Cionus ponticus Białooki, 2006

Košťál, Michael & Caldara, Roberto, 2019, Revision of Palaearctic species of the genus Cionus Clairville (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cionini), Zootaxa 4631 (1), pp. 1-144 : 21-22

6. Cionus ponticus Białooki, 2006

Figs 6 a–f.

Cionus ponticus Białooki, 2006: 56 . Caldara, 2013: 124. Alonso-Zarazaga et al., 2017: 186.

Type locality. Bolu ( Turkey) .

Type series. Thanks to the willingness of P. Białooki, we had an opportunity to study four (3 ♂♂, 1 ♀) spec- imens: males with locality labels “ 29.04.1998 NW Turkey Bolu Dagi W Bolu leg. P. Bialooki”, and a female “ 27.06.2003 NW Turkey NE Abant Lake SW Bolu leg. P. Bialooki”, the first male bearing additional labels “picture BAHR for CURCI: Aedeagus [green] / Cionus pr. caucasicus Reitt. sp.n. det. P. Bialooki 2003 / Cionus ponticus PARATYPE des. P. Bialooki 2005 [red label]”, the second male “ ♂ / picture BAHR for CURCI: Rostrum”, and other two labels as under the first male, the third male “ Cionus pr. caucasicus Reitt. sp.n. det. P. Bialooki 2003 / PARATYP Cionus ponticus ♂ P. Bialooki 2005 [red label]“, the female “ Cionus ponticus PARATYPE des. P. Bialooki 2005 [red label] / Michael Košťál reprep. 2013”.

Synonyms. None.

Redescription. Male. Body moderately stout, suboval. Head: rostrum stout, medium long (l/ w 4.1, Rl/Pl 1.22), colored as in C. caucasicus ; shaped, punctured and vestiture as in C. caucasicus . Head between eyes, eyes and antennae as in C. caucasicus . Pronotum: black, somewhat wider than long (Pl/Pw 0.66), shape, punctation and vestiture as in C. caucasicus . Prosternum: anterior margin with shallow, round, indistinctly bounded emargination not reaching coxae. Scutellum: as in C. caucasicus . Elytra: black, with whitish patch at posterior margin of dorsal macula; subquadrate, not markedly elongate; interstriae and striae and vestiture as in C. caucasicus . Venter: integument, mesosternal process as in C. caucasicus , metasternum flat, ventrite 1 and 2 with clear impression, ventrite 1 1.8 × as long as ventrite 2, other characters as in C. caucasicus . Legs: moderately stout, otherwise as in C. caucasicus . Penis: Figs 6 d–f, apex of body of penis broad, with small projecting tip.

Female. Rostrum longer (Rl/Pl 1.5), of nearly same width as in male, apical part slightly narrowed in midlength, antennal insertion at 0.7 of rostrum length. Ventrites 1 and 2 without impression. Protarsal onychia as in males, claws equally long.

Variability. Length ♂♂ 3.20–3.50, ♀♀ 3.50–3.65 mm. The small series of specimens, which we examined, does not show any noteworthy variability. Contrary to C. caucasicus , the light patch beyond the dorsal macula is not confluent with that of the preapical macula.

Diagnosis. This species is characterised by partially visible elytral integument, small body size, not elongate male onychia, medium long and relatively thick rostrum, and penis shape.

Comparative notes. Cionus caucasicus and C. ponticus are very closely related species. However, C. ponticus differs by thicker rostrum in both sexes, absence of sexual dimorphism in rostrum width, flat metasternum, longer ventrite 1 in comparison to ventrite 2, stouter body and legs, and different apex of body of penis. We consider these differences as sufficient to warrant separate species status.

Biological notes. Białooki (2006) found this species in wet habitats on “undetermined semiaquatic species of Scrophulariaceae ”.

Distribution. Northwest Turkey.

Non-type species examined. We studied one couple collected by Białooki in the locus typicus westwards from Bolu.

Figures

FIGURES 5–6. FIGURE 5. Cionus caucasicus. 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 6. Cionus ponticus. 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.