Scolytus peruensis Schedl, 1937

V. Petrov, Alexander & Y. Mandelshtam, Michail, 2010, New data on Neotropical Scolytus Geoffroy, 1762 with description of five new species from Peru (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), ZooKeys 56, pp. 65-104 : 86-88

Scolytus peruensis Schedl, 1937

Material examined.

Peru: Rio Toro, La Merdet Chanchamayo, NHMW, Wien (Lectotype ♂ and paratype ♀)

Diagnosis.

Species can be distinguished from Scolytus barinensis Wood by less strongly developed median frontal tubercle in males and also by significantly stronger developed frontal vestiture in males; by more gently punctured pronotum and by quite different elytral sculpture.

Description.

Male: body length 3.2-3.4 mm, 1.9 times as long as wide; colour dark reddish brown, pronotum dark brown or black. Front with transverse impression above epistoma and with a conspicuous median tubercle above this impression. Front on upper two–thirds to vertex obscurely aciculate. Front covered by brown hairs more abundant at lateral sides. Antennal funculus and scapus reddish brown. Club grayish brown, ellipsoid in form, evenly rounded at apex and densely covered by short golden hairs. Pronotum 1.0 times as long as wide; lateral sides almost straight and parallel on basal half, arcuately converging toward broadly rounded anterior margin; surface smooth, shining. Pronotal puncturation uneven, punctures of anterolateral angles of pronotum several times larger compared to minute punctures on base and disk.. Apical portion of prontoum with few hairs.

Scutellum triangular, deeply set in scutellar impression.

Elytra 0.9 times as long as wide, 0.9 times as long as pronotum, elytral surface punctured, punctures forming rectilinear weakly impressed rows, punctures in striae of moderate size, not confluent, but rather set apart from their neighbors; interstriae almost four times as wide as striae, smooth, shining, punctures mostly minute; elytral apex with rows of short and sparse erect hairs; abdomen dark reddish brown, surface dull; second sternite subvertical, junction with first sternite abrupt, anterior margin not carinate, its surface rough, with sparse points of moderate size the posterior margin of second sternite; median short laterally compressed tubercle in center of second sternite; third - fifth sternites without denticles and tubercles, punctures at these sternites very small, moderately close. First sternite is covered by short recumbent hairs, vestiture of second - fifth sternites entirely abraded on type. Legs reddish brown, covered by short hairs.

Female: similar to male except details of front and abdomen. Female front more convex than male front, hairs on lateral sides of front shorter; two forelocks consisting of densely set dark brown hairs run from the vertex towards the centre of head. Median spine on second sternite longer then wide, its apex narrowly rounded, spine apex is directed downwards from centre of sternite to its base.

Notes: The above treatment was based on the male (Holotype) and female (Paratype). It is possible that the holotype had traumas immediately after pupation, because its body morphology has numerous evident deviations including strongly shortened elytra with the abnormally curved apex and a shortened second sternite tubercle when compared to female. To confirm the species diagnosis, additional male specimens are required which were lacking at the time of our investigation.