Cionus hypsibatus Wingelmüller, 1914

Košťál, Michael & Caldara, Roberto, 2019, Revision of Palaearctic species of the genus Cionus Clairville (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cionini), Zootaxa 4631 (1), pp. 1-144 : 53-54

29. Cionus hypsibatus Wingelmüller, 1914

Figs 29 a–f.

Cionus hypsibatus Wingelmüller, 1914: 210 ; 1921: 118; 1937: 192. Caldara, 2013: 123. Alonso-Zarazaga et al., 2017: 185.

Type locality. Klisura ( Bulgaria) .

Type series. The species was described based on three couples collected in western Balkan Mts. near Klisura and on Stara Planina. In coll. Wingelmüller ( NHMW), there are three male and one female specimens labeled “ ♂ / Merkl 98 Bal=kan bei Klisura / simplex v bipuncta=tus / hypsibatus det. Wingelmül.”, “ ♀ / Merkl 98 Bal=kan bei Klisura / hypsibatus det. Wingelmül.” and “ ♂ / Balkan Merkl / 25 / Balcan Stara-Planina / pulverosus Gyll. / hyp- sibatus det. Wingelmül.”. A 3.55 mm long, perfectly preserved male with originally mounted penis was designated as the lectotype of Cionus hypsibatus Wingelmüller by adding the label “ LECTOTYPUS Cionus hypsibatus Wingelmüller M.Košťál et R.Caldara des.2011 [printed red label]”. The other specimens were labeled as paralectotypes accordingly.

Synonyms. None.

Redescription. Male. Body medium stout, suboval to subparallel. Head: rostrum stout, medium long (l/ w 4.0, Rl/Pl 1.09), dark brown to black; in lateral view basal part almost straight, shortly before antennal insertion broadened, at antennal insertion abruptly bent and moderately tapered to apex; in dorsal view slightly broadened from base to antennal insertion, then slightly narrowed to apex, basal part in cross-section slightly constricted laterally, apical part dorsoventrally flattened; texture and vestiture as in C. leonhardi except thinner scales. Head between eyes and eyes as in C. leonhardi . Antennae brown to reddish-brown, with somewhat darkened club, inserted at 0.7 of rostrum length; funicle of 0.8 scape length, funicular segments as in C. leonhardi except shorter segment 3; club as in C. leonhardi except almost 2.5 × as long as wide. Pronotum: black, somewhat wider than long (Pl/Pw 0.69), densely slightly unevenly punctured, punctures subrotund, of unequal size, spaces between punctures smaller than puncture diameter; covered with moderately unevenly densely distributed, variously oriented, recumbent, elongate (l/w 4–8) yellowish scales; widest at base, in basal half moderately, in anterior half more markedly rounded and narrowed to anterior margin, without constriction, in lateral view flat, then abruptly straightly, markedly falling to anterior margin. Prosternum: anterior margin with sharply incised, deep subquadrate emargination without bounding tubercles, separated from coxae by narrow prosternal area. Scutellum: as in C. leonhardi . Elytra: blackish, in basal 2/3 subparallel, in apical part broadly, somewhat unevenly rounded, moderately elongate (El/Ew 1.31), widest shortly before half of their length, at base somewhat wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.59), humeri moderately rounded, slightly prominent, without posthumeral impression; slightly convex on disc; interstriae 1 and 2 and both maculae as in C. leonhardi , posterior margin of dorsal macula and anterior margin of preapical macula with cluster of yellowish scales; width of interstriae as in C. leonhardi ; odd interstriae with only indistinct, unevenly distributed patches of yellowish scales; striae as in C. leonhardi ; entire surface covered with recumbent and subrecumbent, elongate (l/w 4–8), relatively thin yellowish scales concealing majority of elytral integument. Venter: semidensely, on margins of ventrites 3–4 and on metepisterna densely covered with recumbent, hair-like to elongate, variously thick grayish scales; mesosternal process flat, broad, emarginate at posterior margin, sparsely scaled, rugulose to densely punctured; metasternum concave, transversally ribbed to confluently punctured, ventrite 1 with deep impression, ventrite 2 with shallow impression, punctured; ventrite 1 twice as long as ventrite 2, ventrites 1–2 combined 4 × as long as ventrites 3–4 combined, ventrites 3–4 combined of 0.8 length of ventrite 5. Legs: brown to dark brown, femoral teeth as in C. leonhardi ; scales as in C. leonhardi , just less densely arranged; protarsal onychia of normal length, as long as tarsomeres 1–3 combined, tarsomere 3 wider than long, with broad lobes; claws as in C. leonhardi but moderately stouter. Penis: Figs 29 d–f, very similar to that of C. leonhardi .

Female. Rostrum longer (Rl/Pl 1.37), antennal insertion at 0.6 of rostrum length. Ventrites 1 and 2 without impression. Claws approximately equally long.

Variability. Length ♂♂ 3.57–3.90 mm, ♀♀ 3.65–4.18 mm. This species does not show remarkable variability. The pronotum outline, especially in some female specimens, may be subparallel in basal part. The color of legs, especially of femora, varies from brown to almost blackish.

Diagnosis. Cionus hypsibatus is recognizable by major part of elytral integument concealed by scales, subparallel sides of elytra, antennal insertion in males close to apex, beyond 0.6 of rostrum length, normally shaped protarsi with short onychium, indistinct elytral pattern with just light patches of scales, and penis shape.

Comparative notes. Cionus hypsibatus is most closely related to C. leonhardi and C. donckieri . It differs from the former by indistinct elytral pattern, short protarsal onychia in males and longer elytra, from the latter it differs by lack of erect seta-like scales on elytra.

Biological notes. Montane species occurring at elevations 1,300 –2,500 m a. s. l. The first author collected this species in Bulgaria and Montenegro on Verbascum sp. Angelov (1980) reported the same plant genus as a host plant and vertical distribution 800–2,900 m a. s. l.

Distribution. Widely distributed in mountains of western Balkans: Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece (Thessalia).

Non-type specimens examined. We examined more than 300 specimens from all above mentioned countries.

Figures

FIGURES 29–30. FIGURE 29. Cionus hypsibatus. 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. FIGURE 30. Cionus donckieri. 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.