Xylosandrus amputatus (Blandford)

Beaver, Roger A., 2010, A review of the genus Hadrodemius Wood, with new synonymy and a key to species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Zootaxa 2444, pp. 51-57 : 55-56

Xylosandrus amputatus (Blandford)

Xyleborus amputatus Blandford, 1894: 575 .

Amasa amputatus (Blandford) : Wood & Bright, 1992: 682. Xylosandrus amputatus (Blandford) : Dole & Cognato, 2010 (in review) Xyleborus melli Schedl, 1938: 463 Syn. n.

Taxonomy: This species is included here to correct an error in Wood & Bright (1992). These authors list Xyleborus melli Schedl (1938) as a synonym of Hadrodemius amorphus , presumably because Schedl (1960) cited Xyleborus melli Eggers in litt. as a synonym of Xyleborus amorphus . However, it is clear that two different species are involved, both named after Dr. Mell who collected in China, one validly described by Schedl, the other never described by Eggers and, therefore, a nomen nudum. I have examined the lectotype and a paratype of X.melli Schedl (NMW), and a specimen determined by Schedl in MNB. It clearly belongs in the genus Xylosandrus Reitter. Comparison with specimens in my collection from China and Taiwan, which had earlier been compared with the holotype of Xylosandrus amputatus (NHML), indicates that X.melli Schedl is a synonym of that species. Although listed by Wood & Bright (1992) under Amasa , Xyleborus amputatus possesses the combination of morphological features that characterise Xylosandrus Reitter ( Dole & Cognato 2010) , including widely separated procoxae, a dense tuft of hairs at the base of the pronotum indicating the presence of a pronotal-mesonotal mycangium, antennal club of type 1 ( Hulcr et al. 2007), four rows of strial punctures on the elytral declivity.

Distribution: China (Fujian, Hunan, Sichuan), Japan, Korea, Taiwan.

Biology: Recorded from at least 9 families and 12 genera of angiosperm trees. A polyphagous ambrosia beetle.