Systates spinipennis, Colonnelli, 2014

Colonnelli, Enzo, 2014, Apionidae, Nanophyidae, Brachyceridae and Curculionidae except Scolytinae (Coleoptera) from Socotra Island, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 295-422 : 379-380

Systates spinipennis sp. nov.

( Figs 97–99 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J ( NMPC), ‘ Yemen, Socotra // Al Haghier Mts. // Scant Mt. env. 1450 m // 12°34.6′N, 54°01.5′E // 12-13.xi.2010, P. Hlaváč’ . PARATYPES: 2 JJ 1 ♀, same label data as holotype (2 NMPC, 1 ECRI) ; 1 ♀, ‘ Yemen, Socotra Island // Scant area , 1300-1500 m // N 12°34.33′, E 54°01.31′, // 31.i-1.ii.2010, L. Purchart lgt.’ ( NMPC) ; 1 ♀, ‘ Yemen, Socotra Island // Al Haghier Mts. // Scant Mt. env., 1450 m // 12°34.6′N, 54°01.5′E, // L. Purchart leg. 12-14.xi.2010 ’ ( ECRI) ; 4 JJ, ‘ Yemen, Socotra Island, // Hagher Mts. , Scand Mt. env. // montane evergreen woodland // 16-18.vi 2012 // 12°34.6′N, 54°01.5′E, 1450 m’, ‘Socotra expedition 2012 // J. Bezděk, J. Hájek, V. Hula, // P. Kment, I. Malenovský, // J. Niedobová & L. Purchart leg.’ (3 NMPC, 1 ECRI) ; 1 ♀, ‘ Yemen, Socotra Island // Al Haghier Mts. // wadi Madar, 1180-1230 m // 12°33.2′N, 54°00.4′E // Jiří Hájek leg. 12-14.xi.2010 ’ ( NMPC) .

Description. Male holotype. Body length 10.2 mm. Piceous, moderately shining, claws dark ferruginous. Dorsal surface rather densely covered by recumbent golden, brownish and whitish round to lanceolate scales intermingled on upper surface of rostrum, head and disc of pronotum with hair-like scales forming vague pattern of Fig. 98 . Vertex of head, epistome and rostrum basad of epistome bare; dorsal side of eyes and basal sulcus of rostrum with embricate small golden-yellowish scales. Femora sparsely clothed by recumbent partly narrow golden and partly oval whitish scales, latter forming vague white middle ring on external side; tibiae with scanty recumbent small hair-like golden scales, internal side with sparse erect pale setae and some stiff setae starting from minute granules, apical comb of setae golden-yellow. Ventral surface with sparse recumbent whitish lanceolate scales; depression of metaventrite and abdomen with apically curved dense erect golden setae ( Figs 98–99 ).

Head. Rostrum 1.07 times longer than wide, parallel-sided up to a short distance apicad of middle, then diverging to form moderately protruding pterygia which are open forward. Epifrons almost flat, rather coarsely but not very densely punctured, at narrowest point about 0.77 times as wide as rostrum between antennal insertion, with dorsal carina and with sides weakly keeled. Epistome V-shaped, smooth, basally keeled, and separated from epifrons by rather deep sulcus. Head separated from rostrum by almost straight fairly deep narrow sulcus, space between eyes flat and with narrow long longitudinal sulcus ending at level of base of eyes, vertex hardly convex, finely transversely strigose at base, temples about as long as greater diameter of eye. Eyes large, elliptical and moderately protruding from head convexity. Antennae thin; scape almost straight and only slightly clubbed; funicular antennomere I 2.07 times longer and hardly wider than II, antennomeres II to VII slightly and progressively diminishing in length, all much longer than wide; club fusiform elongate, 1.25 times as long as three preceding antennomeres.

Pronotum 1.19 times wider than long, sides rather strongly rounded, widest shortly apicad of middle, quite flat dorsally; anterior margin slightly narrower than basal one; disc with relatively small smooth quite convex granules irregularly distributed, and with faint trace of longitudinal median line. Scutellum almost invisible.

Elytra extremely elongate, twice as long as wide, about 1.75 times as wide as pronotum, maximum width at basal quarter, convex at base except for a strong depression around scutellar area, then quite flat up to large rather acute strongly protruding triangular tubercle which is situated on intervals I and II at beginning of very abrupt apical declivity, this last forming with dorsal surface of elytra slightly acute angle; elytral sides almost straight and rapidly diverging from base up to basal quarter, here rather strongly curved and then again approximately straight and converging towards preapical tubercles. Striae formed by extremely irregular rows of large unequal more or less deep punctures so that it is difficult to number them, lateral punctures more regularly subrectangular. Intervals poorly visible, their surface quite uneven and somewhat granulate, slightly convex and about as wide as striae in areas where intervals are more evident.

Legs quite elongate; femora clubbed; tibiae strongly curved inwards on apical third, with some minute acute granules apicad of basal third; tarsi robust with hardly erect stiff long setae.

Ventral side. Metaventrite and abdominal ventrites I and II with very large common depression limited on sides by somewhat carinate edge.

Variability. Males are very similar to the holotype. Females lacks of abdominal setae and impressions, have elytra much more oval, only 1.76 times as long as wide and with their maximum width at middle, and tibiae much less curved inwards, particularly the anterior ones.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus as depicted in Fig. 97 .

Body length 8.3–11.2 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Large acute tubercle at the beginning of elytral declivity, very elongate body, vestiture, weakly developed sexual differences make this species instantly recognisable among the several described African species. Systates spinipennis sp. nov., in addition to the completely different male tibiae, is easily separate from the above other Socotran species by much longer rostrum, extremely elongate male elytra, much protruding tubercle above slightly acute perpendicular apical declivity of elytra, not or only slightly uneven elytral surface. Systates spinipennis sp. nov. has much the appearance of some Otiorhynchus subgenus Aranihus Reitter, 1912 , an Otiorhynchini the members of which are distributed primarily in southern Spain and Morocco ( MAGNANO 2003, 2009; GERMANN 2004; MAGNANO & ALONSO- ZARAZAGA 2013), being immediately differentiated already by its connate claws.

Etymology. The species name, the composite Latin adjective spinipennis (- is, - e), meaning ‘with spinose elytra’, was chosen in reference to the elytral tubercles of the new species.

Collection circumstances. Few adults were found at night on Leucas hagghierensis , while other specimens were found on bare branches of unknown tree in the highest parts of the Hagher mountains (J. Hájek, pers. comm.).

Distribution. Endemic to Socotra Island.

Figures

Figs 92–97. 92, 95 – Socotractus micans sp. nov.: 92 – habitus of the holotype; 95 – aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view. 93–94, 96 – Systates hlavaci sp. nov.: 93 – habitus of the holotype; 94 – habitus in side view; 96 – aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view. 97 – Systates spinipennis sp. nov., aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view.

Figs 98–102. 98–99 – Systates spinipennis sp. nov., holotype: 98 – habitus; 99 – habitus in side view. 100–102 – Tuberates pustulatus sp. nov.: 100 – habitus of the holotype; 101 – habitus of the holotype in side view; 102 – aedeagus of a paratype in dorsal view.