Triotemnus yemenensis Knizek

Knizek, Milos, 2010, Five new species of Triotemnus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) from Morocco and Yemen, ZooKeys 56, pp. 191-206 : 201-202

Triotemnus yemenensis Knizek sp. n. Fig. 12

Type material.

Holotype female, pinned, with labels as follows: "SW YEMEN, Wadi Zabid E/ Zabid, 14°09'N; 43°31'E/ 325 m, 22. III. 2007/ leg. Petr Kabátek, ex larva". Paratypes: 1 male, 3 females: the same data as the Holotype.

Holotype deposited in the collection of National Museum in Prague, Paratypes in the author’s collection.

Diagnosis.

Triotemnus yemenensis is morphologically readily distinct from all other species of the genus due to the small and stout body form, the very small mandibular teeth in the males, the very shining and sparsely, but strongly punctured pronotum in both sex. It may resemble Triotemnus subretusus Wollaston, but the latter species is slightly larger, the mandibular teeth are longer, the frons is not clearly punctated in males and is flattened in females, the pronotum is mostly very finely shagreened. Another morphologically similar species, Triotemnus scrofa Schedl, differs in the same characters and it also has a 3-segmented antennal funicle.

Description.

Female. Length 1.26-1.30 mm (1.30 mm in Holotype), 2.50-2.78 times longer than wide (2.50 in Holotype). Head. Frons convex, shining, very finely shagreened, densely punctato-ganulate, granulation becoming more fine and dense towards epistoma, vestiture of golden, rather dense, long, erect, hair-like setae becoming more dense towards the epistomal margin. Eyes emarginate on anterior margin around the antennal insertion, rather large. Mandibulae not armed by tooth like processes. Antennae light brown, antennal funicle 4-segmented, antennal club round, rather strongly flattened, anterior side clearly marked by two weakly recurved sutures on anterior half, basal segment mainly corneous, posterior side without visible sutures. Pronotum 1.16 times longer than wide, dark brown to black, sub-oval, widest in posterior half, weekly declivous in front, summit not clearly marked, approximately in the frontal third, lateral margins converging anteriorly, frontal and posterior margins rounded, basal angles rounded, disk shining, rather sparsely punctated by coarse punctures except in a smooth median longitudinal area, interspaces finely shagreened, vestiture of sparse, long, semi-erect, very fine, hair-like setae, becoming slightly longer anteriorly. Elytra 1.46 times longer than wide, 1.34 times longer than pronotum, light brown, nearly cylindrical, widest just before declivity, broadly, nearly transversely rounded posteriorly; base of elytra rounded, not armed; scutellum visible, very small, blackish, flush with elytra; elytral striae regularly, finely and sparsely punctate, not impressed, interspaces slightly larger then the diameter of the strial punctures, interstriae very sparsely and less deeply punctated, smooth and finely shagreened; elytral declivity regularly rounded at suture, otherwise flattened in the space between suture and third striae up to the weakly defined lateral edges which are slightly elevated, elytral suture very slightly elevated, declivital disc smooth, shining, finely shagreened, microscopically punctate in continuation of the elytral striae. Elytral vestiture of uniseriate rows of two types, sparse and very long (approximately 1.5 times longer than distance between strial punctures) hair-like erect setae and semi-erect shorter (two thirds of the longer setae) hair-like setae, long setae becoming much longer posteriorly on the declivity. Legs light brown. Procoxae very narrowly separated, prosternal process short and sharply pointed; mesocoxae separated by slightly more than double width of scapus, mesoventral process broad and broadly rounded apically; metacoxae separated similarly to mesocoxae. Number of tibial socketed teeth on outer lateral margin varying between the specimens. Protibiae with 4-5 socketed teeth, mostly 4, meso- and metatibiae with 5-6 socketed teeth, mostly 5.

Male. Length 1.17 mm, 2.54 times longer than wide. Head similar to female, but frons very shallowly concave up to the level just above upper level of the eyes, concavity very finely and sparsely punctate, shining, very finely shagreened, excavation separated from vertex by a rounded and not well defined costa, marked on vertex in the middle by short transverse keel, vertex semi-shining, deeply and rather densely punctuate; vestiture of frons of very short and fine semi-erect golden, hair-like setae, these apparently longer near epistoma and on the upper border of the frontal excavation. Each mandible with a very short, strong, wide-based, tooth-like process directed upward.

Etymology.

Name of the new species is derived from Yemen - the country of its origin.

Biology.

Specimens were collected on wilting shrubs of Euphorbia sp. The newly described species is phloeophagous. The gallery system was not studied.

Distribution.

Yemen, perhaps endemic.