Proscleropterus shennongjianus

Mei Qin, Junhao Huang, Enzo Colonnelli, Runzhi Zhang & Hong Wu, 2016, Two new species and a key to species of the genus Proscleropterus Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from China, Zoological Systematics 41 (2), pp. 173-185 : 174

Proscleropterus Korotyaev, 2008

Proscleropterus Korotyaev, 2008: 99.

Type species Proscleropterus davidiani Korotyaev, 2008 .

Comments. The genus and its two close relatives Scleropteroides Colonnelli, 1979 and Scleropterus Schoenherr, 1825 share the structures of head with obvious median carina on vertex, convex eyes, antennal funicle 6-segmented, rostral channel extended up to apical margin of mesosternum, elytral intervals bearing sharp granules, dentate femora, mid and hind tibia mucronate in male.

The rostrum is slender and not wider than fore femur in both Scleropteroides and Proscleropterus, whereas it is thick and wider than fore femur in Scleropterus . The rostral channel on meso- and metasternum is ill-defined and open on metasternum in Proscleropterus, whereas in Scleropteroides and Scleropterus it is deep, limited by keels, and closed.

Scleropteroides has strongly prominent humeri, well-developed hind wings 1.9 times as long as elytra in S. hypocrita (Hustache) , and its flying ability was observed in the field. Scleropterus has barely prominent humeri, elytra fused, and lacks of hind wings. Proscleropterus shows moderate humeri and reduced hind wing, not more than 1.8 times as long as elytra in P. shennongjianus Qin & Huang , sp. nov. ( Fig. 4 ), and fused elytra, indicating that the hind wings of members of this genus are non-functional, and their status is somewhat intermediate between Scleropteroides and Scleropterus .

Elytral intervals of Proscleropterus bear large sharp granules and strongly prominent tubercles, while those of Scleropteroides have small and evenly scattered granules, without prominent tubercles, and those of Scleropterus have large sharp granules and no tubercles in the type species S. serratus (Germar, 1824) , or weak ones in S. rubi Korotyaev, 1980 , S. berezovskii Korotyaev, 1992 , and S. sinensis Korotyaev, 1992 .

Aedeagus body, apical projection excepted, is very similar in all the species of Scleropteroides ( Huang et al., 2014) , whereas that of Scleropterus exhibits a little variation in the general appearance ( Korotyaev, 2008). The aedeagus of Proscleropterus davidiani Korotyaev is long, narrow and widely rounded apically, while that of the two new species is short and broad and apically with blunt projection, being thus quite similar to that of Scleropteroides . Both new species have similar aedeagus body and other structures of genitalia.

Recorded host plants of Scleropteroides , Scleropterus ( Colonnelli, 2004; Huang et al., 2014), and of Proscleropterus shennongjianus Qin & Huang , sp. nov. are in the genus Rubus (Rosaceae) , genus particularly diverse in temperate regions of northern hemisphere, China comprised ( Wu et al., 1994).

Figures

Figures 3 – 4. Proscleropterus shenongjianus Qin & Huang, sp. nov., male. 3. Rostral channel. 4. Left wing.