Cionus armeniacus, Košťál & Caldara, 2019

Košťál, Michael & Caldara, Roberto, 2019, Revision of Palaearctic species of the genus Cionus Clairville (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cionini), Zootaxa 4631 (1), pp. 1-144 : 22-23

7. Cionus armeniacus sp. n.

Figs 7 a–f.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:ECB6C4B6-7BD2-4F1F-B2F1-5D9683191F6C

Type locality. Vayots pr. Getap ( Armenia) .

Type series. Holotype: well-preserved, 3.34 mm long male “ ARMENIA, Vayots Dzor pr. Getap , 21.5.2016 39°46´16.43˝ N 45°18´53.61˝ E Petr Kresl leg. alt. 1140 m / HOLOTYPUS Cionus armeniacus sp. n. M.Košťál et R.Caldara des. 2017 [printed red label]” ( NMPC).

Description. Male (holotype). Clearly suboval. Head: rostrum moderately stout, medium long (l/ w 4.8, Rl/Pl 1.42), blackish-brown; in lateral view evenly slightly curved except concave dorsal outline of its apical part, at antennal insertion very slightly broadened at lower outline, basal part same width, apical part moderately tapered to apex; in dorsal view moderately broadened to antennal insertion, then moderately narrowed to apex, in basal third laterally constricted, apical part moderately dorsoventrally flattened; basal part very densely, longitudinally punctured to finely ribbed, in anterior half of apical part nearly without punctures, shiny; basal part semidensely covered with mostly backwardly oriented, subrecumbent blackish short scales, apical part with forwardly oriented, subrecumbent to suberect, whitish and yellowish long seta-like scales. Head between eyes narrow, of 0.4 rostrum width at base. Eyes large, rounded, very slightly protruding from head outline. Antennae reddish, inserted at 2/3 of rostrum length; funicle of 0.7 of scape length, segment 1 moderately wider than segment 2, of 0.7 its length, segments 1 and 2 less than twice as long as wide, segments 3–5 subglobose; club strikingly elongate, 2.8 × as long as wide, subcylindrical, 1.6 × as long as funicle, completely covered with recumbent thin whitish hairs and several erect long whitish sensilla. Pronotum: dark brown, markedly wider than long (Pl/Pw 0.59), densely evenly punctured, punctures small, subrotund, similar in size; in median part sparsely, at sides densely covered with mostly medially oriented, subrecumbent, elongate (l/w 4–6), whitish, yellow and orange intermixed scales, in lateral view yellow scales clustered into two parallel longitudinal stripes reaching from pronotal base to 3/4 of pronotal length; widest at base, conically narrowed to half of its length, then concavely constricted to narrow subparallel anterior neck, in lateral view in basal half flat on disc, then moderately falling to anterior margin. Prosternum: anterior margin with deep, sharply incised emargination bounded by two tiny tubercles, not reaching coxae. Scutellum: triangular, bluntly rounded at apex, covered with short, backwardly oriented suberect black scales, punctured. Elytra: dark brown, until 0.7 of their length subparallel to slightly rounded, in apical part broadly evenly rounded, moderately elongate (El/Ew 1.27), widest in mid-length, at base markedly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.72), humeri bluntly broadly rounded but visibly prominent, with shallow posthumeral impression, in lateral view until half of their length flat on disc, then evenly moderately rounded to apex; interstria 1 from about 1/4 to half of medial length very strikingly, in preapical part in much less extent broadened, interstria 2 at same lengths markedly narrowed, in dorsal part very strikingly, in preapical part moderately constricted laterally encompassing large, evenly round dorsal and somewhat oblong preapical black tomentous maculae, dorsal macula sparsely surrounded by reddish elongate scales, with indistinct patch of whitish scales at posterior margin, preapical macula with larger distal and smaller proximal patches of reddish scales, odd interstriae broader than even ones, convex, very finely textured; odd interstriae with alternating larger black and smaller whitish patches of scales; striae relatively deep, formed by single rows of round, large, deep punctures; entire integument semidensely covered with recumbent to subrecumbent, thin, moderately elongate (l/w 4–8) scales leaving majority of integument visible. Venter: mesosternum, metasternum laterally, metepisternum entirely covered with densely arranged recumbent yellow and orange intermixed elongate scales, ventrites and median longitudinal part of metasternum with recumbent thin, relatively short whitish hair-like scales, margins of ventrites 3 and 4 with small clusters of reddish and whitish, shortly elongate scales; mesosternal process flat, subtriangular, blunt at posterior margin, finely punctured; metasternum flat to concave in midline, unevenly transversally, very densely punctured, ventrite 1 with moderate median impression, ventrite 2 flat, both ventrites with similar punctation as metasternum; ventrite 1 1.7 × as long as ventrite 2, ventrites 1–2 combined 4.4 × as long as ventrites 3–4 combined, ventrites 3–4 combined of 0.7 length of ventrite 5. Legs: brown, tarsi lighter, metafemora darker; profemora with blunt, medium-sized teeth, meso- and metafemora with large triangular sharp teeth, profemoral teeth with small cluster of erect elongate yellowish scales; femora and tibiae with suberect to subrecumbent whitish, yellowish and black elongate scales, tarsomeres 1–3 with suberect whitish hair-like scales, onychia sparsely covered with recumbent whitish long hairs, femora with unevenly indistinct transverse bands formed by whitish scales; onychia of anterior legs of normal length, of 0.7 length of tarsomeres 1–3 combined, protarsal tarsomere 3 slightly wider than long; lateral protarsal claws by approximately one third shorter than medial ones, clearly separated, medial claws of meso- and metatarsi slightly but visibly shorter than lateral ones. Penis: Figs 7 d–f, its body with subparallel sides, bluntly tapered at apex.

Female. Unknown.

Variability. We know only the holotype of this species.

Diagnosis. This species is characterised by small size, long antennal club, partially well visible elytral integument, round and large dorsal macula, lateral pronotal longitudinal yellow stripes and lateral posthumeral yellow patch.

Comparative notes. This species is most closely related to C. caucasicus and C. ponticus , with which it shares the small size and the elytral pattern (except for dorsal macula), and from which it clearly differs by elongate antennal club, large round dorsal macula, and shorter body of penis.

Biological notes. P. Kresl (pers. comm.) collected this species in Armenia in a warm steppe-forest. Host plant unknown.

Distribution. Armenia.

Etymology. The species was named after its only known country of distribution.

Non-type material examined. None.

Figures

FIGURES 7–8. FIGURE 7. Cionus armeniacus sp. n. a: body in dorsal view (male), b: body in lateral view (male), c: penis in ventral view, d: penis in lateral view, e: apex of penis in dorsal view. Not to scale. FIGURE 8. Cionus championi. a: body in dorsal view (male), b: body in lateral view (male), c: rostrum in lateral view (female), d: penis in ventral view, e: penis in lateral view, f: apex of penis in dorsal view. Not to scale.