Larinus iranicus, Gültekin & Podlussány, 2012

Gültekin, Levent & Podlussány, Attila, 2012, Two new species of Larinus from Iran (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Lixinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52 (1), pp. 245-258 : 246-251

Larinus iranicus sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–13 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, IRAN: HAMADAN: ‘Prov., Hamadan, Zagros Mts. / 25 km W Khakadan / 34˚02’53” N, 48˚20’30” E, 2200 m / 21.vi.2000, leg. Fábián Gy., Szécsényi L., Székely K.’ ( HNHM). PARATYPES: IRAN: EAST AZERBAIJAN: ‘Prov., Azarbaygan-e, Sarqui, Sahand Mt. / 25 km E Khakadan, 37˚27’19” N, 47˚41’49” E, 1700 m / 10.vi.2000, leg. Fábián Gy., Szécsényi L., Székely K. ’ 1 J ( HNHM). IRAN: WEST AZERBAIJAN: ‘Prov. Urmia, 29 km SE of Urmia / Shirü Kandi , Qasemlü Valley / 37˚18’ N, 45˚07’ E, 1420 m / 02.viii.2010, leg. Y. Karimpour’, 1 J 1 ♀ ( EMET).

Description. Measurements (n = 4). Body length: 7.40–9.00 mm. Rostrum: length 1.30–1.80 mm, width 0.80–0.90 mm. Prothorax: length 2.30–2.50 mm, width 3.10–3.70 mm. Elytra: length 4.00– 6.20 mm, width 3.40–4.30 mm.

Vestiture. Ventral and lateral surface of head densely covered with short bifurcate whitish-grey scales; bifurcate scales on coxae shorter; ventral surface of body and legs with hair-like scales; dorsal surface of body with sparse pubescence, sparser and shorter on disc of prothorax; slightly longer and thicker whitish scales constitute a band on lateral margins of prothorax and a thin median stripe on pronotum at apical third; scales scattered as small rounded patches on elytra ( Figs. 1–2 ).

Structure. Body elongate oval. Head spherical, ventral surface with V-shaped thin transverse sulcus and ridges immediately preceding prosternum. Vertex invisible; frons flat, frontal pit small, rounded and superficial. Eyes elliptical, weakly convex, inferior margin narrower than dorsal one, slightly continuing to ventral part of the head. Rostrum sub-conical ( Figs. 3–4 ), weakly curved, parallel-sided at basal half, gradually narrowed from base to antennal insertion, cylindrical after antennal insertion and weakly widening in female; dorsum of rostrum with two deep longitudinal sulci on basal half in female ( Fig. 4 ) and somewhat shorter in male ( Fig. 3 ); between these two sulci a raised narrow triangular process is developed in both sexes, dorso-lateral margins of rostrum obtusely raised; rostral pit invisible; surface of rostrum and frons with dense, minute to coarse punctures, coarse punctures elongate and partly confluent, being smaller on apical half and larger on lateral surface. Postocular lobes weakly developed; ventral margin of scrobes partly visible dorsally. Antenna inserted at about 0.40 of total rostrum length measured from apex of rostrum in both sexes. Scape shorter than funicle, dorso-ventrally depressed and weakly curved at basal third, abruptly widened at apex, slightly wider than antennomere I, antennomeres I and II subconical, antennomere I about 1.50× as long as antennomere II, antennomere III short, about 0.50× as long as antennomere II, subequal in length and width, antennomeres IV–VII gradually widened, antennomere VII the widest; club elongate with acuminate apex, about 2.30× as long as wide at widest part.

Prothorax trapezoidal ( Figs. 1–2 ), base moderately and triangularly arched towards elytra; basal margin sinuate; lateral margins gradually narrowed from base to apex, constricted at apical sixth like short collar; apical margin very shortly protruding over head, slightly emarginated toward postocular area; pronotum convex, a thin interrupted median carina present on disc in anterior half in male, a short rectilinear depression anteriorly and a thin carina at base in female; surface with dense, rounded moderate-sized punctures on disc, smaller and sparser on anterior declivity, micropunctuation on interspaces very sparse; lateral surface of prothorax with 3–4 obtuse, shining granules. Proscutellum moderate in size, protruding towards mesoscutellum and weakly raised. Anterior margin of prosternum moderately emarginated. Mesoscutellum small.

Elytra gradually narrowing from base to apex ( Figs. 1–2 ), weakly constricted before midlength of elytra; humeral prominences moderately developed, located at base of intervals VI–IX; preapical prominences distinct and located at the end of intervals IV–VII. Intervals flat, subequal and wide on disc, narrowed towards apex, about 5× as wide as stria on disc, intervals VIII and IX narrower, interval X wider than the others in basal half, interval XI sinuate, weakly protruded towards metepisternum. Striae formed by ovate and separated punctures from declivity to apex, then punctures partly or completely confluent, constituting thin sulciform striae, stria X sinuate and deeply sulciform. Abdomen typical of the genus.

Legs typical for this genus. Femora mutic, swollen medially, slightly thinner than rostrum width. Outer margin of protibia nearly straight, inner margin sinuate with denticles – male with 7–8 sharp denticles, female with 11–12 denticles, the one nearest to uncus larger and sharper on female ( Fig. 5 ), obtuse on male, and bearing a tuft of setae projecting over the uncus; apical fringe not continuing to the lateral outer margin. Meso- and metatibia straight, inner margins with 4–5 small obtuse denticles in male, 8–9 sharp denticles in female; apical fringe longer and denser than protibia. Tarsi narrow, tarsomere III 1.20× as wide as tarsomere II, lobes of tarsomere III subquadrate. Spongy pads covering completely the surface of ventral lobes of tarsomere III partly present on underside of tarsomeres I–II and located near their outer sides. Tarsomere V stout, curved, gradually widened from base to apex, slightly shorter than total length of tarsomeres I–III; claws connate at basal 1/4, moderately divergent at apical half, apex slightly curved.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus in dorsal view elongate, nearly parallel-sided, ventral plate ending roundly with short, obtuse apex ( Figs. 6, 8 ). Aedeagus in lateral view distinctly curved ( Fig. 7 ). Tegmen forming a ring ( Fig. 9 ), ring weakly emarginate before apodeme. Spiculum gastrale thin, stick-shaped, curved, slightly shorter than aedeagus.

Female genitalia. Tergite VIII as typical of the genus, posterior margin well sclerotized and bears short, dense hairs ( Fig. 10 ). Apodeme of sternite VIII thin, somewhat curved and 3× as long as lateral arms ( Fig. 11 ). Lateral arms of tergite VIII narrow, angularly-arched on outer side; vertical arms too short and turning angularly inner-upright. Anterior margins of vertical arms sclerotized and bearing a range of short setae. Coxite narrowed to apex constituting a cylindrical basement for stylus, moderately sclerotized throughout ( Fig. 12 ). Stylus cylindrical, shorter than basement, brownish color, anteriorly tapering and bear 3–4 short erect setae on apex ( Fig. 12 ). Spermatheca C-shaped, gland lobe moderately developed, ductal lobe distinctly smaller than gland lobe, and apex of pump obtuse ( Fig. 13 ).

Sexual dimorphism. Rostrum of female is slightly longer than in male and widened apically. First and second visible ventrites of abdomen are weakly depressed medially in male. Protibia bears 7–8 sharp denticles in male and 11–12 denticles in female ( Fig. 5 ). Subuncus is larger and sharper in female, obtuse in male. Inner margins of meso- and metatibia bear 4–5 small obtuse denticles in male, 8–9 sharp denticles in female.

Variation. Size variation is summarized in the above measurements.

Diagnosis and discussion. Larinus iranicus sp. nov. is recognizable by the ovate body, bisulcate subconical short rostrum, small rounded scattered patches of vestiture on elytra and parallel-sided aedeagus with ventral plate rounded at apex and short and obtuse apically. The new species is related to Larinus modestus Gyllenhal, 1835 ( Fig. 14 ) and L. fucatus Faust, 1891 ( Fig. 17 ). They share similar shape of aedeagus, rostrum and tibia. However, the new species clearly differs from both by lacking greyish-white stripes on pronotum and elytral intervals III, and IX–X. The sulci on dorsal surface of rostrum of the new species are deeper and longer than those of both other species. The aedeagus is moderately constricted in L. modestus ( Fig. 16 ) and slightly constricted before apex in L. fucatus ( Fig. 19 ). The lateral constriction of elytra is more distinct in L. modestus ( Fig. 14 ); uncus and subuncus of female on fore tibia ( Fig. 15 ) are larger than in the new species. The body size of L. fucatus is smaller than that of both L. modestus and L. iranicus sp. nov., its uncus on fore tibia is sharper and longer ( Fig. 18 ). Larinus iranicus sp. nov. is sympatric with L. modestus described from Iran. Larinus fucatus is more widely distributed in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Etymology. The new species name originates from the country of Iran where all available type specimens were collected.

Figures

Figs. 1–5. Larinus iranicus sp. nov.. 1 – holotype, male; 2 – paratype, female; 3–4 – rostrum, dorsal view: 3 – male, 4 – female; 5 – fore tibia, female.

Figs. 6–13. Male and female genitalia of Larinus iranicus sp. nov. 6 – dorsal view of aedeagus, 7 – lateral view of aedeagus, 8 – apical part of aedeagus in dorsal view, 9 – tegmen, 10 – tergite VIII, 11 – sternite VIII, 12 – coxite, 13 – spermatheca.

Figs. 14–19. Larinus modestus Gyllenhal, 1835 (14–16) and Larinus fucatus Faust, 1891 (17–19). 14, 17 – female, dorsal view; 15, 18 – fore tibia, female; 16, 19 – aedeagus, dorsal view.