes / monopticus Pasc / E. Gowing-Scopes. det. / 1989”; NHMUK • 1 ♀; “ Collie – WA, / 27 October 1985 / Xanthorrhoea sp. / R. Patterson I918”; ANIC • 1 ♂; “ Collie – WA, / 27 October 1985 / Xanthorrhoea sp. / R. Patterson I924”; ANIC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ AUSTRALIA, WA / Gnangara Pine / Plantation 30 km / NE of Perth, / 31.43S 116.17E / 09.x.1986 / G. Tribe // feeding on / flower stalk of / Xanthorrhoea / preissii // Tranes sp. (nov). / unnamed in BM (9) / R. Oberprieler 1988”; ANIC • 1 ♀: “[front] ROWLEY ROAD, / PEEL ESTATE, PERTH, / W.A. IN 32°11’S 115°55’E / 24 SEPT. 1995 / M. PETERSON // [back] ON GREEN CAUDEX / OF REGENERATING / XANTHORRHOEA / PREISSII IN BURNT / AREA OF SWAMP / 1440 – 15:40 HRS”; ANIC • 2 ♀♀; “ 34°24.257’S 119°15.085’E / WA: Bremer Bay, W. of. / 23 Oct 2003, S. Neser / adults – flowers of Xanthorrhoea ”; ANIC • 1 ♀; “[front] 32°12’09.4”S / 115°52’29.7”E / 8 OCTOBER 2008 / M. PETERSON // [back] ON TOP OF FLOWERING / TIP OF GREEN NON- / FLOWERING CAUDEX / OF XANTHORRHOEA / PREISSII AT 1132 HRS / 106 M ABOVE GROUND”; ANIC • 1 ♀; “[front] 32°12’11.6”S / 115°52’35.0”E / 8 OCTOBER 2008 / M. PETERSON // [back] SPECIMEN 3.1m (1200 HR) / above GROUND NR / GROWING TIP OF / FLOWER SPIKE ON / XANTHORRHOEA PREISSII ”; ANIC • 1 ♂; “ xanthorrhoeae / Lea Swan R. // Co-type // PARALECTOTYPE / Tranes xanthorrhoeae Lea, 1898 / des. Hsiao & Oberprieler 2020 ”; SAMA • 1 ♀; “Mt. Barker / W.A., Lea // ♀ // Co-type // Tranes I 10413 / xanthorrhoeae Lea / W. Australia. Cotype // NOT / xanthorrhoeae / Det. E.C. Zimmerman // PARALECTOTYPE / Tranes xanthorrhoeae Lea, 1898 / des. Hsiao & Oberprieler 2020 ”; SAMA • 1 ex.; “UQIC Reg. / #77514 // Tranes / xanthorrhoea [sic] / NWA Lea”; UQIC • 1 ex.; “WA: Yeal Nat Res / -31.3769 115.8094 / Banksia and heath / 9 Oct 2020 / J & F Hort 12044”; ANIC • 1 ex.; “WA: Wandoo NP / -32.0662 116.5309 / Diverse heath / 10 Oct 2020 / J & F Hort 11902”; ANIC • 1 ex.; same data except “J & F Hort 11903”; ANIC • 1 ex.; same data except “J & F Hort 12075”; ANIC • 1 ex.; same data except “J & F Hort 12076”; ANIC • 1 ex.; same data except “J & F Hort 12077”; ANIC . – New South Wales • 1 ex.; “ Pascoe / Coll. / 93–60. // Lurnea / nsw”; NHMUK • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; “N.S.W.”; ANIC • 1 ♀; “ Sydney ”; ANIC • 1 ♀; “Hawkesbury R. / N. S. Wales // E. W. Ferguson / Collection”; ANIC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “HEATHCOTE, N.S.W. // 27 TH OCTOBER, 1950 / I. BALDERSON // F.H. UTHER BAKER / BEQUEST / 1992”; ANIC • 1 ♂; “ xanthorrhoeae / Lea Gosford // Elston has / from Q. // Tranes / xanthorrhoeae Lea / N. S. Wales // New genus / new species / Det. E.C. Zimmerman // PARALECTOTYPE / Tranes xanthorrhoeae Lea, 1898 / des. Hsiao & Oberprieler 2020 ”; ANIC • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “Sydney / Brown // Griffith Collection / Id. By A. M. Lea // Tranes / xanthorrhoeae / Lea N.S.W. 851 // Ditto / N. S. Wales // PARALECTOTYPE / Tranes xanthorrhoeae Lea, 1898 / des. Hsiao & Oberprieler 2020 ”; SAMA .

Type locality

Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia.

Description

SHAPE AND SIZE. Body elongate oval ( Fig. 3C–D ), length 7.3–10.1 mm in both sexes, width 0.46–0.48× length, very flat in lateral view ( Fig. 4C–D ).

COLOUR AND VESTITURE. Body and legs shiny black, semilustrous; body, femora and tibiae sparsely covered with very short pale setae, setae on tibiae slightly longer than on body and femora; funicles, clubs and tarsi densely covered with pale to yellowish setae, longer than short pale setae on body, femora and tibiae.

ROSTRUM. Moderately long, ca 1.3–1.4 × as long as pronotum in both sexes, robust, slightly curved ventrad, dorsoventrally flattened, slightly broadened apically in dorsal view, coarsely punctate dorsally, punctures very fine in distal half, proximal half with paired dorsomedian and dorsolateral carinae, the latter lower than the former.

EYES. Subcircular in outline, slightly convex but not protruding ( Fig. 4C–D ).

ANTENNAE. Inserted at about distal third of rostrum in both sexes ( Fig. 4C–D ); scapes not reaching eye; funicles with segment 1 ca 0.8–1.1 ×, 1.5–2.4 ×, 1.5–2.1 ×, 1.5–2.1 ×, 1.4–1.7 × and 1.3–1.7 × as long as segments 2 to 7, respectively; clubs stout, fused with segment 7 of funicle, ca 1.6 × as long as wide, densely and finely pubescent ( Fig. 5B ).

PRONOTUM. Roundly trapezoidal, apex ca 0.6× as wide as base; anterior margin slightly emarginate medially, posterior margin protruding medially, forming obtuse median lobe, sides distinctly arcuate; disc nearly flat; surface densely and coarsely punctate, with elongate longitudinal impunctate region medially, punctures separate but confluent and vague laterally; prosternum with slightly depressed, subrounded region sparsely punctate medially ( Fig. 6B ).

SCUTELLAR SHIELD. Roundly pentagonal to subcircular.

ELYTRA. Ca 2.7–3.0× as long as pronotum, jointly ca 0.6–0.7× as broad as long, distinctly broader than base of pronotum; humeri broadly rounded, slightly protruding; surface nearly flat, shallowly and coarsely punctate in rows, forming shallowly depressed striae.

LEGS. Femora distinctly sulcate beneath, without ventral tooth ( Fig. 6D ); tibiae with arcuate premucro smaller than uncus ( Fig. 6F ); tarsi with claws free, divergent ( Fig. 6H ).

TERMINALIA. Tergite VIII of female subtrapezoidal ( Fig. 7C ), ca 0.9–1.1 × as long as wide; sternite VIII of male broadly crescentic, sclerotised, apical margin rounded to truncate, basal margin strongly sclerotised ( Fig. 7F ); spiculum gastrale widely concave apically, base weakly sclerotised ( Fig. 7H ). Tegmen with complete, subcircular ring, manubrium slender, distinctly shorter than parameroid lobes ( Fig. 7J ); penis thick (ca 1.4–1.6× as long as wide), sides straight, parallel or merely slightly narrowing apicad, dorsum flat, laterally distinctly sclerotised, medially broadly grooved, apical margin subtruncate, medially slightly emarginate ( Fig. 8D–F ); endophallus with apical sclerite slightly protuberant ( Fig. 9D ). Gonocoxites thick, short, apically bluntly rounded ( Fig. 10B ), ca 1.5–2.0× as long as wide, proximal gonocoxite ca

0.8–1.1× as long as distal gonocoxite; gonostyli cylindrical, setose apically; bursa copulatrix without bands of spicules; spermatheca thick, right-angled, gland thick, swollen, narrowing apicad ( Fig. 10D ).

Distribution

Based on the records we have seen, this species has two disjunct populations, one in coastal regions around central New South Wales (Sydney) and another in southwestern Western Australia ( Fig. 12 ). Most of our examined specimens were collected in Western Australia, indicating that the species is mainly distributed there.

Natural history

Like P. monopticus , this species appears to be associated with grasstrees, having been taken from the flower stalks and green caudex of regenerating plants in a burnt area of swamp during the daytime. Adults have also been observed feeding on flower stalks of grasstrees ( Fig. 13 ). They are cautious and quickly dropped to the ground when disturbed (J. and F. Hort, pers. obs.). The only host recorded for this species (on labels) is Xanthorrhoea preissii in Western Australia, but specimens from New South Wales imply that the species is associated with other Xanthorrhoea species in the east, such as X. australis and X. johnsonii .

Remarks

The assessment of the taxonomic status of this species varied between being considered conspecific with (females of) P. monopticus by Lea (1898) (as Tranes xanthorrhoeae ) and as representing a different genus “allied to Paratranes ” by Zimmerman (1994). While its status as a species distinct from P. monopticus is clear from several morphological differences (in particular in the male genitalia), we do not regard these differences as significant enough to treat it as a genus distinct from Paratranes , especially in comparison with the differences between the other genera of the Tranes group. Zimmerman (1994) did not seem convinced of a separate generic status for it either, because he did not name such a genus in his key to the genera of the Tranes group, as he did with Paratranes and other new genera.

Specimens of P. zimmermani sp. nov. in New South Wales differ slightly from those at the type locality in Western Australia (Kalbarri) in their male genitalia, by having a wider and shallower apical opening of the median dorsal groove of the penis ( Fig. 9E–F ), but such a wide and shallow opening also occurs in specimens of populations further south in Western Australia (e.g., Collie), and in the absence of other morphological differences we regard this difference as intraspecific variation rather than signifying different species. However, the apparent widely disjunct distribution of P. zimmermani sp. nov. between south-eastern and south-western Australia is remarkable in view of the much wider and likely continuous range of P. monopticus (see Fig. 12 ).

Figures

Fig. 3. Habitus, dorsal view. A–B. Paratranes monopticus (Pascoe, 1870). C–D. P. zimmermani sp. nov. (C. Holotype (ANIC); D. Paratype (ANIC)). A, C. Male. B, D. Female. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.

Fig. 4. Habitus, lateral view. A–B. Paratranes monopticus (Pascoe, 1870). C–D. P. zimmermani sp. nov. (C. Holotype (ANIC); D. Paratype (ANIC)). A, C. Male. B, D. Female. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.

Fig. 5. Left antenna, dorsal view. A. Paratranes monopticus (Pascoe, 1870). B. P. zimmermani sp. nov. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 6. Diagnostic differences of external characters between Paratranes monopticus (Pascoe, 1870) and P. zimmermani sp. nov.A. P. monopticus, prosternum.B. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. C. P. monopticus, profemur. D. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. E. P. monopticus, protibial uncus, indicated by black arrow. F. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. G. P. monopticus, terminal tarsal segment with claws, lateral view. H. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. Scale bars: A–D = 0.5 mm; E–H = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 7. Terminalia of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994. A. P. monopticus (Pascoe, 1870), tergite VIII of female. B. P. monopticus, sternite VIII of female. C. P. zimmermani sp. nov., tergite VIII of female. D. P. zimmermani sp. nov., sternite VIII of female. E. P. monopticus, sternite VIII of male. F. P. zimmermani sp. nov., sternite VIII of male. G. P. monopticus, spiculum gastrale. H. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. I. P. monopticus, tegmen. J. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 8. Penis of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994. A. P. monopticus (Pascoe, 1870), dorsal view (Griffith Uni., Qld). B. P. monopticus, ventral view (Griffith Uni., Qld). C. P. monopticus, lateral view (Griffith Uni., Qld). D. P. zimmermani sp. nov., dorsal view (Kalbarri, WA). E. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ventral view (Kalbarri, WA). F. P. zimmermani sp. nov., lateral view (Kalbarri, WA). Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig. 9. Endophallus and apex of penis of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994. A. P. monopticus (Pascoe, 1870), apical sclerite (Griffith Uni., Qld). B. P. monopticus, ditto (Lucindale, SA). C. P. monopticus, ditto (Deepdene, WA). D. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto (Kalbarri, WA). E. P. zimmermani sp. nov., apex of penis (Kalbarri, WA). F. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto (NSW). Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 10. Female genital structures of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994. A. P. monopticus (Pascoe, 1870), ovipositor (Homebush, NSW). B. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto (Wembley, WA). C. P. monopticus, spermatheca with gland (Homebush, NSW). D. P. zimmermani sp. nov., ditto (Wembley, WA). Scale bars: A–B = 0.5 mm; C–D = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 12. Geographical distribution of Paratranes Zimmerman, 1994 in Australia.

Fig. 13. Paratranes zimmermani sp. nov. in their natural habitats. A. Adults feeding on flower stalks of grasstrees. B. Copulation. (©Jean and Fred Hort).