Ita caldarai, Meregalli & Borovec, 2011

Meregalli, Massimo & Borovec, Roman, 2011, Radiation in the halophytic coenoses of the Peri-Tethys: taxonomy and biogeography of the genus Ita (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Journal of Natural History 45 (21 - 22), pp. 1331-1401 : 1375-1377

Ita caldarai sp. nov.

(Figure 15)

Type locality

Turkey, Afyon, W Başören [approx. 38 ◦ 28 ′ N 30 ◦ 23 ′ E] .

Material examined

Holotype ♀: TURKEY, “TR – prov. Afyon, 3 km W of Başören [approx. 38 ◦ 28 ′ N 30 ◦ 23 ′ E], 28.V.1998, J. Vořišek legit” ( BMNH).

Diagnosis

A species of Ita of small size, characterized by the light ferruginous legs, the scarcely curved rostrum, the large, oval, dense, white scales, uniformly covering the elytral integument; elytra short, oval.

Description. Basal half of rostrum, head, pronotum, elytra, coxae and underside black; apex of rostrum dark ferruginous; femora, tarsi and antennal club ferruginous; tibiae light ferruginous, scape and funicle yellow (Figures 15A, B). Scales broad, oval, three times as long as wide, densely covering integument on head, pronotum, elytra, underside, femora and outer side of tibiae (Figures 15I, J). Rostrum robust, in lateral view curved at base and nearly straight from base to apex, sides parallel in basal part, barely broadened at antennal insertion, weakly concave beyond antennal insertion, moderately broadened at apex; dorsum shallowly and minutely punctured in basal part, very sparsely punctulate in apical part; sides more densely sculptured in basal part, with clearly delimited punctures (Figures 15C, F). Scrobes short, with parallel margins, relatively deepened and sharply delimited in their basal part, half as long as the length of rostrum between base and antennal insertion. Scape nearly straight, narrow in most of its length, moderately broadened at apex; funicle segment 1 conical, scarcely broadened, slightly more than twice as long as wide, segment 2 subrectangular, longer than wide, with parallel sides in its apical part, segments 3–5 subquadrate, 6–7 conical, as long as wide; club elliptical (Figure 15E). Pronotum with distinctly broadened sides, slightly angular at the point of maximum width in basal half (Figure 15D). Elytra short, oval, sides moderately broadened, very regularly curved and convergent at apex; in lateral view slightly convex, particularly in posterior part; declivity sharp, nearly vertical. Tarsi short, segment 1 slightly broadened from base to apex, twice as long as wide, robust; segment 2 moderately conical, only slightly longer than wide; segment 3 as long as wide, with short lobes; onychium slender, longer than segments 2 + 3 together (Figures 15G, H). Genitalia not examined.

Distribution

So far known only from the type specimen, found in central-western Anatolia. Figure 15. Ita caldarai , holotype ♀: (A, B) body; (C, F) rostrum; (D) pronotum; (E) antenna; (G) fore tarsus; (H) claws; (I) scales of side and (J) dorsum of elytra. Scale bar: (A, B) 1 mm; (C–F) 250 µm; (G) 200 µm .

Etymology

We are pleased to name this species after our good friend Roberto Caldara, who submitted to us the specimens of Ita in his collection, and gave suggestions regarding the systematic position of the genus.

Natural history

Unknown.

Remarks

The other Anatolian species, I. korotyaevi sp. nov., differs in the rostrum with the antennal insertion much nearer to its base, distinctly narrower at the base and nearly linearly broadened from the antennal insertion to the apex, the narrower elytral scales, particularly in their basal part, slightly raised above the integument. Also Ita marina sp. nov. and I. friedmani sp. nov. have narrower scales, four to five times as long as wide and not completely covering the integument.