Taphrorychus hewetti ( Stebbing, 1908 )

Buhroo, Abdul Ahad, 2024, A taxonomic monograph of subfamily Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Western Himalaya, Zootaxa 5533 (1), pp. 1-82 : 29-30

21. Taphrorychus hewetti ( Stebbing, 1908)

( Figure 27)

= Dryocoetes hewetti Stebbing 1908

This species is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: ♂ frons plano-convex, surface rugose-punctate, with long scattered hairs and roughened with fine granules; epistomal margin with a fringe of long hairs; eyes slightly emarginate at the antennal base; antennal funicle with five segments; club spatulate with procurved sutures; pronotum slightly longer than broad (1.04×), summit distinct, almost at the middle; basal margin substraight; lateral sides sub-parallel up to more than middle, narrowing anteriorly with rounded margin; coarser asperities on anterior half and much finer posteriorly; long sparse hairs on surface, especially anteriorly and laterally; scutellum rounded, convex and shiny; elytra 1.52× longer than pronotum and 1.6× as long as its width; basal margin substraight; lateral sides strictly parallel upto three fourth portion, afterwards narrowing posteriorly to a rounded posterior margin; disc shiny, punctures on both striae and interstriae of equal size and depth, striae and interstriae hardly demarcated, except striae 1 and 2, being impressed; declivity commencing on posterior fourth; declivital face somewhat steep, shiny; declivital margin marked by long erect hairs and few minute granules in respective interstriae; interstriae 1, 3 and 4 with few minute setose granules on upper half as well as towards posterior margin; body length: 2.7 mm, 2.68× as long as wide.

Remarks: This species was formerly placed in Dryocoetes ( D. hewetti Stebbing, 1908 ) but due to its spatulate antennal club, and extremely long declivital pubescence, it was transferred to Taphrorychus ( Wood & Bright 1992) .

Material examined: Lectotype (here designated). Label information: Dryocoetes hewetti n. sp., Type, Nainital, E.P. Stebbing, 1908 ( FRI)

Distribution: India: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Hosts: Quercus floribunda , Q. leucotrichophora ( Fagaceae )

Phylogenetic assessment:

The Himalayan Taphrorychus betulae and other closely related species of the genus and other genera were compared phylogenetically using the COX-1 gene ( Fig. 28 ). The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the populations of T. betulae found in the Himalayas belonged to a distinct monophyletic group and displayed a 2.21% intraspecific nucleotide divergence. It was also clear that the Himalayan Taphrorychus species is extremely different from the non-Himalayan Taphrorychus species, which formed a distinct monophyletic cluster in the analysis.

Figures

FIGURE 28.A phylogenetic tree obtained from the NJ for the COX-1 genes of T. betulae (in blue) and related species. Numbers at the branches represent bootstrap values.