Tychius junceus
Creators: name: Jiang, Chunyan
name: Caldara, Roberto
name: Zhang, Runzhi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Tychius
Tychius junceus

description: 17. Tychius junceus (Reich, 1797)
(Figures 47–50, 171–174, 269–270, 320, 377, 410, 442, 468)
Curculio junceus Reich, 1797: 15. Franz, 1942: 117 (Tychius). Caldara, 1990: 176 (Tychius).
Tychius haematopus Gyllenhal, 1835: 409. Franz, 1949: 266. Caldara, 1990: 176.
Material examined. CHINA: Gansu: Mucaozhan, 15-VIII-1980, leg Feng (1). Xinjiang: Baihaba County, 2-VII- 2014, leg Chunyan Jiang (10); Tacheng County, (46°53’N; 86°23’E, 1239m), 3-VII-2014, leg Chunyan Jiang (1); Baihabacaochang, (1153m), 23-VII-2009, leg Xinlei Huang (6); Qinghe Talaticun, 26-VI-2014, leg Chunyan Jiang (1); Xiaotalate, 9-VIII-1956, leg Weiyi Yang (1).
Redescription. Length 2.20–2.60 mm (Fig. 47–50). Integument blackish brown except for reddish antennae and legs; on dorsum densely covered with narrow, moderately elongate, rectangular to subelliptical, yellowish to grayish scales. Rostrum (Fig. 171–174) markedly tapered in apical half (Rl/Rw 3.82–4.13 in male, 4.19–4.38 in female; Rl/Pl 0.70–0.81 in male, 0.80–1.08 in female). Antennal funicle 7-segmented. Eyes convex, prominent. Pronotum transverse (Pw/Pl 1.10–1.23), with slightly curved sides, widest in front of middle, distinctly convex. Elytra short (Ew/Pw 1.20–1.30; El/Ew 1.29–1.41), heart-shaped, distinctly convex near suture. Femora (Fig. 269–270) with indistinct tooth. Profemora and protibiae (Fig. 320) without sexual characters. Claws with robust medial teeth, as long as 2/3 of claw. Male genitalia: body of penis (Fig. 377) nearly parallel-sided, distinctly constricted at apex, with long acute tip (Fig. 410), slightly shorter than apodeme. Female genitalia: spermatheca (Fig. 442) with short ramus slightly enlarged at apex, small and very short collum, indistinct nodulus, long cornu distinctly narrowed at apical third; spiculum ventrale (Fig. 468) with poorly sclerotized arms at base, then thin, distinctly sclerotized and convexly divergent.
Remarks and comparative notes. This species can be confused with T. medicaginis, T. aureolus and T. flavus. Apart from the shape of the elytra and the genitalia, it differs from the first taxon by the abruptly tapered rostrum in the apical half, from the second by the male profemora without fringe of scales, and from the third species by the different elytral vestiture with the scales of the striae clearly narrower than those covering the interstriae.
Biology. This species lives mainly on species of Trifolium such as T. arvense L., T. pratense L., the latter introduced in China, but is reported as collected also on Melilotus (M. officinalis G. G., M. arvensis Walb., M. macrorhiza Pers.).
Distribution. Widely distributed in Europe and western and southern Asia. Also known from Morocco. New record from China (GAN XIN).
description: Published as part of Jiang, Chunyan, Caldara, Roberto & Zhang, Runzhi, 2020, The genus Tychius Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae) in China, with description of three new species, pp. 1-62 in Zootaxa 4856 (1) on pages 21-22, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4856.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4411319