Cycadophila (Cycadophila) lata (Grouvelle) Grouvelle, 2017

Skelley, Paul, Xu, Guang, Tang, William, Lindström, Anders J., Marler, Thomas, Khuraijam, Jibankumar Singh, Singh, Rita & Rich, Stephen, 2017, Review of Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Pharaxonothinae) inhabiting Cycas (Cycadaceae) in Asia, with descriptions of a new subgenus and thirteen new species, Zootaxa 4267 (1), pp. 1-63 : 19-21

Cycadophila (Cycadophila) lata (Grouvelle) , new combination

Figs. 2 J, 5A–F

Pharaxonotha lata Grouvelle 1916: 61 ; Schenkling 1923: 15; Schenkling 1928: 31.

Adult diagnosis. A member of the C. ( Cycadophila ) lata species group, with long supraocular striae, distinguished most readily from C. debaonica and C. collina by the head width/ventral interocular distance ratio>4.0 0; width of elytra greatest anterior to middle, and their tibial dilation. Mesotibial and femoral dilation in the male holotype of C. lata is strong ( Fig. 2 J), indicating it is a major male. Only the male holotype is known, females and minor males are unknown.

Adult description. Length 4.98 mm, width 1.94 mm. Body in dorsal view elongate-oval, greatest width anterior to middle of elytra; in lateral view convex dorsally. General body color reddish-brown, head darker, slightly darker than pronotum and lateral halves of elytra, elytra with large central black maculation occupying half of elytral length; dorsal surface punctate, shining and dorsally appearing glabrous, short procumbent hairs associated with punctation behind eyes and along lateral sides and declivity of elytra, ventrally mostly covered with short procumbent setae.

Head in dorsal view conical, gradually narrowed apically, surface flat to slightly convex; finely, sparsely punctured; width 1.32 mm; dorsal interocular distance 0.56 mm, head width/dorsal interocular distance ratio 2.35, ventral interocular distance 0.29 mm, head width/ventral interocular distance ratio 4.50. Eye globular; bordered dorsally with long supraocular stria reaching anterior angle of eye; projected laterally, with large black facets and short, inconspicuous interfacetal setae. Frons with short, dark, subcuticular suture on each side, approximately 1/4 width of frons in length, extending obliquely to lateral margin above and anterior to antennal insertion. Antennal length slightly shorter than pronotal width, and slightly longer than head width, antennomere relative lengths from base to end approximately 16:10:11:10:10:10:10:9:11:11:16; antennomere I (scape) fairly large, slightly elongate, antennomere II slightly smaller than III; IV–VIII small, width equals length; club fairly large, IX and X similar in length, XI slightly longer, globular. Clypeus truncate anteriorly, anterior margin with long setae; densely punctate; somewhat emarginate, with narrow margin. Mouthparts not dissected on unique holotype. Maxillary palpomeres II, III and IV longer than wide; IV elongate oval, apex densely papillate; relative lengths of II–IV approximately 4:3:7. Labium with mentum pentagonal with carina forming triangular plate projecting medially, lacking distinct lateral pockets; labial palp III elongate-oval. Mentum and submentum with moderate punctation and setation, setae short. Gular area smooth, without setae or punctation, except near suture with submentum where a shallow transversely elongate fovea is present bearing dense setose punctures, fovea dark brown.

Thorax with pronotum transverse in dorsal view, with narrow marginal beads on all sides; length/width ratio 0.63, convex, wider basally; anterior angles weakly developed; posterior angle exteriorly angulate; posterior margin projecting medially; with narrow longitudinal furrow posterolaterally, beginning at pore on posterior margin, extending forward and ending abruptly, length of furrows relative to pronotal length 0.25. Prosternum with anterior margin slightly emarginate, finely denticulate with fringe of long, anteriorly directed setae; posterior prosternal process round and convex. Hypomeron without longitudinal striations. Scutellar shield transverse, posterior margin projected, pentagonal. Elytral color pattern with dark macula on each elytron extending from suture to 2/5 width of the elytron and from near the scutellum to 2/3 length of elytra; in dorsal view elongate-oval, convex; greatest width near midlength; with marginal bead basally, scutellary striole with 11 punctures along anterior 1/4; intervals of striae with fine and shallow punctures. All elytral punctures bearing a single short seta; seta only visible in profile, extending slightly out of puncture. Punctation on meso- and metaventrite shallow and small. Metaventrite convex laterally, slightly impressed medially, metathoracic discrimen extending slightly over half metaventrite length. Legs stout; femora compressed laterally; tibiae shorter than femora, gradually dilated to narrow apex, with lateral margins convexly curved, most notable on mesotibia.

Abdomen with 5 ventrites bearing fine punctures; anterior margin with intercoxal process narrow, with triangular point anteromedially, lateral edges slightly projected, lateral and posterior margins arcuate, converging posteriorly; anterior and posterior margins of ventrites more or less straight; ventrite I lacking subcoxal line, slightly longer medially than II; I–IV each with pair of long hairs located on either side of the middle; II–IV subequal in length; V slightly longer than IV with lateral margins converging posteriorly to a rounded apex bearing row of short appressed, densely arranged setae.

Male genitalia (tegmen and median lobe of aedeagus) twisted approximately 90˚ toward the left side of animal and resting on side. Tegmen sclerotized, triangular, but twisted in the middle; with anterior region ring-like, posterior region sheath-like, posterior margin slightly arcuate; lateral margins gradually converging posteriorly; dorsally with 2 large, elongate, somewhat coniform parameres. Parameres with long setae apically; length/width ratio 2.00. Aedeagus with median lobe slender, highly sclerotized, apex long and acuminate. Ratio of median lobe length to penile strut length 1:2. Female unrecognized.

Type locality. Tonkin, Than moi.

Range. Tonkin, Than moi.

Material examined. Holotype male with the following labels ( Fig. 5 E): 1) [rectangular; white; hand written in black ink] “ Tonkin, Than moi, 3-06, Coll. Fouquet”; 2) [rectangular; red, printed in black ink] “ Type ”; 3) [rectangular; white; hand written in black ink] “ Pharaxonotha lata Grouv. ”; 4) [rectangular; white, printed in black ink] “ Erotylidae : Cycadophila lata (Grouv.) det. P. Skelley 2012”. Deposited in MNHN (examined).

Remarks. Type locality of “Tonkin” corresponds to northern Vietnam and adjacent parts of Laos . There are approximately 17 species of Cycas ( Osborne et al. 2007; Averyanov et al. 2014) occurring naturally in this area occupying a variety of habitats including cliff faces, forest understory and seashore. The collection locality for the holotype, interpreted here as “Than moi” (see Fig. 5 E) corresponds most closely to the present day locality of Thanh Moi (21°38'N, 106°33'E) in Long Son Province, Vietnam along Highway 1A, built by the French in the early 20th century. This is the habitat zone for Cycas ferruginea , a cliff-dwelling species ( Osborne et al. 2007; Tang, unpub. obs.). Other less probable hosts occurring in the surrounding region are the understory forest cycads C. balansae , C. bifida and C. dolichophylla . Another possible candidate place name is Thanh Mai corresponding to two localities in Vietnam (20°38' N, 106°27'E or 21°12'N, 106°27'E) not located near any major roads, and therefore less likely to have been the original collecting site. These are situated further to the southeast in two adjoining provinces, Thai Binh and Hai Dong. The most likely host in this area is Cycas haobinhensis ( Osborne et al. 2007) , a species restricted to limestone cliff faces, which is already known to harbor a congener, Cycadophila debaonica (see above under Remarks for C. debaonica ). Based on variation in other species of this group, the holotype of C. lata appears to be a major male and is the only known specimen. This prevents us from observing any variation, confirming female characters, or comparing molecular data. Further analysis must wait until potentially conspecific specimens are available for study.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Key characters of adults: photographs of lateral head and pronotal margin: A) Cycadophila (C.) fupingensis; B) C. (Strobilophila) tansachai; C) C. (C.) yunnanensis; SEM of protibia, ventral view: D) C. (C.) fupingensis; E) C. (C.) debaonica; F) C. (S.) tansachai; G) C. (S.) yangi; photographs of mesotibia, ventral view: H) C. (C.) debaonica female; I) C. (C.) debaonica male; J) C. (C.) lata male; photographs of left half of pronotum: K) C. (C.) collina; L) C. (C.) debaonica; M) C. (S.) kwaiensis; N) C. (S.) tansachai; photographs of mesofemur of major male: O) C. (C.) collina ex Vietnam; P) C. (C.) debaonica.

FIGURE 5. Photographs of Cycadophila (Cycadophila) lata, holotype: A) dorsal habitus; B) ventral habitus; C) lateral habitus; D) head and pronotum, antero-lateral; E) labels; F – G) male genitalia.