Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley

Xu, Guang, Tang, William, Skelley, Paul, Liu, Nian & Rich, Stephen, 2015, Cycadophila, a new genus (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Pharaxonothinae) inhabiting Cycas debaoensis (Cycadaceae) in Asia, Zootaxa 3986 (3), pp. 251-278 : 255-256

Genus Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley , new genus

Type species. Cycadophila debaonica n. sp., here designated.

Diagnosis. Cycadophila is distinguished from other currently known cycad-associated genera of Erotylidae by the presence of a transverse occipital ridge; supraocular striae present; having a remnant of the submental-gular suture visible to variously depressed; lack of abdominal calli; male genitalia with median lobe and tegmen twisted like a corkscrew, and spiculum gastrale asymmetrical; wings with anal cell present.

Description. Length 3.12–5.27 mm, width 1.29–2.31 mm. Body form elongate, not strongly parallel sided; dorsoventrally flattened, weakly convex; widest anterior to or at middle of elytra; color pale to dark reddish-brown with or without variously sized dark macula on elytra; dorsal punctation fine, evenly distributed.

Head with dorsal surface flat to convex (swollen) above eyes, clypeus flat or curved downward apically, may have vague depressions basally; clypeus apically truncate or rounded; supraocular striae present, about 1/3 length of eye; transverse occipital ridge present; stridulatory file on occipital region of head present, one on each side of the midline, widely separated, weakly convergent anteriorly; eyes prominent, coarsely faceted, large, ventrally encroaching upon gular area, distance between eye and lateral corner of mentum <1/2 eye length in ventral view; lacking lateral temple behind eye. Antennomeres I–VI length subequal to width, moniliform in most, slightly elongate in others; antenna with 3-segmented club. Mouthparts with terminal maxillary palpomere cylindrical, acuminate apically, elongate, 2 times longer than preceding palpomere; terminal labial palpomere flattened, roughly oval in shape, 3/4 length of terminal maxillary palpomere; mentum with large triangular base defined by carina; lateral pockets in front of carina not evident; submentum and gula flat, suture indicated centrally with pair of small pits often marked by dark coloration and a few punctures forming weak to strong U-shaped depression.

Thorax. Pronotum with anterior marginal bead complete, fine; pronotal anterior margin near eyes weakly emarginate, anterior angles slightly projecting, angularly rounded; pronotal basal pits small, associated longitudinal groove fine, groove up to 1/4 length of pronotum; secondary transverse groove between pits present, curving along posterior margin; pronotal lateral margin evenly arcuate, lacking modifications; pronotal lateral marginal bead thin or thickened in both dorsal and lateral view. Scutellum broadly pentagonal. Elytra finely setose, setae indistinct; base of elytra with marginal bead. Prosternum mostly flat, depressed posterior of coxa; procoxal cavities narrowly open; hypomeron with or without longitudinal striations. Protibia truncate and slightly to strongly dilated distally, without disto-lateral tooth; disto-ventral and lateral margins with row of distally directed fine spinules or ventrally directed stout spinules; meso- and metafemora and tibiae elongate, narrow to roundly dilated; mesofemur and tibia oval-dilated in some. Tarsi 5-segmented, tarsomeres I–III pubescent ventrally with long, fine, dense, distally directed setae, not lobed beneath; tarsomere IV without dense ventral setae, short, narrow and inconspicuous. Sexual dimorphism present or absent, when present usually appearing as variously swollen or dilated tibiae or femora in males, which legs and segments involved are species specific.

Abdomen with 5 visible ventrites, lacking coxal lines and internal calli.

Male genitalia with median lobe and tegmen twisted like a corkscrew; median strut>2 times longer than median lobe; flagellum shorter than median lobe, struts not coiled; spiculum gastrale asymmetrical.

Etymology. The name Cycadophila is formed from the words “cycad” and “philia”, ancient Greek for affection. Gender feminine.

Remarks. With the addition of Cycadophila there are now 6 genera in Pharaxonothinae . However, an understanding of the relationship of Cycadophila within Pharaxonothinae , particularly with respect to Pharaxonotha , requires further studies using morphological characters and multilocus sequence analysis. Furthermore, a phylogenetic comparison of pharaxonothines and their food plants may sharpen our understanding of their co-evolutionary relationships. All specimens of Cycadophila with biological data were collected from male cones of Asian cycads, Cycas spp.

Tang et al. (1999) divided “ Xenocryptus ” (now Cycadophila ) into different groups (XA and XB, for “ Xenocryptus A” and “ Xenocryptus B”) based on an initial assessment of morphology. In field observations, Tang (see below) noted members of the XA type ( C. debaonica and C. fupingensis ) appear to reproduce in the male cones with fresh pollen. Specimens of the XB type ( C. nigra and C. yunnanensis ) are abundant on cones that have finished shedding their pollen and may be saprophytes feeding on old rotting cones, pollen and fungi.

There are presently four species herein placed in the genus Cycadophila that occur on cones of C. debaoensis . Other Asian species previously placed in “ Pharaxonotha ” and additional new species of Cycadophila that occur on other species of cycads will be treated in a separate future publication (Xu et al. in prep) reviewing all known members of the genus. We here focus only on the species of Cycadophila known to occur on C. debaoensis .