Dryocoetiops laevis (Strohmeyer)

Beaver, Roger A., Smith, Sarah M. & Sanguansub, Sunisa, 2019, A review of the genus Dryocoetiops Schedl, with new species, new synonymy and a key to species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Zootaxa 4712 (2), pp. 236-250 : 243

Dryocoetiops laevis (Strohmeyer)

(Figs 9–12)

Ozopemon laevis Strohmeyer 1911: 22 .

Dryocoetiops laevis (Strohmeyer) : Schedl 1957: 13.

Ozopemon dipterocarpi Hopkins 1915: 49 : Schedl 1964: 307 (synonymy).

Ozopemon diversicolor Eggers 1923: 160 : Eggers 1927: 391 (synonymy).

Xyleborus orbus Browne 1966: 249 : Schedl 1970b: 224 (synonymy).

Poecilips loebli Schedl : 1972: 227: Wood 1989: 172 (synonymy).

Taxonomy. This species has been the subject of some taxonomic confusion. It is superficially similar to some species of Xyleborini, but clearly has the characteristics of Dryocoetini not Xyleborini, and of Dryocoetiops and not Ozopemon ( Wood 1986, contra Wood 1980). It is most closely similar to D. bicolor , and these two species are distinguished from other described species of Dryocoetiops by the broader, bicolored pronotum. Both species lack the sclerolepidia present in all other species. The anterior coxae of both species are contiguous, whereas in other species, they are usually slightly separated. The holotype was deposited in the Philippine Bureau of Science collection which was destroyed in World War II ( Baltazar 2001). A paratype in Strohmeyer’s own collection (Strohmeyer, 2011) is also presumed to have been destroyed in World War II. We have examined photographs of the holotype of Ozopemon dipterocarpi ( NMNH), a paratype of Xyleborus orbus ( NHML) from the Philippines, and a paratype of P. loebli ( NMW)from Sri Lanka, and further specimens in NHML and RAB from East and West Malaysia and Vietnam, some of which were directly compared to these paratypes. All represent a single species. In the absence of type material of O. laevis , we accept the synonymy given by the authors cited above and accepted by Wood and Bright (1992).

Distribution. Indonesia (Sumatera, Kalimantan), Malaysia (E. and W.), Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam. Imported to Japan in timber from Indonesia and the Philippines, but not established.

Biology. The species was recorded (as O. dipterocarpi ) from Dipterocarpus grandiflorus (Dipterocarpaceae) ( Hopkins 1915), and as O. laevis from Hopea odorata (Dipterocarpaceae) by Beeson (1961), and from Dipterocarpus sp. timber imported to Japan from Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines ( Ohno 1990; Ohno et al. 1986, 1987). It was recorded (as O. diversicolor ) from ‘lagan’ in the Simaloer islands off Sumatera ( Eggers 1923). According to Schedl (1966), ‘lagan’ refers to Premna odorata (Verbenaceae) , but the name more usually refers to various species of Dipterocarpus , and the other host records suggest this is a more likely interpretation.