Eccoptopterus intermedius Sittichaya, Lin & Smith, 2024

Sittichaya, Wisut, Lin, Ching-Shan, Smith, Sarah M., Pornsuriya, Chaninan & Cognato, Anthony I., 2024, Two new species of Eccoptopterus Motschulsky, 1863 ambrosia beetle from Taiwan and Thailand (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ZooKeys 1217, pp. 247-262 : 247-262

Eccoptopterus intermedius Sittichaya, Lin & Smith sp. nov.

Fig. 3

Type material.

Holotype, • female, Thailand, Tak Province , 17°40'17.7"N, 97°51'04.2"E; 600 msl; semiagricultural area, ex. small branch of unknown tree; 08. ix. 19, (W. Sittichaya) ( NHMW) ; Paratypes: • females, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Pha Taem National Park , 15°37'21.9"N, 105°36'34.7"E; 420 m a. s. l.; dry dipterocarp rainforest, ethanol baited trap; 01. v. 2019, (W. Sittichaya) • Tak Province, 17°40'17.7"N, 97°51'04.2"E; 600 m a. s. l.; semiagricultural area, ex. Small branch of unknown tree; 08. ix. 19 (1), (W. Sittichaya), (1 THNHM) • Lamphun Province, Maeping National Park , 17°33'29.6"N, 98°52'46.0"E; 600 m a. s. l.; Dry Dipterocarp forest, ethanol baited trap; 01. ii. 19 (1), 01. iii. 19 (1), 01. v. 19 (1) (all W. Sittichaya) (3 WSTC) • Chiang Mai Province, Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary , 17°33'29.6"N, 98°52'46.0"E; 600 m a. s. l.; mixed deciduous forest, ethanol baited trap; 01. vi. 19 (W. Sittichaya) (1 MSUC) .

Diagnosis.

Female, 1.70-1.90 mm long (mean = 1.80 mm; N = 6), 2.03-2.38 × as long as wide (mean = 2.13 ×; N = 6). Small body size, declivital armature composed of a pair of major spines at interstriae 3 on declivital summit and four minor spines unevenly spaced on each lateral margin, declivity covered with flattened scale-like setae; protibiae slender, broadest at apical 1 / 3, outer margin armed with four or five moderated socketed denticles, elytra tapering laterally.

Description.

Female. Body brown, dark brown to black, impressed portion of elytral disc and declivital face paler and bearing grayish-brown scale-like setae; antennae, prolegs, middle legs and associated coxae paler brown, hind legs dark brown to black. Head: epistoma complete, margin bisinuated, with a row of hair-like setae. Frons below upper margin of eye and above epistoma impressed, without raised median line, surface reticulate, subshiny, sparsely covered with fine long setae, setal insertion shallowly punctate. Frons below upper portion of the eye slightly convex. Eye shallowly emarginate just above antennal insertion, upper portion slightly smaller than lower part. Submentum triangular small, shallowly impressed. Antennal scape long, normal thick, slightly longer than club (9: 8). Pedicel as broad as scape, as long as funicle. Funicle 4 - segmented, segment 1 shorter than pedicel. Club obliquely truncate, longer than wide (8: 6.5), type 1, segment 1 corneous, occupying basal 1 / 4, margin carinate, concave, encircling in anterior face, segment 2 and 3 soft, visible on anterior face only. Pronotum: 0.93-0.97 (mean = 0.95, N = 6) × as long as wide, round shorter than long, type 1 in dorsal view, lateral sides parallel to anterior middle, broadly rounded anteriorly; anterior margin with 2-4 serrations, median pair prominent; anterior slope strongly asperate, asperities densely spaced, rugose, becoming lower and more transverse toward the summit; disc slightly convex, finely alutaceous, dull, sparsely covered with fine punctures bearing fine short hair-like setae. Base with a tuft of short hair-like setae associated with mycangium. In lateral view short and tall, type 3, summit at middle, lateral margins obliquely costate. Elytra: 1.12-1.18 (mean = 1.15, N = 6) × as long as wide, 1.07-1.19 (mean = 1.15, N = 6) × as long as pronotum. Scutellum comparatively moderately sized, narrow, linguiform, finely punctate, subshiny, attachment on anterior slope of elytra less visible from above. Base shallowly bisinuate, with oblique edge, humeral angles rounded, lateral side tapering from humeral angle to apex. Disc short, basal area ¼ of disc slightly convex, apical 3 / 4 impressed and connecting to declivital impression; disc punctate, punctures fine confused and setose, strial setae uniseriate with long, erect hair-like setae; interstrial setae bi- or triseriate with semi-recumbent hair-like setae. Impressed portion of disc covered with leaf-like setae. Declivity sulcate, with a pair of major (largest) spines on declivital summit and four much smaller minor spines on declivital margin, first minor spine located far from the major spine; striae and interstriae punctate, punctures small and shallow; striae 1 shallowly impressed, 2-3 flattened; interstriae 1 slightly convex, 2 and 3 flattened. Striae and interstriae with flattened bristle-like setae, setae semi-recumbent, near median suture in vertical rows (3–4 rows on each side), apically pointed, near lateral margins (four or five rows per side) pointed inwardly to elytral suture, at apical margin without upwardly setae. Legs: procoxae contiguous; prosternal coxal piece short, inconspicuous. Protibiae slender, broadest at middle; posterior face inflated, punctate, densely covered with long hair-like setae; outer margin armed with four or five moderate socketed denticles. Meso- and metatibiae rounded, flat, mesotibiae armed with three or four smaller socketed denticles, metafemora and metatibiae enlarged, the latter without spine.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology.

L. inter + medius = in the middle. The name refers to the morphological characters of the species which lie between those of E. limbus and E. spinosus . An adjective.

Distribution.

Thailand (Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Tak, Ubon Ratchathani provinces).

Host plants.

Unknown.

Figures

Figure 3. Eccoptopterus intermedius sp. nov. Holotype, female, A dorsal view B lateral view C posterolateral view D frons E antenna.