Laparocerus benchijigua, Machado, Antonio, 2007

Machado, Antonio, 2007, New species of Laparocerus Schönherr, 1834 from La Gomera, Canary Islands (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae), Zootaxa 1643, pp. 1-38 : 6-7

Laparocerus benchijigua n. sp.

(Figs. 2A, 9F–G, 18C)

Dimensions, holotype (ɗ). Length: total (without rostrum) 5.10 mm, head 1.14 mm, rostrum 0.54 mm, scape 1.24 mm, funicle 1.54 mm, segments (1st/ 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th) 0.32 /0.32 /0.18 / 0.18 mm, club 0.40 mm, eyes 0.32, pronotum 1.05 mm, elytra 3.70 mm, tibiae (pro- /meso- /meta-) 1.38 /1.20 / 1.42 mm. Width: head (with eyes) 0.96 mm, head (between eyes) 0.60 mm, rostrum (with pterygia) 0.66 mm, rostrum (minimum dorsal /ventral) 0.40 / 0.56 mm, rostrum (base) 0.64 mm, scape 0.14 mm, club 0,0 9 mm, pronotum (anterior /maximum /posterior) 0.96 /1.36/ 1.14 mm, elytra (maximum) 2.20 mm. Height: abdomen 1.70 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Length ɗɗ 4.6 – 5.5 mm, ΨΨ 5.2 – 5.9 mm. Similar in appearance and details to L. acutipennis but without long protruding cinereous setae on elytra. Elytral setae in females very short, dark, more strongly curved, pointing backwards, hardly protruding in basal half, well developed only in apical third; in males much more reduced, restricted to a few small ones around apex. Elytra equally strongly acuminate but in females disc conspicuously depressed, sloping apicad (maximum height near the base). Prorostrum slightly less well delimited (bearing some punctures) and epistomal keel less clearly demarkated. Frontal fovea smaller, shallower and extended as a line along metarostrum. Pronotum more quadrangular (pronotum/ elytra L ratio 0.29 in ɗɗ, 0.25 in ΨΨ), usually with a diffuse discal granule devoid of punctures. Apical plate of aedeagus (fig. 18F–G) very distinctive, formed by a narrow and sharpened long plate protruding from ventral side, instead of broader, missilehead-shaped plate typical of L. acutipennis .

FIGURE New Laparocerus species from La Gomera, holotypes: (A) L. benchijigua , (B) L. exiguus , (C) L. heres heres . Scale = 2 mm

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition, taken from the type locality, the huge ravine of Benchijigua .

Material examined. Holotype: La Gomera: Road to Benchijigua , 670 m (UTM = 28R 0 283034 3108570), 3-1-2005, leg. A. Machado, 1 ɗ (Coll. TFMC, reg. CO-15508). Paratypes: same locality and data, 1 ɗ, 3 ΨΨ ( AMC), 1 ɗ ( TFMC); same locality, 6-12-2006, leg. A. Machado, 26 exx. ( AMC, 2 DEI, 2 MNCN, 2 MNH), leg. R García, 10 exx. (RGB), leg. A. Aguiar, 16 exx. ( AAC).

Distribution and ecology. L. benchijigua is endemic to La Gomera. It was collected at night on Cistus monspeliensis in the basin of Benchijigua , which in the east borders the district where L. acutipennis occurs.