Xenicotela convexicollis (Gressitt, 1942) Xie & Barclay & Chen, 2022

Xie, Guanglin, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. & Chen, Bin, 2022, Taxonomic study on the genus Xenicotela Bates from China (Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Lamiini), ZooKeys 1122, pp. 145-158 : 145

Xenicotela convexicollis (Gressitt, 1942) comb. nov.

Figs 3 , 4 , 9 , 11 , 16-21

Monochamus convexicollis Gressitt, 1942: 83. Type locality: Zhejiang (Tianmushan), China. Gressitt, 1951: 393; Chou 2004: 296; Hubweber et al. 2010: 282; Lin and Tavakilian 2019: 310.

Type material examined.

Holotype (female, IZAS), the label details are shown in Fig. 9 .

Other materials examined.

One male and one female: China, Zhejiang, Lin’an, West Tianmushan , July 13, 2012, collected by Guanglin Xie (YZU); one female: China, Zhejiang, Lin’an, Qingliangfeng, May 22, 2012, collected by Guanglin Xie (YZU) .

Redescription.

Male. Body length 11.0 mm, humeral width 3.5 mm. Body mostly black brown, clothed with greyish yellow to pale yellow pubescence, with mottled patches of black and yellow on dorsal surface. Maxillary and labial palpi reddish brown. Antennae dull reddish brown, basal four antennomeres and base of fifth antennomere fringed with very sparse greyish yellow setae, antennomeres III-XI densely annulated with greyish yellow pubescence basally and apically, antennomeres III-V weakly thickened. Pronotum with posterior half furnished with two subparallel longitudinal black stripes of which apex of inner edge bent outward, with anterior half provided with two small stripes obliquely extend outward posteriorly (but indistinct on the holotype). Scutellum clothed with pale yellow pubescence. Elytra unevenly clothed with pale yellow pubescence mottled with various black spots, presenting an incomplete black transverse band behind the middle and mostly black at base. Tibiae black brown, clothed with greyish yellow pubescence forming a subbasal and an apical annulus.

Head finely punctate, frons quadrate, slightly bulging; eyes coarsely faceted, lower lobe longer than broad, about as long as gena. Antennae slender, about 2.8 times as long as body; antennal tubercle moderately raised; scape short, slightly swollen medially; antennomere III distinctly longer than antennomere IV, about 2.5 times as long as scape; antennomeres IV-X nearly equal in length. Pronotum transverse, finely punctate, convex, with centre slightly flat; anterior and posterior margins with vague transverse sulci, each side with a conical spine, short and blunt. Scutellum short, ligulate. Elytra elongated, about 2.3 times as long as width across humeri, with subparallel sides and rounded apices; surface coarsely punctate, the punctures gradually becoming finer towards apex; disc slightly raised at center of basal fourth, followed by a weak central depression along suture. Legs moderately long, with femora slightly swollen medially; prefemur stouter than mesofemur and metafemur; mesotibia without a groove near external apex, metafemur reaching the end of third abdominal segment, claw divaricate.

Female. Length 11.0-12.0 mm, humeral width 3.0-3.5 mm. Similar to male, maxillary and labial palpi mostly blackish brown, each side of occiput provided with a black maculation behind upper eye lobe, antennae about 1.8 times as long as body, pronotal lateral spine conical, more cuspidal.

Male genitalia. Tergite VIII (Fig. 11 ) with both sides converging straight to apex, apex broadly truncated, clothed with short to medium straight setae along apical and lateral sides. Tegmen (Figs 16 , 17 ) length approximately 1.64 mm, maximum width of ringed part approximately 0.52 mm, each paramere length approximately 0.38 mm, basal width approximately 0.17 mm; parameres widely separated at apex, with length-width ratio of each lobe about 2.41, rounded at apex, about apical two-fifths clothed with sparse setae of different lengths and thicknesses. Median lobe (Figs 16 , 17 ) about as long as tegmen, slightly arcuate in lateral view, apical margin of dorsal plate and ventral plate nearly straight; median struts relatively broad, about half length of median lobe.

Female genitalia. Bursa copulatrix (Fig. 21 ) long, bursiform, slightly expanded apically. Spermatheca (Fig. 21 ) inserts into the bursa copulatrix at fourth of blind end. Spermathecal duct rather short. Spermathecal capsule approximately S-shaped, tubular, consisting of a basal membranous and an apical strongly sclerotized part, sclerotized tube starts from the second bend and overlaps with membranous part, with blind end slightly curved and expanded. Spermathecal gland located at the joint of membranous and sclerotized part.

Distribution.

China (Zhejiang, Taiwan).

Comments.

Gressitt (1942) described the species based on a female specimen and originally placed it in the genus Monochamus Dejean, 1821. However, after careful examination of the holotype, we conclude that it belongs to the genus Xenicotela Bates. This species has the antennae distinctly constricted before the cicatrix, antennomeres III-V clearly fringed with sparse greyish yellow setae ventrally, antennomeres III-XI with the base and extreme apex annulated with greyish yellow pubescence; the pronotum provided with a small, short and conical spine and the mesotibia without a groove, which are well matched with genus Xenicotela . Especially, the mesotibia lacks a groove and the antennomeres III-V are clearly fringed with setae, which are obviously different from genus Monochamus .

Although the holotype (Fig. 8 ) does not present black spots on the pronotum, the male and female specimens from the type locality and its adjacent place show distinct black spots on the pronotum (Figs 3 , 4 ). Chou (2004) first recorded this species in Taiwan, China; according to his photographs, there are also distinct black spots on the pronotum. Therefore, we speculate that improper preservation of the holotype may have led to the black spots on the pronotum not being visible.

The species is very similar to Xenicotela pardalina (Bates, 1884), however, it can be distinguished from the latter by the lower lobe of the eyes not longer than the gena, and by the elytral base with less light-coloured pubescence, while in X. pardalina , the lower lobe is distinctly longer than the gena and the base of elytra is mostly clothed with light-coloured pubescence.

Figures

Figures 3, 4. Habitus of Xenicotela convexicollis (Gressitt, 1942) comb. nov. 3 male 4 female, from Zhejiang: West Tianmushan

Figures 7 - 10. Habitus of Xenicotela spp. 7 holotype of Monohammus distinctus Gahan, 1888 8 Xenicotela distincta (Gahan, 1888) 9 holotype of Monochamus convexicollis Gressitt, 1942 10 holotype of Nephelotus tonkineus Pic, 1926.

Figures 11 - 25. Habitus of Xenicotela spp. 11 - 15 tergite VIII with sternites VIII & IX 16, 17 tegmen 18 - 20 aedeagus 21 female genitalia 22 - 25 phallus 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 24 ventral view 12, 14, 16, 20, 22 dorsal view 18, 23, 25 lateral view 11, 16 - 21 Xenicotela convexicollis (Gressitt, 1942) comb. nov. 12, 13, 22, 23 Xenicotela distincta (Gahan, 1888) 14, 15, 24, 25 Xenicotela griseomaculata sp. nov. Scales: 0.5 mm (11, 16 - 20); 1 mm (12 - 15, 21 - 25).