Simo hirticornis (Herbst)

Pierotti, Helio, Bellò, Cesare & Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A., 2010, 2376, Zootaxa 2376, pp. 1-96 : 9-10

Simo hirticornis (Herbst)

( Figs. 1 Aa, 48a, 69)

Curculio hirticornis Herbst, 1795: 327 .

Peritelus hirticornis (Herbst) : Seidlitz, 1866: 71 (partim); Léon-Hilaire, 1924: 65.

Peritelus (Peritelus) hirticornis (Herbst) : Stierlin, 1883: 586 (partim).

Otiorrhynchus (Homorythmus) hirticornis (Herbst) : Reitter, 1913: 74, 75 (partim).

Homorhythmus hirticornis (Herbst) : Lona, 1937: 251 (partim); Dieckmann, 1980: 181 (partim).

Simo hirticornis (Herbst) : Palm, 1995: 109; Knutelski et al., 1997: 223; Pierotti & Bellò, 1998: 103.

Otiorrhynchus (Homorythmus) hirticornis var. setulifer Reitter sensu auctt. (non Reitter, 1913).

Curculio simo Olivier, 1807: 361 ; Bedel, 1886: 233 (synonymy).

Homorythmus simo (Olivier) : Hoffmann, 1950: 159.

Otiorhynchus depubes Boheman in Schoenherr, 1842: 361; Stierlin, 1861: 132 (synonymy).

Redescription. Body outline elongate. Dorsal vestiture composed of elongate scales, slender on head and pronotum, more robust on elytra, uniformly recurved, reclinate on dorsum, suberect behind and on sides, and of rounded scales, these green, pinkish, bronzed or brown, with evident metallic shimmer, not or slightly imbricate on pronotum, strongly so on appendix of scrobe (sensu Solari, 1955), on front upper margin of eyes and on elytra. Rostrum a little longer than wide ( Fig. 1a). Eyes large, more or less flattened. In lateral view, angle formed by ventral margins of rostrum and head usually widely rounded. Antennae with desmomere 1 strongly clubbed, 2 narrower, at least as long as 1, 3 and 4 moniliform, 5–7 progressively widened; club elongate. Pronotum subquadrate to weakly transverse, not or slightly wider at base than at apex, punctures foveiform. Elytra elongate, weakly rounded at sides, in dorsal view apical outline pointed. Legs moderately long but robust; protibia on outer margin straight up to apex, there weakly widened. Male: known only from two Italian localities (Piedmont: Torino, Quargento). Female: propygidium lanceolate; hemisternites with styli indistinct; spermatheca with cornu usually short and robust and ramus weakly developed ( Fig. 48a).

Distribution. Northern Spain, central eastern and southern France, Corsica, Switzerland, northern Italy, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, southern Sweden and south-western Poland (type locality: “Selva Ercinia” = Harz, Germany). Spanish literature records: Lérida: Vall d’Arán (Léon- Hilaire, 1924).

Material examined ( Fig. 69): Spain, Lérida: Vall d’Arán, Lés , 18. V.22, leg. Léon-Hilaire ( TEM); do. 2. V.24 ( MAN); in HOF there is a specimen labelled “ Andalusia ” but this record seems highly improbable. Type material (not studied): lectotype in Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität, Berlin (sec. Palm, 1995) .

Biology. Found mostly on Rubus (Rosaceae) and on Alnus and Corylus (Betulaceae) but also collected on Pinaceae ( Abies , Picea , Larix , Pinus ), Salicaceae ( Salix , Populus ), other Betulaceae ( Betula , Carpinus ), Fagaceae ( Fagus , Quercus ), Santalaceae (Viscum) , other Rosaceae ( Rosa , Sorbus , Crataegus , Prunus ), Fabaceae ( Cytisus , Genista ), Aquifoliaceae (Ilex) , Buxaceae (Buxus) , Vitaceae (Vitis) , Tiliaceae (Tilia) , Ericaceae ( Erica , Vaccinium ) and Oleaceae ( Fraxinus , Syringa ).

Notes. A species of variable dimensions, usually of median size (4.1-6.7 mm) and distinguished from its close relative S. variegatus by the strongly imbricate scales on the appendix of the scrobe (sensu Solari, 1955) close to the upper front margin of the eyes, the lanceolate propygidium, the short, robust cornu of the spermatheca and the indistinct styli of the ovipositor. It is evidently parthenogenetic in most of its range as males have only been found in the two abovementioned Italian localities.

Genus Simopsis Pierotti & Bellò

Simopsis Pierotti & Bellò, 2006: 30 .

Simo Palm, 1995: 109 ; Pierotti & Bellò, 1998: 82 (partim); Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999: 172 (partim). Peritelus subg. Homorythmus Bedel, 1888: 38 (partim); Lona, 1937: 250 (partim).

Otiorrhynchus subg. Homorythmus Reitter, 1913: 72 (partim).

Homorythmus Hoffmann, 1950: 154 (partim).

Type species: Otiorrhynchus astragali Stierlin 1861 , by original designation.

For description see Pierotti & Bellò (2006). A genus with a north-central Mediterranean distribution, from southern France westwards to Aude, central Italy (Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo), central eastern Sardinia. Recorded, probably due to misidentifications, also from mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and Morocco.