Corresponding author: Miguel A. Alonso-Zarazaga (
Academic editor: Terry Erwin
The genus
The superfamily
The tribe
The discovery of a new member of this tribe in the collections of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ-CAS), that we consider a new species of
Specimens of a new species were found while sorting out and identifying specimens in the collection of IOZ-CAS (Beijing, P.R. China). Some of them were dissected after soaking them overnight in lukewarm soapy water and later rinsed with de-ionized water. Lukewarm 10% potash solution overnight was used for digestion of soft tissues. One defective male was completely dissected and mounted to study and photograph notal areas, metendosternite, wings, terminalia and genitalia. Description of these parts follows
The holotype of
Descriptions were made using a binocular Zeiss Stemi SV11. Photographs were taken with a CCD Qimagine MircoPublisher 5.0 RTV mounted on a Zeiss SteREO Discovery V.12. Extended focus images were generated with Auto-Montage Pro 5.03.0061 and edited with Adobe Photoshop CS 5.0 if required. Microscopic slides were studied under a Leica DM 2500 microscope and photos were taken with a Nikon CoolPix 5400.
Label data are given as they are (in Chinese), with pinyin romanization and comments in square brackets; labels are separated by semicolons and lines by slashes.
It differs from subgenus
From Latin
(holotype, except where indicated).
Measurements (in mm) (n=7): Standard length: 4.40–5.30 (mean= 4.85). Rostrum: length: 1.08–1.22 (mean= 1.15), maximum width: 0.38–0.46 (mean= 0.42). Pronotum: median length: 0.91–1.20 (mean= 1.06), maximum width: 1.90–2.20 (mean= 2.05). Elytra: median length: 3.70–4.30 (mean= 4.00), maximum width: 3.05–3.95 (mean= 3.50).
Measurements (in mm) (n=7): Standard length: 4.60–5.30 (mean= 4.95). Rostrum: length: 1.42–1.56 (mean= 1.49), maximum width: 0.38–0.44 (mean= 0.41). Pronotum: median length: 1.04–1.28 (mean= 1.16), maximum width: 1.95–2.30 (mean= 2.13). Elytra: median length: 3.70–4.55 (mean= 4.13), maximum width: 3.20–3.90 (mean= 3.55).
As males, but
The specimens show some variation in colour, mostly a lesser presence of the dark brown colouration on elytra, restricted to some basal spots and an apical patch, or to a lining of the bottom of the elytral striae, the apical margin of the ventrites, the sides of pronotum and the basal two thirds of the rostrum, the other areas remaining reddish brown, or all the head and rostrum may become also of the same colour. Legs may also show different variations. No variation has been noticed in vestiture, but the pronotal median tubercle may be more or less covered with punctures in different individuals.
Holotype: ♂: (white, handwritten): 云南路西 [Yúnnán Lùxī] / 1958.6.26; (white, handwritten): 中国科学院,榕树 [Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn, róngshù] 575; (white, printed): IOZ (E) 909962. Paratypes (12♂, 7♀): same data as holotype: 2♂ labeled IOZ(E) 909960, IOZ(E) 909961 and 1♀ labeled IOZ(E); 1♂, same data as holotype except date 1958.6.27 and IOZ(E) 909962 with same data as holotype except for collecting date: 1958.VI.27; 8♂, same data as holotype except date 1958.6.30 and IOZ(E) 909948, IOZ(E) 909949, IOZ(E) 909950, IOZ(E) 909954, IOZ(E) 909957, IOZ(E) 909958, IOZ(E) 909959, IOZ(E) 909963; 6♀, same data as holotype except date 1958.6.30 and IOZ(E) 909946, IOZ(E) 909951, IOZ(E) 909955, IOZ(E) 909956, labeled IOZ(E)1799147, IOZ(E)1799150; 1♂: (white, handwritten): 云南瑞丽 [Yúnnán Ruìlì] 1958.7.6; (white, handwritten): 中国科学院,榕树 [Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn, róngshù] 688; (white, printed): IOZ(E) 909964.
Holotype and all paratypes to be conserved in IOZ-CAS, except one male and one female paratype to be deposited in MNCN-CSIC (Madrid) and another paratype couple in the NHM (London).
The first character used to write the second place name (Lùxī) is incorrect. It should have been 潞.The only Yunnanese locality named 路西 is found at more than 2,000 m height.
The specific epithet is a pinyin transliteration (without diacritics) of the indication of the host plant on the labels, róngshù (榕树), which is applied to
The species is known from two close localities in Yunnan province (P.R. China): Lùxī (575 m) and Ruìlì (688 m), separated by 87 km, but see below (
One male has not been included in the type series, because it differs from the specimens collected in the two above mentioned localities as follows:
Label data for this specimen are as follows: (white, two marginal faded red lines, pencil handwritten): 黑尾棕象甲 [Hēi Wěi Zōng Xiàng Jiǎ] / 新平 [Xīnpíng]; (white, faded red lined, field names printed, handwritten): 新平 [Xīnpíng];,80年; (white, printed): IOZ(E)1799122. The first label corresponds to an intent of identification in Chinese (the brown weevil with black tail) and the locality; the second repeats the locality Xīnpíng (Yunnan, China) and includes only the year of collection [19]80. This locality is separated from the closest one, Lùxī, by ca. 347 km (
Although some of the differences, notably those of the proportions of the ventrites and of the antennomeres, could be taken as enough to describe a different species, we prefer to wait until a series from the latter locality can be studied. These differences may be individual or populational, and the erection of a new taxon unjustified.
The genus
Neither of the above mentioned authors made reference to H.
There are no known detailed descriptions of the members of the genus
Among the characters that can be of phylogenetic use, we want to emphasize the wing, the meso- and metanotal structures and the peculiar conformation of the female tergite VII.
The wing of
The meso- and metanota present similarities to some other taxa presented by Davis (
The dorsally uncovered VIII tergite of females (similar to that of male) is a distinctive character. It is exposed by the VII tergite being widely notched apically, an uncommon feature. So far, an uncovered female VIII tergite has been recorded only in
The distribution of some characters used in the systematics of
We want to thank here Drs. Rolf Oberprieler (CSIRO), Christopher H.C. Lyal (NHM) and Hiroaki Kojima (Tokyo University of Agriculture) for their help during this research and Ms Arabia Sánchez, Pilar Rodríguez and Isabel Morón (MNCN) for help with documentation. Dr. Jens Prena (USDA) and one anonymous reviewer improved this manuscript with their suggestions. This research has been supported by an Invited Professor Award (2009) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the senior author and by project grant CGL2010-15786 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain).
Checklist of tribe
Genus |
||
( |
||
( |
||
( |
||
Genus |
||
“Polynesia” | ||
|
||
Genus |
||