Scolytodes squamatifrons Jordal & Kirkendall

Jordal, Bjarte H. & Kirkendall, Lawrence R., 2019, Rainforest and cloud forest Scolytodes (Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Hexacolini) from the Arthropods of La Selva inventory in Costa Rica: new species, new synonymy, new records, ZooKeys 863, pp. 1-34 : 1

Scolytodes squamatifrons Jordal & Kirkendall sp. nov. Figs 11, 14, 17

Type material.

Holotype, female: Costa Rica, San José, km 68 PanAmHighway, Tres de Junio Bog, 2600 m, 10.I.1996-001C, R. Anderson, litter ex. Forest adjacent to Sphagnum bog. Holotype deposited in USNM.

Diagnosis.

Interstriae 10 sharply elevated to level of metacoxa, interstriae 9 sharply elevated from the level of metacoxa to near apex; protibiae with an additional socketed, thin tooth near the mucro, posterior surface of protibiae sulcate and strongly reticulate. Distinguished from S. sufflatus by the impressed female frons, the broader eyes which are more closely situated above, by the narrower shape of the body, the shorter elytral setae, and by the shorter carinate part of interstria 9.

Description female.

Length 1.5 mm, 2.4 × as long as wide; color black. Head. Eyes entire, separated above by 2.3 × their width. Frons generally flat, circularly impressed on median half; surface around impression smooth and shiny, impression with densely set punctures and tiny granules; vestiture in impressed area consisting of densely placed short scale-like setae, on epistoma and near antennal insertion with scant hair-like setae. Antennal club setose, with two obliquely procurved sutures barely discernible. Funiculus 5-segmented. Pronotum smooth, strongly reticulate, with scattered faint punctures reaching anterior margin. Vestiture consisting of two fine erect median setae along anterior margin (2 –0– 0), otherwise glabrous. Elytra smooth, striae 1 weakly, others not impressed, punctures small, in pairs of two subcontiguous punctures, each pair spaced by the length of each pair; interstriae 4-5 × as wide as striae, single punctures spaced by 5-10 × their diameter, in rows. Interstriae 10 sharply elevated to level of metacoxa, interstriae 9 sharply elevated from the level of metacoxa to near apex. Vestiture consisting of 4-6 short erect very fine setae, mainly on interstriae 3. Legs. Procoxae separated by 0.4 × and mesocoxae 0.8 × the width of one procoxa. Protibiae broad, posterior surface sulcate and strongly reticulate, lateral teeth 1 and 2 of sub-equal size, with cuticle extending between these, with 3 additional tiny granules along the edge towards base; an additional socketed, thin tooth present near the mucro; protibial mucro curved posteriorly. Meso- and metatibiae with 6-7 fine socketed lateral teeth on distal half and third, respectively. Ventral vestiture. Scattered setae on metanepisternum and metasternum long and simple; sclerolepidia large round scales.

Male.

Unknown.

Key

( Wood 1982). As for S. sufflatus .

Etymology.

The name squamatifrons is composed by the stem of the Latin adjective squamatus, meaning scaly, a linking vowel -i, and the noun frons, meaning forehead. It is invariable.

Biology and distribution.

This species is known from the type locality at high altitude in Costa Rica.