Molybdotus Fairmaire, 1882

Colonnelli, Enzo, 2014, Apionidae, Nanophyidae, Brachyceridae and Curculionidae except Scolytinae (Coleoptera) from Socotra Island, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 295-422 : 384

Molybdotus Fairmaire, 1882

Discussion. Taxonomy of the subtribe Piazomiina of Tanymecini is presently being deeply revised, in particular for Palaearctic species, and a number of new genera, new species, and revised combinations have been recently published (e.g. CHAO 1980; CHAO & CHEN 1980, 1981; CHEN 1991; MAGNANO et al. 2009). All those authors stressed the importance of some tiny characters allowing precise definition of the genera close to Piazomias Schoenherr, 1840 for a more natural placement of the several species of Piazomiina hitherto described. On the contrary, no revisionary studies were made of the so far few African taxa described, for which we have only the outdated catalogue by GÜNTHER & ZUMPT (1933) who listed Palaearctic and African species together. The quite subtle difference between Piazomias and Molybdotus Fairmaire, 1882 , consisting of the presence in members of the latter genus of an often barely visible furrow separating the inner and outer part of metepisterna ( EMDEN 1944), although not always easy to appreciate, may be used for dividing the Palaearctic species actually belonging to Piazomias from all the studied African ones which appear to belong to Molybdotus , including the Socotran species, here moved from Piazomias to Molybdotus as Molybdotus vermiculosus ( Waterhouse, 1881) , comb. nov.

PERRIN (2000) cited the Socotran species as Molybdotus laxepunctatus Fairmaire, 1882 described from the nearby Somalia, and since most probably was able to study Fairmaire’s type (s) preserved in the Paris Museum, it is probable that M. laxepunctatus may prove to be a synonym of M. vermiculosus , although only the study of the types of both can solve this problem. It is worth noting, however, that FAIRMAIRE (1882) described the scutellum of the Somali species as invisible, whereas that of M. vermiculosus is small, but clearly visible.