Scolytodes niger 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 niger Jordal & Kirkendall sp. nov. Figs 2, 5, 8

Type material.

Holotype, female: Costa Rica, Guanacaste prov., Rincon de La Vieja, Las Pailas, 18.II.1996-020A, R. Anderson, Clusia rosea forest litter. Allotype male: Costa Rica, Puntarenas, 11 km SW Est. Biol. Las Cruces, 1450 m, 08°46'43"N, 83°01'50"W, 9.VII.1999, R. Anderson, wet cloud forest litter, 99-124E. Paratypes: Prov. Heredia, 6 km ENE Vara Blanca, 1950-2050 m, 10°11'N, 84°07'W, 21 Feb. 2002, INBio–OET–ALAS transect, 20/TN/12/005 (INB0003223381) (1); San José prov., Zurquí de Moravia, 1600 m, 30.6.1997, L. Kirkendall, H. Lezama, flight intercept trap (1). Holotype and allotype deposited in CMNC, 1 paratype in MNCR, and 1 paratype in ZMBN.

Diagnosis.

Interstriae 10 carinate to level of ventrite 2; protibiae with an additional mesal tooth near tarsal insertion. Metanepisternum covered with white plumose setae. Very similar to S. clusiae Wood, 1969, but differs by the smooth and shiny pronotum, the shorter setae in a smaller area in the female frons, and by the distinct, albeit tiny, interstrial punctures.

Description female.

Length 1.5 mm, 2.1 × as long as wide; color black. Head. Eyes sinuate, separated above by 2.0 × their width. Frons weakly impressed from just above level of antennal insertion to epistoma; surface smooth, densely punctured in impressed area, scattered punctures above, shiny. Vestiture consisting of short setae in impressed area and on epistoma. Antennal club with two sutures marked by shorter setae, segment 1 and 2 corneous, sutures slightly constricted; funiculus 6-segmented. Pronotum shiny, with shallow, small, elongated punctures spaced by 2-3 × their diameter (length). Vestiture consisting of 8 erect long setae (4 –2– 2). Elytra generally smooth and shiny; striae not impressed, punctures shallow, tiny, appear elongated but composed by two punctures in one, each pair separated in rows by their length; interstriae 4 × as wide as striae, punctures of same size as in striae, much more separated, mainly in rows. Interstriae 10 carinate to level of ventrite 2. Vestiture consisting of regular rows of erect, interstrial setae of variable thickness, and regularly placed, fine, short, semi-recumbent setae in striae and interstriae, mainly on posterior half. Legs. Procoxae broadly separated by 0.9 × and mesocoxae 1.2 × the width of one procoxa. Protibiae slightly broadening distally, lateral teeth 1 and 2 of similar size, with a faint extension of cuticle between them, and with 3-4 additional small, sharp spines or granules along the lateral edge towards base; an additional mesal tooth present near tarsal insertion; protibial mucro obtuse. Meso- and metatibiae with 5 and 6 lateral, socketed, small teeth on distal half and third, respectively. Ventral vestiture. Setae on metanepisternum quadrifid to strongly plumose and densely placed, on mesanepisternum mainly trifid, on metasternum mainly simple, some bifid. Sclerolepidia scale-like or plumose.

Male.

1.4-1.6 mm long, 2.0-2.1 × as wide as long. Identical to female, except frons slightly more convex on lower part, with less dense vestiture.

Key

( Wood 1982). Keys to couplet 25 with some uncertainty; S. clusiae in couplet 24 is a better match.

Etymology.

The Latin name niger is a masculine adjective, meaning shining black, referring to the dark and shiny appearance of this species.

Biology and distribution.

This species is known from four Costa Rican cloud forest localities - in the northern and southern slopes of Volcan Barva (Braulio Carrillo), the southern slope of Rincon de La Vieja, and close to the Panama border (Las Cruces). Two specimens were collected by flight intercept trapping, and two by leaf litter sifting, one of which from Clusia litter.