Coptoborus ripley, Smith & Cognato, 2021

Smith, Sarah M. & Cognato, Anthony I., 2021, A revision of the Neotropical genus Coptoborus Hopkins (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ZooKeys 1044, pp. 609-720 : 609

Coptoborus ripley sp. nov. Figure 14D-F, N

Type material.

Holotype, female, Ecuador: Napo Prov. [= Orellana Prov.], Res[erva]. Ethnica Waorani, 1 km S. Okone Gare Camp, Trans[ect]. Ent[omology]., 00°39'10"S, 076°26'W, 220 m, July 1996, T.L. Erwin et al. collectors, insecticidal fogging, terra firme forest, trans[ect] 3, sta[tion] 6, Erwin lot #1546 (ICB).

Diagnosis.

3.5 mm (n = 1), 2.69 × as long as wide. This species is distinguished by the elytral apex attenuate and weakly emarginate, declivity distinctly sulcate along interstriae 2, declivital interstriae 2 unarmed and impunctate, interstriae 1 and 3 armed, declivital striae 1 and 2 parallel on declivital face and widely spaced, and large size.

Similar species.

C. busoror , C. leeloo , C. nudulus , C. ochromactonus , C. pilisoror , C. sororcula , C. spicatus .

Description

(female). Holotype 3.5 mm, 2.69 × as long as wide. Body dark brown, antennae and legs lighter. Head: epistoma smooth. Frons subshiny, finely punctate, setose; each puncture bearing a long, erect hair-like seta. Eyes broadly and moderately emarginate. Submentum large, triangular, slightly impressed. Antennal scape regularly thick, as long as club. Pedicel shorter than funicle. Club circular, flat, type 3; segment 1 corneous, transverse on anterior face, occupying basal ~1/3; segment 2 narrow, transverse, corneous; segments 1 and 2 present on posterior face. Pronotum: 1.2 × as long as wide. In dorsal view long and rounded frontally, type 7, sides parallel in basal 3/5, rounded anteriorly; anterior margin with two projecting serrations. In lateral view elongate, disc longer than anterior slope, type 7, summit prominent, on anterior 3/5. Anterior slope with densely spaced, broad fine asperities, becoming lower and more strongly transverse towards summit. Disc reticulate, dull with sparse, minute punctures, some longer hair-like setae at margins. Lateral margins obliquely costate. Elytra: 1.5 × as long as wide, 1.3 × as long as pronotum. Scutellum minute. Elytra attenuate, parallel-sided in basal 70%, then acutely tapered to apex, apex strongly emarginate. Disc smooth, shiny; strial punctures moderate, shallow, glabrous; interstriae flat, sparsely, minutely punctate, unarmed, each puncture bearing a long semi-erect hair-like seta. Declivity gradual, smooth, shiny, appearing bisulcate, occupying apical 2/5 of elytra; striae not impressed, striae 1 and 2 parallel, strial punctures much larger and shallower than those of disc; interstriae impunctate, interstriae 2 strongly sulcate, unarmed; interstriae 1 and 3 strongly costate with five and three granules respectively, each granule bearing a long, erect hair-like seta. Posterolateral margin with interstriae 3 and 9 joining, forming a granulate acute carina and continuing submarginally to apex. Legs: protibiae obliquely triangular, broadest at apical 1/4; apical 1/2 of outer margin with six large, socketed denticles, their length longer than basal width. Meso- and metatibiae flattened; outer margin evenly rounded with seven large, socketed denticles.

Etymology.

Portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, Ellen Ripley is the heroine in the movies ‘Alien’ (1979), ‘Aliens’ (1986), 'Alien 3' (1992), and 'Alien: Resurrection’ (1997). This species is glabrous and reminiscent of Ripley’s shaved head in 'Alien 3'. Noun in apposition.

Distribution.

Ecuador (Orellana).

Biology.

The holotype was collected by canopy fogging.

Figures

Figure 14. Dorsal, lateral, frontal and declivital view of Coptoborus ricini, 2.3 - 2.5 mm (A-C, M), C. ripley holotype, 3.5 mm (D-F, N), C. sagitticauda holotype, 2.3 mm (G-I, O), C. sarahconnor holotype, 2.3 mm (J-L, P). All photographs by SMS.