Scolytoplatypus raja Blandford, 1893b

Buhroo, Abdul Ahad, 2024, A taxonomic monograph of subfamily Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Western Himalaya, Zootaxa 5533 (1), pp. 1-82 : 63-64

50. Scolytoplatypus raja Blandford, 1893b ( Figure 63 )

= himalayensis Stebbing, 1914

This species is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: ♂ frons strongly concave up to vertex; surface reticulate, roughened and with sparse bent hairs more distinct on upper half; the upper margin of frontal cavity with uniform curled hairs; eyes elongate and weakly convex; antennal club large and lanceolate, slightly longer than scape and funicle combined together; pronotum nearly as long as wide and widest at the middle; basal margin strongly bisinuate, lateral sides with basal emargination and ridged beyond middle; postero-lateral corners rather acute and projected outwards; surface opaque and reticulate with close large punctures, except longitudinal impunctate area; hairs inconspicuous; prosternum with two tubercles anteriorly, anterior to them a pair of widely diverging processes, with sharply in-turned and hooked tips; scutellum submerged, not distinctly visible; elytra 1.10× longer than pronotum and 0.97× as long as its own width; basal margins truncated and somewhat weakly carinate; lateral sides substraight, but very weakly diverging posteriorly; postero-lateral margins feebly carinate and confluent with interstria 9; striae strongly impressed on disc, with elongate confluent punctures; interstriae 1, 3, 5 and 7 gradually distinctly ridged posteriorly and each terminating into a spine with a few tufts of long hairs at commencement of declivity; interstrial surface reticulate with small irregular punctures; declivity rather abrupt with uneven face; striae impressed and obsolete at middle of declivity; striae 1 and 2 confluent, 4 and 5 forming loop, 3 and 6 running up to posterior half of declivity; interstriae 1 and 3 strongly ridged, terminating slightly above the posterior margin, forming a blunt projection; interstria 2 obsolete, 4 depressed and narrowed, 5 broad; interstrial surface with fine, irregular granules; color blackish brown; body length: 3.09 mm, 2.06× as long as wide.

Females are very similar to males, but frons convex, pronotal surface finely reticulate with minute punctures and sparse bent hairs; mycangium at about anterior third of pronotum; interstriae convex, surface finely reticulate without any spine at commencement of declivity; body length: 3.15 mm.

Material examined: New record: India: 1 ♂, 1 ♀. Himachal Pradesh, Palampur, Tanda (32° 06.141′ N, 076° 32.036′ E, 4008 ft.), A.A. Buhroo, 25.09.2018 ( KUIC) .

Distribution: Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam. China, Nepal, Vietnam Hosts: Grevillea robusta ( Proteaceae ) and Albizia chinensis ( Fabaceae ) (new host records) and many different hosts recorded by Beeson (1941)

Figures

FIGURE 63. Scolytoplatypus raja. Male: dorsal view A, lateral view B, frons C; female: dorsal view D.