Sphaerotrypes querci Stebbing, 1908

Buhroo, Abdul Ahad, 2024, A taxonomic monograph of subfamily Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Western Himalaya, Zootaxa 5533 (1), pp. 1-82 : 19-20

12. Sphaerotrypes querci Stebbing, 1908

( Figure 16)

= tectus Beeson, 1921

This species is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: ♂ frons somewhat flat and impressed, fringed with dense white pubescence, roughened with longitudinal granules and small median tubercules above the epistomal margin; epistomal margin substraight with a fringe of long pale setae; vertex distinctly convex with minute granules; antennal scape curved, funicle with seven segments and club with 8 or 9 distinct pseudo-sutures marked by rows of setae; pronotum wider, one and a half times as wide as long, widest at the base, converging anteriorly with weak convex lateral margins; anterior margin somewhat straight with some minute granules, median line distinct but not forming any ridge; dorsal surface minutely granulate punctuate, covered with dense scale-like setae, some scattered erect hairs on entire base of pronotum; posterior margin with distinct ridge forming somewhat V-shaped divergence, laterally; elytra somewhat globose slightly longer than broad and almost double the pronotum; basal margin of each elytron outcurved with 13 or 14 crenulations; lateral margins strongly outcurved, gradually narrowing posteriorly and terminating into a angularly rounded apex; striae distinctly depressed marked with shallow punctures and reaching almost up to the elytral apex except striae 5 and 6; interstriae much wider, flat except basal one-fifth becoming somewhat convex with distinct regular asperities; discal interstriae with three to four rows of granules and covered with scale like minute setae throughout; declivity commencing on the posterior third, gradually slopping posteriorly with convex face; declivital interstriae with somewhat distinct minute tubercules becoming somewhat prominent towards apex; body length: 3.46 mm, 1.58× as long as wide.

Females are similar to males, except the frons is plano-convex.

Material examined: Lectotype (here designated). Label information: Sphaerotrypes querci, Kumaon, N.W. Himalaya, E.P. Stebbing ( FRI)

Distribution: India: Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand. China: Anhui, Haibei, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan

Hosts: Quercus floribunda , Q. leucotrichophora , Q. semecarpifolia ( Fagaceae )

Phylogenetic assessment:

The Himalayan Sphaerotrypes montanus , along with other closely related species of the genus ( S. hagedorni Eggers, 1920 ) and other genera ( Hylesinus , and Dryocoetes ), were subjected to a phylogenetic study utilizing the COX-1 gene. Due to a lack of COX-1 sequences of Sphaerotrypes (except S. hagedorni ) in GenBank, it was compared with species from other closely related genera. The phylogenetic tree, however, ( Fig. 17 ), revealed that Sphaerotrypes montanus constituted a distinct group/clade from the others and had a nucleotide divergence of 19.43% from S. hagedorni . The populations of the other genera were monophyletic individually in the current study.

Figures

FIGURE 17. A phylogenetic tree obtained from the NJ for the COX-1 genes of S. montanus and related species (Himalayan in blue). Numbers at the branches represent bootstrap values.