Picia mesopotamica (Tournier)

Caldara, Roberto, 2008, A taxonomic revision of the weevil genus Picia Tournier, 1895 (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea: Erirhinidae), Zootaxa 1959 (1), pp. 39-57 : 49-51

Picia mesopotamica (Tournier)

Faustia mesopotamica Tournier, 1889: 152 [15.XI.1889].

Picia mesopotamica (Tournier) : Tournier, 1895: CCLXXX; Solari, 1930: 46.

Faustia caucasica Tournier, 1889: 152 [15.XI.1889] (syn. n.).

Picia caucasica (Tournier) : Tournier, 1895: CCLXXX; Solari, 1930. 46.

Faustia millingi Tournier, 1889: 153 [15.XI.1889] (syn. n.).

Picia millingi (Tournier) : Tournier, 1895: CCLXXX.

Ephimeropus flaveolus Reitter, 1889: 125 [31.XII.1889] (syn. n.).

Hydronomus flaveolus (Reitter) : Reitter, 1890: 146.

Echinocnemus flaveolus (Reitter) : Schilsky, 1907: 35.

Picia flaveola (Reitter) : Solari, 1930: 46.

Picia distinctipennis Pic, 1901: 58 (syn. n.).

Type locality. "Arabia".

Redescription ( Fig. 1 ). Length 4.7–5.8 mm (rostrum excluded).

Rostrum moderately robust, slightly (0.82–0.88x) shorter than pronotum, in lateral view almost of same width from base to apex, densely covered with yellowish brown scales except apical quarter glabrous, scales partly imbricate, rounded to polygonal, flattened to slightly convex.

Antennae reddish, integument of funicle and segments of club barely visible as covered with dense opaque greyish scales; funicle with segments 1 and 2 twice as long as wide, 1 more robust and 1.5 times longer than 2, 3–7 about as long as wide.

Pronotum slightly wider than long (width / length 1.09–1.14), with sides nearly rectilinear and distinctly divergent from base to beyond middle, widest beyond middle then gradually narrowed and somewhat rounded to apex, distinctly convex, with integument completely hidden by scales, which are partly imbricate, brown, yellowish brown and greyish brown, the latter more numerous at sides, flattened to slightly convex, on disc partly dark brown, shining with metallic reflection, subcircular to polygonal.

Elytra long (length / width 1.53–1.59), distinctly (1.45–1.50x) wider than pronotum, oval, with base nearly rectilinear, humeri slightly protruding, sides slightly divergent to just beyond middle then distinctly and slightly sinuously narrowing to apex, interstriae nearly flat to weakly convex, striae distinctly narrower than interstriae, densely covered with partly imbricate, brown and greyish brown, flattened to slightly convex, polygonal to lanceolate scales: the greyish brown ones forming some spots irregularly arranged, the brown ones partly shining with metallic reflection around scutellum.

Legs fine, long, densely covered mainly with brown and greyish scales; femora long, thin, not clavate; tibiae long, slightly sinuous at basal three quarters; tarsi ( Fig. 7 ) with segments 1–3 2.5 times longer than wide, taken together as long as segment 5 excluding claws; segment 5 6.0 times as long as wide; claws slightly longer than half of segment 5.

Male terminalia. Aedeagus ( Fig. 18 ): tectum with a large transverse part slightly more distinctly sclerotised, with anteapical membranous extroversion; endophallus with a thin axe-shaped sclerite; ejaculatory duct with a short basal portion distinctly sclerotised. Sternite 8 with sclerotised portion of hemisternites reaching apical margin ( Fig. 19 ).

Female terminalia. Nodus of spermatheca moderately globose ( Figs. 22, 23 ). Sclerotised part of basal portion of sternite 8 subrectangular ( Fig. 27 ). Apical portion of tergite VIII with rounded narrow lip ( Fig. 11 ).

Variability. The proportions of the bicolorous scales (dark brown and greyish) forming the dorsal vestiture are variable between specimens, ranging from nearly completely dark brown to nearly completely greyish.

Material examined. Type series.

Faustia mesopotamica was described from specimens collected at Kars (probably the administrative region or the capital of the region with the same name in north-eastern Turkey, at the border with Caucasus, but there are also two synonymous Russian localities in the Krasnodarskiy Kraj and Rostovskaya Oblast) and Derbent (probably in the Daghestan Republic, but there are seven other such localities in Turkey and one in Uzbekhistan). However, none of these are in Mesopotamia (the ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, now part of Iraq). In a box of Tournier’s collection ( MNHN), below the written label “mesopotamica”, there is a female specimen that corresponds very well with the original description and is labelled “Arabie, Milling /type / TYPE”. Among the four species of Faustia described by Tournier, only specimens of F. millingi were collected in "Arabia"; however, the above-mentioned specimen does not correspond with the original description of F. millingi . It is also noteworthy that Tournier dedicated this species in honour of "M. le Docteur Milling, qui a fait d'intèressantes récoltes en Mesopotamie ". It is evident that Tournier made several mistakes in his publication and it is possible that he inverted names and type localities of some species. Therefore I decided to here designate the above-mentioned specimen labelled “Arabie" (probably in the ancient sense of this term, which refers to present Jordan, southern Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and north-western Saudi Arabia) as the lectotype of mesopotamica .

Faustia caucasica was described on the same page as F. mesopotamica , from specimens collected at Achalzich (= Akhaltsikhe) in Georgia at the border with Turkey, and it was stated to differ from F. mesopotamica only by the colour of the scales of the vestiture (completely yellowish grey vs. yellowish grey with yellowish white maculae) and of the tarsi (brown vs. reddish), both differences that are within the range of variability of P. mesopotamica . In Tournier’s collection there are no specimens labelled “ caucasica ”, and only in Hoffmann's collection a female could be located that agrees well with the description of F. caucasica . It is labelled "Aresch, Caucasus, leg. Schelkownikow [printed] / Echinocnemus flaveolus Reitt. [handwritten by Hoffmann]". In order to fix the identity and taxonomic status of Faustia caucasica , in accordance with the conditions of Art. 75 of the ICZN (1999), this specimen is here designated as neotype of caucasica . It is indistinguishable from sinuatocollis , and caucasica is therefore here synonymised with the latter name.

Faustia millingi was described from specimens collected at Jeddah (Jiddah, in Saudi Arabia) and Erserum (probably Erzerum [Erzurum] in Eastern Turkey, although there is another locality named Erzerum in Kazakhstan). From its original description, millingi differs from mesopotamica and caucasica only in the colour of the dorsal vestiture (yellowish grey instead of greenish grey) and in the presence of an obsolete median longitudinal carina on the pronotum. I have not found syntypes of this species in Tournier's or Pic's collections, but in Hoffmann's collection there is a male that corresponds very well with the description of millingi . It is labelled “ Ankara, Turquie ” and “ Picia mesopotamica Tour. (= Millingi Tour.) [both labels handwritten by Hoffmann]”. In order to fix the identity and taxonomic status of Faustia millingi , in accord with the conditions of Art. 75 of the ICZN (1999), this specimen is here designated as neotype of millingi . It is also indistinguishable from sinuatocollis , and millingi is therefore here likewise synonymised with the latter name.

Ephimeropus flaveolus was described from specimens collected at Askhabad ( Turkmenistan) by Leder. I examined one female (in HNHM) labelled “Tekke, Turkm., leg Komarow / Ephimeropus flaveolus m. 1889 [handwritten by Reitter] / gr. Hydronomus / Paratypus 1888, Ephimeropus flaveolus Reitter [label arbitrarily fitted by a curator of HNHM]”, which corresponds very well with the original description. Unfortunately the locality of collection and the collector are not those given in the original description, and therefore it is not certain that this specimen belongs to the type series. However, by analogy with the labels borne by the syntype of E. syriacus (see above) it is highly probable that this specimen is indeed a syntype of E. flaveolus , and I consequently designate it here as lectotype of flaveolus . It displays no significant differences from the lectotype of mesopotamica and I therefore synonymise these two names. However, their priority requires explanation. The date of Tournier's publication containing the description of Faustia mesopotamica was established as 31.XI.1889 ( Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999). The issue of the Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, in which Reitter’s Ephimeropus flaveolus is described, bears the inscription “XXVII Band. 1888” on its cover but the publication date “Brünn, 1889” at the end. This difference of one year seems to be the same for all other volumes of the Verhandlungen. M. A. Alonso-Zarazaga and L. Behne (pers. comm.) confirmed that it was impossible to find a precise publication date of Reitter's paper either in the London or the Berlin libraries. Therefore, the last day of the year 1889 is deemed to be the publication date of Reitter's paper (ICZN, 1999 Art. 21.3.2), and flaveola is therefore here treated as a junior synonym of mesopotamica .

Picia distinctipennis was described from specimens collected at Bagdad ( Iraq). In Tournier’s collection I examined one male labelled “ Bagdad / Picia n. sp.? / type [all labels handwritten by Pic] / TYPE”, which corresponds well with the original description and is here designated as lectotype. Pic reported his new species to differ from P. mesopotamica by the elytra, which are shorter and more narrowed at the apex. In reality there are no differences between this specimen and the lectotype of mesopotamica , and I therefore here synonymise distinctipennis with mesopotamica .

Non-type specimens. AZERBAIJAN: Caucasus, Geok-Tapa , leg. Mesmin (1, MNHN) . TURKEY: Ankara (1, MNHN) . IRAQ: Bagdad (1, MNHN) ; Bagdad, 4.V.1904 (1, MNHN) ; Bagdad, summer of 1923, leg. Hingston (1, BMNH) ; S. Amara , V. 1962, leg. Saccà (1, MNHN) . IRAN: Kerman, 4–9.III.1901, leg. Zarudnyi (1, ZIN) . TURKMENISTAN: Buchara, Jekatut , V.–VI.1905, leg. Nolowodow (1, DEI) ; Transcaspia, Kisil- Aswat (1, HNHM) ; Transcaspia, Oasis Tedschen , VIII.1903, coll. Hauser (1, MSNM) ; “ Turkestan ”, coll. Reitter (1, HNHM) .

Distribution ( Fig. 29 ). Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan.

Remarks. This species appears very closely related to P. syriaca , from which it differs only by its longer tarsi, slightly narrower pronotum especially in relation to the width of the elytra at base, and by the humeri protruding slightly outwards. I have not found any differences between the male terminalia of these two species, but there are very slight differences in the shape of the spermathecal nodus, which is a little more globose in P. syriaca ( Figs. 22–25 ), and of the base of sternite 8, which is slightly shorter in P. syriaca ( Figs. 27, 28 ).

Figures

FIGURE 29. Distribution (confirmed localities) of Picia sinuatocollis (dots); P. mesopotamica (stars); P. syriaca (squares)

FIGURES 1–4. Habitus of Picia sinuatocollis (1); P.mesopotamica (2); P. syriaca (3); Echinocnemus femoralis (4). Not to scale.

FIGURES 5–11. Hind tarsi of Echinocnemus femoralis (5); Picia sinuatocollis (6); P. mesopotamica (7); P.syriaca (8). Rostrum of P. sinuatocollis (9). Tergite 8 of P. sinuatocollis (10); P. mesopotamica (11). Scale-bars 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 12–19. Picia sinuatocollis: aedeagus in dorsal (12) and lateral (13) view; tegmen (14); sternite 8 (15); spiculum gastrale (16). P. mesopotamica: tegmen (17); aedeagus in dorsal view (18); sternite 8 (19). Scale-bar 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 20–28. Ovipositor of Picia sinuatocollis (20). Spermatheca of Picia sinuatocollis (21); P. mesopotamica (22, 23); P.syriaca (24,25). Sternite 8 of Picia sinuatocollis (26); P.mesopotamica (27); P.syriaca (28). Scale-bar 0.5 mm.