Aglycyderes ornatus, Knížek, 2012

Knížek, Miloš, 2012, Description of a new species of Aglycyderes (Coleoptera: Belidae: Oxycoryninae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52, pp. 503-510 : 504-509

Aglycyderes ornatus sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–7 ; 10–13 )

Type locality. Yemen, Socotra Island, wadi Ayhaft, 12°36′38′′N, 53°58′49′′E, 190 m a.s.l.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, glued on mounting board, with labels as follows: Yemen, Soqotra Is. / 24-26/xi.2003 / WADI AYHAFT, 190m / N 12°36’38”E 53°58’49” / [GPS], David Král lgt. // YEMEN – SOQOTRA 2003 / Expedition / Jan Farkač, / Petr Kabátek & David Král . ALLOTYPE: ♀, same data as holotype . PARATYPES (147 specimens): same data as holotype, 11 JJ 18 ♀♀ ; same data, but Jan Farkač lgt., 2 ♀♀ ; YEMEN: SOKOTRA / Hadibo 100- 300m / Leg. Petr Zábranský I. ’93, 2 JJ 2 ♀♀ ; Yemen, Soqotra Is. / 6.-7.xii.2003 / Noged plain: WADI IREEH / N 12°23’11” E 53°59’47” / 95 m [GPS] / Jan Farkač lgt. // YEMEN – SOQOTRA 2003 / Expedition / Jan Farkač, / Petr Kabátek & David Král, 1 J; Yemen, Soqotra Is., HOMHIL / protected area, 28.–29.xi.2003 / N 12°34’27” E 54°18’32”, 364 / m [GPS], leg. P.Kabátek // YEMEN – SOQOTRA 2003 / Expedition / Jan Farkač, / Petr Kabátek & David Král, 7 JJ 4 ♀♀ ; Yemen, Soqotra Is. , 10km W / HADIBOH, 23.xi., 11.xii.2003 / ca 10-70 m [GPS] / leg. P.Kabátek, ex larve // YEMEN – SOQOTRA 2003 / Expedition / Jan Farkač, / Petr Kabátek & David Král, 2 JJ 6 ♀♀ ; YEMEN, SOCOTRA / Aloove area , HASSAN vill. / env. 221 m / 12°31,2’N, 54°07,4’E / 9- / 10.xi.2010 P. Hlaváč, 21 JJ, 33 ♀♀ ; YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island / Aloove area , HASSAN vill. env. / 12°31.2’N, 54°07.4’E, 221 m / Jiří Hájek leg. 9-10.xi.2010, 8 JJ 13 ♀♀ ; YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island / wadi Ayhaft / 12°36,5’N, 53°58,9’E, 200 m / 7-8.xi.2010 L. Purchart lgt., 6 JJ 8 ♀♀ ; YEMEN, SOCOTRA / wadi Ayhaft / 12°36,5’N, 53°58,9’E / 200 m, 7-8.xi.2010 / P. Hlaváč lgt., 2 JJ 1 ♀ .

Additional non-type material examined. S Pakistan, W Sind / KARCHAT, 25.2.-4.3. / Kirthar N.P. 1995 / D.Hauck & L.Čížek, 1 J (in the author’s collection) ; UA EMIRATES Wadi Maidaq , 23.03.2010, hand-collected, leg. K. Mahmood, 1 ♀ (in the United Arab Emirates Invertebrate Collection) ; UA EMIRATES Wadi / Safad , 31.I.- 21.II.2006 / leg. AvH, Nr. 5910, 2 JJ (1 J in the author’s collection, 1 J in Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart) ; UA EMIRATES Wadi / Safad , 115.- 22.IV.2006 / leg. AvH, Nr. 8246, 1 ♀ (in Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart) .

Note. These additional specimens from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates are not included in the type material for practical reasons. They correspond well with the specimens from Socotra in morphology and fall within the intraspecific variability of A. ornatus sp. nov. However, mainly because only few specimens are available, the geographic distribution of the species is not adequately known, and the future, e.g. genetic study, can reveal differences between populations, I prefer not to include them within the type material.

Description. Male ( Figs. 1, 3–7 ): Body length 2.4–3.6 mm (3.4 mm in holotype), 2.70–2.89 times longer than wide (2.89 in holotype). Colour dark brown to black.

Head. Dorso-ventrally flattened, chisel-shaped; frons longitudinally and transversely flattened from epistoma margin to vertex and through whole width between eyes, wider than long, in middle (below eye level) with broad but shallow depression; lateral margins between the epistoma and anterior edge of eyes strongly produced into broadly rounded thin dorsoventrally flattened projections, hooked backward (horns), the length of these projections differing among specimens, reaching anterior edge of eyes in less developed specimens ( Fig. 3 ) or exceeding the posterior edge of eyes in well developed specimens (up to well behind eyes in extreme cases) ( Fig. 4 ), their apex rounded, lateral margins of these projections acutely elevated forming sharp costa; flattened area of vertex developed into posteriad projections with strongly convex margins extending over the anterior margin of the pronotum, these projections longitudinally parallel and slightly convergent in apexes, their lateral margins acutely elevated into sharp costa; middle third of vertex (between horns) not developed; whole surface of frons including both anterior and posterior projections smooth, uniformly finely shagreened and very densely finely punctate, matt or semi-shining; vestiture consists of longitudinal scale-like setae, very sparsely distributed on flattened area of frons except lower part of shallow depression, setae becoming longer and more conspicuous in lower part of frons, and very dense on sharp costal edges of anterior and posterior projections; eyes protruding, hemispherical, displaced latero-ventrally due to flattened frons, coarsely faceted and with conspicuous scale-like setae. Antennae dark brown, straight, rather short, slightly exceeding base of elytra when turned backward, with 11 antennomeres, inserted laterally in excavation below flattened anterior projections, scape slightly longer than three following antennomeres together, exceeding lateral edge of anterior projection, antennomeres of antennal funicle of similar length and shape (including pedicel), longitudinally oval, antennal club not marked or specially developed, all antennomeres bearing sparse long scale-like setae, becoming slender and more hair-like on distal antennomeres (apical three or four antennomeres).

Pronotum 0.78–0.87 times longer than wide (0.78 in holotype), widest in midlength, weakly convex longitudinally from lateral view, central area marked by rather deep longitudinal depression on its whole length except short interruption approximately in middle, shallow lateral depressions near antero-lateral pronotal angles, anterior margin straight and transverse, partly covered by posterior head projections, lateral margins broadly rounded, very slightly undulating, constricted anteriorly, posterior margin convex, not ornamented, straight in the middle part; whole surface rather strongly punctato-granulate, semi-shining; vestiture of two kinds, sparse long scale-like erected setae, becoming conspicuous on lateral margins, and fine hair-like adjacent setae.

Scutellum visible, semi-shining, small, flat, deeply sparsely punctuate, slightly depressed from elytral surface.

Elytra 1.52–1.61 times longer than wide (1.56 in holotype), 2.17–2.45 times longer than pronotum (2.33 in holotype), 1.13–1.26 times wider than pronotum (1.17 in holotype), dark brown, matt, subparallel, slightly converging apicad on basal three-quarters, jointly rounded at apex, basal margin of elytra straight, with conspicuous humeral angles, elytral striae as wide as interstriae, very deeply densely uniseriately punctuate on their whole length, interstriae smooth, transversally convex, shagreened; elytral declivity regularly rounded, lateral margins elevated into costa, which becomes more conspicuous posteriad toward apex; vestiture of very sparse long scale-lake setae on sutural interstria and on odd interstriae, microscopic scale-like setae on even interstriae and in-between the other setae.

Legs. Dark brown. Procoxae separated more widely than width of scape, mesocoxae and metacoxae separated more than procoxae, approximately double width of scape. Pro- and mesotibiae slightly widened apically, metatibiae slender, more or less cylindrical, all tibiae without any remarkable tubercles. All pairs of legs sparsely ornamented by erect long scalelike setae, becoming more conspicuous on outer lateral edges of pro-, meso- and metatibiae as well as on outer lateral margins of femurs.

Aedeagu s as on Figs. 5–7 .

Female ( Fig. 2 ). Of same appearance as male in all body parts, except shape of frons. Body length 2.4–3.7 mm (3.3 mm in allotype), 2.77–2.97 times longer than wide (2.90 in allotype). Head with frons longer than wide, lateral margins from epistoma to anterior edges of eyes simply rounded, laterally not well developed, reaching maximally middle of eye width and covering just antennal insertion from dorsal view, vertex not developed into posteriad projections, just slightly developed into closely rounded (not sharp) costa, forming posterior lateral angles of frons, not extending over the anterior margin of the pronotum. Pronotum 0.87–0.94 times longer than wide (0.94 in allotype). Elytra 1.55–1.69 times longer than wide (1.59 in allotype), 1.99–2.34 times longer than pronotum (1.99 in allotype), 1.17–1.29 times wider than pronotum (1.17 in allotype). Female genitalia as on Figs. 10–13 .

Differential diagnosis. The newly described taxon differs from the other genera of the tribe Aglycyderini by the main generic morphological characters for Aglycyderes (e.g. LEGALOV 2009 and others): scape elongated; antennomeres of flagellum of the same or similar shape and length; clavus not developed; ventrites I–IV without impressions or grooves; sides of pronotum with protuberances; rostrum short in both sexes. From the other species of Aglycyderes it differs mainly by: the shape of the antennae, which are shorter in the new species, just about 1.5 as long as length of pronotum (nearly twice as long as pronotum in other species); lateral anterior projections of male frons curved backward and not directed simply laterally; posterior projections of male frons much more developed and overlapping the anterior margin of pronotum; lateral margins of pronotum broadly rounded from dorsal view, nearly not undulating ( Figs. 1–2, 8–9 ).

Etymology. The name of this new species, ornatus (lat.), meaning ornate, but also armed – is derived from the morphology of its male head bearing anterior and posterior “strong” projections.

Biology. Type specimens from Socotra Island were collected under the bark of dead and dry stems and branches of the Socotran endemic incense tree Boswellia elongata Balf. f. ( Burseraceae ) ( Fig. 14 : dead and broken Boswellia in the middle of the photo; J. Hájek, pers. comm.). They were mostly under bark and did not move after bark removal. This behaviour corresponds with that observed when collecting A. setifer on the Canary Islands (author’s unpublished observation). Larvae of species of Aglycyderes , presumably of the whole tribe Aglycyderini , very probably develop under the bark of recently dead trunk and branches of the host plant where adults occur later ( MAY 1993).

Distribution. So far known from Socotra Island, the United Arab Emirates and southern Pakistan. Compared to other species of the genus, the newly described species appears to have much bigger geographical distribution.

Figures

Figs. 1–9. 1–7 – Aglycyderes ornatus sp. nov.: 1 – male, dorsal view; 2 – female, dorsal view. 3 – male, head with less developed lateral projections; 4 – male, head with fully developed lateral projections; 5 – male genitalia, dorsal view; 6 – same in lateral view; 7 – same in ventral view. 8–9 – A. setifer Westwood, 1864: 8 – male, dorsal view; 9 – male, head.

Figs. 10–13. Aglycyderes ornatus sp. nov., female genitalia: 10 – sternite VIII; 11 – tergite VIII; 12 – ovipositor; 13 – spermatheca.

Fig. 14. Habitat of Aglycyderes ornatus sp. nov. Socotra Island, Aloove area; broken Boswellia elongata tree in the middle (photo: J. Hájek, xi. 2010).