Watanabesaruzo yunnanensis, Huang, Junhao, Zhang, Runzhi, Pelsue, Frank W. & Jr, 2006

Huang, Junhao, Zhang, Runzhi, Pelsue, Frank W. & Jr, 2006, A new species of the genus Watanabesaruzo (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Ceutorhynchinae) from China, Zootaxa 1124, pp. 41-46 : 42-45

Watanabesaruzo yunnanensis sp. nov.

Holotype. China. Yunnan: Female [Baijifan [99.3E, 27.2N], Weixi County, Yunnan Province, China, 2250m, 13.VII.1981, Shuyong Wang, IOZ(E)897083].

Part of the holotype was broken during examination of the specimen. The head fell down and was glued to the body, with one antenna missing and the other separated from the head. The right elytron is broken by the insect pin as illustrated in Fig. 1 . The venter and pygidium are separated from the body. The 5th segments of tarsi are missing from the left three legs and right fore­leg, and the right hind­leg separated from the body, with its tarsus missing. All of the separated parts were glued to a triangular sheet and well deposited.

Diagnosis. Pronotal spine elongate in moderate length, with a median carina running from the distal tip to basal 1/3 of pronotum; pronotum with dense and deep punctures; elytral striae with small and shallow punctures; funicular segment 4 more than 1.5 times as long as segment 5; scales on head, pronotum and elytra lanceolate with truncate apices.

1

2 Description. Female. Dark brown to black in general appearance. Rostrum, antennae, tarsi and venter reddish brown ( Figs 1–2 ). Body length 3.71 mm; pronotal length 1.09 mm, width 1.56 mm; elytral length 2.25 mm, width 2.67 mm; length of pronotal spine 0.33 mm; rostral length 2.20 mm, width 0.25mm on apical 1/4 and 0.38 mm on base ( Figs 3–4 ).

Head black, reticulately punctured, covered with dense yellowish scales; scales lanceolate with truncate apices; vertex with median carina; front depressed, mostly covered with yellowish scales. Eyes black, round, strongly convex, with 1–3 lines of yellowish scales fringing around inner margin of each eye ( Fig. 4 ). Rostrum reddish brown, long and slender, twice as long as pronotum, slightly curved, with median carina. Antennae reddish­brown, inserted at middle of rostrum; scape long and clavate at apex, then apex produced in short lamina ( Fig. 5 ); funicle 6 segmented, segment 2 1.7 times as long as segment 1, segment 3 1.1 times as long as segment 2, segment 4 0.5 times as long as segment 3, 1.8 times as long as segment 5, and segments 5 and 6 same length. Club spindle­like, densely covered with fine hairs.

Pronotum black, subrhomboidal, 1.4 times as wide as long ( Fig. 3 ); sides of apical half strongly compressed, broadening to base; apical 1/4 collar­like, with two short keels on basal 1/3, and central sulcus on median half, with a strong prominence on each side. Pronotal spine of moderate length, 0.3 times as long as pronotum, bearing distinct median carina from distal tip to basal 1/3 of pronotum. Shallowly and reticulately punctate, sides and the central sulcus covered with loosely appressed yellowish scales; scales lanceolate with truncate apices.

Elytra dark brown, cordiform, 1.2 times as wide as long, 1.7 times as wide as pronotum ( Fig. 3 ); basal 1/4 of 1st interval furnished with velvety brown patch of oval scales; odd intervals much broader and more prominent than even ones; odd intervals with 1–2 rows of granules, mostly 1 row, even intervals with 2–4 rows of granules, each granule with a semi­appressed yellowish gray scale. Scale lanceolate with truncate apex. Widest point of elytra just behind humeri, then intervals 9 and 10 depressed at middle. Striae not wider than even intervals, quite narrow and deep, linear, sinuous, with shallow and faint punctures separated by about 2–3 times their diameter.

Legs dark brown, covered with light brown to yellowish scales; each femur armed with small triangular tooth ( Figs 6–8 ); tibiae simple, lacking mucro, corbels relatively long, apical comb formed by dense and strong setae; tarsi reddish brown, segment 1 twice as long as wide, segment 2 about as long as wide, segment 3 (lobe) 1.5 times as long as wide, segment 5 slender, 1.4 times as long as segment 3; claws finely dentate ( Fig. 9 ).

Sterna dark brown, finely and densely punctured, each puncture with a yellowish scale. Scale lanceolate with truncate apex. Sternal channel extending to base of metasternum, deep from prosternum to base of mesosternum, apical portion of channel depressed slightly. Venter reddish brown, finely and densely punctured, each with yellowish oval to lanceolate scale. The first two ventrites obviously inflated, ventrite 5 flat. Ventrite 1 1.5 times as long as 2, ventrite 2 subequal to 3 and 4 combined in length, ventrite 3 subequal to 4, ventrite 5 subequal to 3 and 4 combined. Pygidium reddish brown and flat, with dense and shallow punctures. Anterior part of pygidium almost covered with long yellow hair­like scales. Median carina runs through the upper flange, with pair of triangular projections on each side ( Fig. 10 ). Female genitalia ( Figs 11–12 ).

Distribution. Baijifan [99.3E, 27.2N], Weixi County, Yunnan Province, China.

Etymology. The species is named in reference to its geographical location.

Discussion. The tribe Mecysmoderini contains 104 species (99 species in the catalogue of Colonnelli 2004, 2 new species in Korotyaev and Hong 2004, 2 new species in Yoshitake et Noerdjito 2005, 1 new species in Yoshitake 2005), with the common characters as the middle of pronotum acutely elongated at the base and the antennal funicle with 6 segments ( Colonnelli 1992; Korotyaev 1992). They are mostly Oriental species and are classified into 6 genera: Mecysmoderes Schoenherr , Belonnotus Schultze , Coeliosomus Motschulsky , Cysmemoderes Colonnelli , Xenysmoderes Colonnelli , and Watanabesaruzo Yoshitake and Yamauchi. It is clear that the generic classification of the Mecysmodeini is temporal, as Mecysmoderes is polyphyletic ( Colonnelli 1992) and the current classification system does not fit for many undescribed specimens ( Yoshitake & Yamauchi 2002).

The biology of the genus Watanabesaruzo is not clear at this time. However, the type species W. taimeii was collected from a secondary sub­mountain canopy layers dominated by Vernonia arborea (Asteraceae) , Omalanthus (Euphorbiaceae) , and Bischofia javanica (Euphorbiaceae) in the upper, and Laportea stimulans (Urticaceae) in the lower ( Yoshitake & Yamauchi 2002). The host plants of both W. malayanus and W. yunnanensis are unknown. The ceutorhynchines have a strong connection with their host plants. Each genus feeds on a particular plant group, usually oligophagous or even monophagous ( Colonnelli 2004). The breeding biology of Mecysmoderini is mostly not clear with only 13 species having known plant associations recorded to date ( Yoshitake 2005).

Watanabesaruzo yunnanensis is the third species of Watanabesaruzo to be identified. It adds a new continental record of the genus and there are at least more five undescribed species of Watanabesaruzo in the Oriental Region (Yoshitake, personal communication), sharing the common characters of the genus.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus photographs of Watanabesaruzo yunnanensis sp. nov. 1: dorsal view; 2: lateral view.

FIGURES 3 – 12. Watanabesaruzo yunnanensis sp. nov. 3: head; 4: antenna; 5: pronotum and elytra; 6: fore­femur and tibia; 7: mid­femur and tibia; 8: hind­femur and tibia; 9: claws of mid­leg; 10: pygidium; 11: spermatheca, 12: female 8 th sternite.