Entomoscelis pilula Lopatin, 1967

Mikhailov, Yuri E., 2019, Review of leaf beetles from the genus Entomoscelis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Zootaxa 4619 (2), pp. 285-296 : 292

Entomoscelis pilula Lopatin

Entomoscelis pilula Lopatin, 1967: 952

This species is the smallest representative of the genus, length of males 5.0–6.0 mm, females 6.0– 6.3 mm. Although it is not so strikingly small in comparison with E. erythrocnema , E. pilula has a peculiarly broader and more convex (pill shape) body and orange elytra with darkened suture only ( Fig. 1 a–c). The longitudinal discal stripe on elytra is always absent. However, the main distinguishing feature of E. pilula is its aedeagus, short and wide with narrow and distinctly pointed apex ( Fig. 8–9 ).

E. pilula was described by Lopatin (1967) from Baku in Azerbaijan and has been hitherto known only from the West Pre-Caspian area. The records of E. pilula in two localities at Ustyurt plateau are the first records ever of this species from Kazakhstan. The comparison of specimens found in Kazakhstan with the types, preserved in ZIN, showed their similarity both in external morphology ( Figs. 1 a–c) and in aedeagus structure ( Fig. 8–9 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1a–h. Entomoscelis spp., habitus, dorsal view. a, E. pilula Lopatin, male, West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk Area, Aktolagai plateau; b, E. pilula, female, the same locality; c, E. pilula, female, paratype, Azerbaijan, Baku; d, E. adonidis (Pallas), male, Eastern Kazakhstan, 30 km NNW Kurchum; e, E. sacra, male, South Kazakhstan, 40 km NW Turkestan; f, E. sacra, male, Slovakia, Kamenica; g, E. suturalis Weise, female, Jordan, Petra; h, E. erythrocnema, male, Tajikistan, 40 km W Khujand. Scale bar—1.0 mm.

FIGURES 4–11. Aedeagi of Entomoscelis spp. in dorsal and lateral view. 4, E. adonidis (East-Kazakhstan Area, west piedmonts of Narymsky mt. range)—variability in one locality; 5–6, E. sacra (South Kazakhstan, 40 km NW Turkestan)—variability in one locality; 7, E. sacra (Russia, Bashkortostan, former Belebeyevsky uezd Ufimskoi gubernii); 8, E. pilula (West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk Area, Aktolagai plateau); 9, E. pilula (West Kazakhstan, Northern Ustyurt, chink Donguztau), 10, E. suturalis (Turkey, env. of Gülsehir); 11, E. erythrocnema (Tajikistan, 40 km W Khujand). Scale bar—1.0 mm.