Ita latirostris ( Iablokov-Khnzorian, 1964 )

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 : 1369-1372

Ita latirostris ( Iablokov-Khnzorian, 1964)

(Figure 13)

Xeronoma latirostris Iablokov-Khnzorian, 1964: 174 .

Type locality

Armenia, Sovetashen [= Nubarashen, 40 ◦ 04 ′ N 44 ◦ 32 ′ E] .

Material examined

Holotype ♀: “Ereban, Sobetaxen, ASSR [Yerevan, Sovetashen, ASSR], 1.VII.[19]51” ( ASAY). See introduction for remarks on the synonymy between Xeronoma and Ita .

Redescription (Holotype)

Head, pronotum and elytra black; coxae dark ferruginous; rostrum and femora from dark ferruginous at base to ferruginous at apex; tibiae and first segments of tarsi light reddish; antennal scape and funicle yellowish, antennal club, segment 3 of tarsi, onychium and claws ferruginous (Figures 13A, B). Scales on head, pronotum, elytra, femora and underside white-greyish, narrow, four to five times as long as wide, not uniform, narrower in median part of elytra, not completely hiding integument (Figures 13H, I). Rostrum slender, moderately thickened, very strongly curved at base, gibbous at point of curvature; interocular space nearly as wide as rostrum at base, antennae inserted near base, sides linearly broadened from base to antennal insertion, slightly concave in the first part ahead of antennal insertion and distinctly more broadened at apex; dorsum relatively uniformly punctulate, punctures only slightly deeper and denser in basal part, progressively shallower and more spaced apicad; sides with a deep furrow formed by oblong punctures from margin of scrobes to apex; scrobes short, slightly widened towards base (Figures 13C, D). Antennal scape short, barely longer than rostrum width at antennal insertion, curved and scarcely thickened in apical part; segment 1 of funicle twice as long as wide, triangular, broadened towards apex, segment 2 half as broad as 1, slightly longer than wide and feebly conical, segments 3 and 5 smaller than 4 and 6, segment 7 scarcely wider than 6; club elliptical (Figure 13F). Pronotum with a glossy median line, sides distinctly broadened near mid-length, slightly constricted before apex (Figure 13G). Elytra oval, moderately convex, sides linearly and visibly broadened from base to slightly beyond mid-length, sublinearly convergent at apex. Segment 1 of tarsi more than twice as long as wide, scarcely enlarged at apex; segment 2 approximately 1.5 times as long as wide, segment 3 barely broader than 2, lobes very slightly developed; onychium longer than segments 2 + 3 together (Figure 13E). Genitalia not examined.

Discussion

This species was described as the type species of the new, monotypic genus Xeronoma Iablokov-Khnzorian. Apparently it has not been re-collected since its discovery.

Natural history

Iablokov-Khnzorian (1964) reports to have found it between Yerevan and Sovetashen, today’s Nubarashen, on Atriplex tatarica L .

Distribution

So far known only from the type series, found a few kilometres south of Yerevan. Figure 13. Ita latirostris , holotype ♀: (A, B) body; (C, D) rostrum; (E) fore tarsus; (F) antenna; (G) pronotum; (H) scales of dorsum and (I) side of elytra. Scale bar: (A, B) 1 mm; (C, D, G) 500 µm; (E, F) 200 µm .

Remarks

I. latirostris is very closely related to I. turkmena sp. nov., with which it shares the reduced size of the third tarsal segment. The new species mainly differs in the more elongate segment 1 of the tarsi; in the rostrum with a less basal antennal insertion, regularly curved, not gibbous at the base; and in the very slightly raised elytral scales (see Redescription for more details).