Cathormiocerus meyeri, Germann & Borovec & Braunert, 2015

Germann, Christoph, Borovec, Roman & Braunert, Carlo, 2015, Four new Entiminae from the Mediterranean region (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae: Phyllobiini, Trachyphloeini), with additional data on the distribution of some poorly known species, Zootaxa 4040 (3), pp. 345-358 : 354-355

Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n.

( Figs 14, 18 , 28, 29, 38 , 43 )

HOLOTYPE. ♂ " PORTUGAL, Beira Alta, NE [northeast] Cabeça Alta , 24.4.2014, 1060m, N 40°33′26″ / W 7°21′19″, GS Moos auf Felsen [sifting, moss on rocks], 223_14.7 [collection number], leg. C. Germann " ( NMBE). Red label: Holotype Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

PARATYPES. 4 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀, " PORTUGAL, Beira Alta, NE [northeast] Cabeça Alta, 24.4.2014, 1060m, N 40°33′ 26″ / W 7°21′ 19″, GS Moos auf Felsen [sifting, moss on rocks], 223_14.7 [collection number], leg. C. Germann" ( CGTS, RBSC); 2 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀, "P [ Portugal] Beira Alta, Serra da Estrela, 6 km NE Videmonte, 40°33′26″ N 7°21′19″ W, 1060m, 24.04.[20]14, Granitkuppe, Macchie/Garrigue, Moos/Graspolster, sifting, 2014-7 223-14-7 [collection number], C. Braunert leg." ( CBML, RBSC); 2 ♂♂ 3 ♀♀, "P [ Portugal] Beira Alta, Serra da Estrela, 3 km N Guarda, 40°33′57″ N 7°16′26″ W, 1020m, 27.04.[20]14, Granitkuppe/Felsen, Garrigue/ Macchie, sifting, 2014-15 223-14-15 [collection number], C. Braunert leg." ( CBML, RBSC). All with red labels: Paratype Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n. Germann, Borovec & Braunert, 2015.

Description. Body length: males 2.42–2.78 mm, females 2.75–3.31 mm, holotype 2.44 mm ( Fig. 14 ).

Body blackish, scapes, femora and tibiae dark brownish, funicle with club reddish brown, tarsi yellowish red, spines at apical part of all tibiae yellowish. The entire body except for funicle with club and tarsi densely squamose. Appressed scales on elytra oval; appressed scales on pronotum and head with rostrum rounded, distinctly depressed at middle. Elytra with one regular dense row of semierect setae on each interval, setae slender, subspatulate, about as long as half the width of one interval, distance between two setae about twice as long as length of one seta. Semierect setae on pronotum and head with rostrum densely irregularly scattered, shorter than elytral ones but with identical shape.

Rostrum 1.30–1.33 times as wide as long, slightly tapered anteriad with indistinctly rounded sides, at base 1.03–1.06 as wide as at apex. Epifrons at basal half distinctly tapered anteriad, at apical half slightly tapered anteriad to subparallel-sided, with slightly rounded sides, flat, with slender longitudinal median stria, sometimes hardly visible, reaching posterior border of eyes. Antennal scrobes reniform, in dorsal view conspicuous in anterior half of rostrum, in lateral view short, subtriangular, distinctly enlarged posteriad, directed towards eyes but separated from them by a space equal to their length. Eyes moderately small and vaulted, prominent from outline of head in dorsal view.

Antennae robust, in males with slightly slenderer funicle than in females. Scape robust, at base simple, without S-shaped curved or abruptly enlarging part, evenly enlarged apicad, curved at midlength, at apex equally wide as club. Funicle segment 1 in both sexes 1.3–1.4 times as long as wide, 1.2–1.3 times as long as segment 2, which is 1.3–1.4 times as long as wide. Males with segments 3–6 1.3–1.4 times as wide as long and segment 7 1.5–1.6 times as wide as long; females with segments 3–6 1.6–1.7 times as wide as long and segment 7 1.8–1.9 times as wide as long; club 1.3–1.4 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.26–1.35 times as wide as long, widest just before midlength, with distinctly rounded sides, narrower at apex than at base, with anterior border slightly narrower than posterior one. Disc regularly vaulted, under appressed scales finely, densely, regularly punctured. Pronotum in lateral view almost flat.

Elytra 1.33–1.40 times as long as wide, widest between anterior third and midlength with weakly rounded sides, at apex broadly rounded. Base arched. Striae distinctly and moderately coarsely punctate; intervals almost flat. Elytra in lateral view slightly vaulted, almost flat.

Protibiae short and robust, at anterior quarter laterally and mesally constricted, at apex enlarged laterally and mesally, armed with 7 short, fine and sparsely placed yellowish spines and short mucro at inner part. Meso- and metatibiae with apical surface fringed outside by sparse row of short spines. Tarsi with segment 2 1.5 times as wide as long; segment 3 1.3–1.4 times as wide as long and 1.2–1.3 times as wide as segment 2, and onychium 1.6–1.7 times as long as segment 3.

Penis widest at base, evenly tapered along the whole length, apical part just before tip indistinctly constricted, tip shortly obtuse. In lateral view weakly curved and regularly tapered apicad, slender tip curved towards the inside ( Figs 28, 29 ).

Female genitalia. Sternite VIII with plate long and slender, subtriangular, evenly tapered apicad with slender but distinct apical margin; apodeme short and robust, about as long as plate, terminated inside of plate and almost reaching the tip of it. Gonocoxites large and flat, moderately wide, with weak subapical constriction and long and slender apical styli. Spermatheca with regularly curved, long cornu, corpus large, rounded; ramus large, weakly wider than long, rounded; nodulus very small, tube-shaped, isodiametric ( Fig. 38 ).

Sexual dimorphism. Males are of smaller size than females, with slightly slenderer funicle segments and claws on anterior and middle legs fused, while in females claws of all legs are free.

Etymology. The newly described species is dedicated to Marc Meyer, former curator of invertebrates at the Natural History Museum of Luxembourg, who encouraged the third author during many years in pursuing his entomological research.

Bionomy. The new species was sifted from mosses and cushion plants growing on prominent granitic stones (Bornhardt-rocks) surrounded by scrubland (garrigue) vegetation ( Fig. 43 ).

Differential diagnosis. The new species belongs to the C. spinosus (Goeze, 1777) -species group, as defined by Borovec & Bahr (2008), based on the appressed scales on the whole body, the dull (not shining) appearance, and the densely squamose pronotum, without visible structures of the integument. In this group, C. meyeri sp. n. belongs near the species C. agadiriensis Borovec & Bahr, 2008 , C. behnei Borovec & Bahr, 2008 , C. chevrolati Seidlitz, 1868 and C. nevadensis Escalera, 1918 because of its antennal scape which is simply curved and gradually enlarged, the antennal scrobes, which do not reach the eyes in lateral view, and the eyes which are separated from scrobes by a wide squamose stripe.

Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n. is easily separated from all the above four species by its protibiae laterally clearly enlarged, with concavity before apex ( C. agadiriensis , C. behnei , C. chevrolati and C. nevadensis have protibiae laterally straight), apical surface of meso- and metatibiae fringed outside by a sparse row of short setae ( C. agadiriensis , C. behnei , C. chevrolati and C. nevadensis have meso- and metatibiae fringed outside by dense, moderately long, bristle-shaped setae), rostrum only slightly tapered apicad with slightly rounded sides ( C. agadiriensis , C. behnei , C. chevrolati and C. nevadensis have rostrum distinctly tapered apicad with straight sides), by the different shape of the penis in ventral and lateral view, and by the shape of the spermatheca. Based on its general habitus, mainly the slender elytra and the dense row of short, subspatulate elytral setae, C. meyeri sp. n. is most similar to C. agadiriensis ( Figs 16, 19 , 39 ).

Figures

FIGURES 13 - 21. 13. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. female habitus dorsal. 14. C. meyeri sp. n. male habitus dorsal. 15. C. atlasicus Borovec & Bahr, 2008 female habitus dorsal. 16. C. agadiriensis Borovec & Bahr, 2008 ditto. 17 - 19. Heads and antennae of 17. C. kostali sp. n. 18. C. meyeri sp. n. 19. C. agadiriensis. 20 - 21. Antennae of male and female of C. inflatiscapus Escalera, 1918.

FIGURES 22 - 39. 22, 23. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 24. A. albisetus (Borovec, 1998) penis ventral. 25, 26. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 27. P. bialookii Borovec, 2015 penis ventral. 28, 29. Cathormiocerus meyeri sp. n. penis ventral and lateral. 30, 31. C. inflatiscapus Escalera, 1918 penis ventral and lateral. 32, 33. C. tenuiscapus Fairmaire, 1884 penis ventral and lateral. 34 - 39. Spermathecae of 34. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. 35. Pelletierellus bryophilus sp. n. 36. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. 37. C. atlasicus Borovec & Bahr, 2008. 38. C. meyeri sp. n. 39. C. agadiriensis Borovec & Bahr, 2008.

FIGURES 40 - 43. Different habitats of 40. Argoptochus sappho sp. n. collected under Cistus salviifolius and Lavandula stoechas at the east coast of Lesbos Island (photo: C. Germann). 41. Pelletierellus bryophilus consisting of old, moss-covered stone walls in olive groves on Lesbos island (photo: C. Germann). 42. Cathormiocerus kostali sp. n. in mountain steppe with Astragalus (Tragacanthus) sp. and sporadic perennial vegetation in the Moroccan middle Atlas mountains (photo: M. Košťál). 43. C. meyeri sp. n. in Serra da Estrela on Bornhardt-rocks in northern Portugal (photo: C. Germann).