Elaeidobius bilineatus Haran & Beaudoin-Ollivier & Benoit & Kuschel 2020, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Haran, Julien M.
name: Beaudoin-Ollivier, Laurence
name: Benoit, Laure
name: Kuschel, Guillermo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Elaeidobius
Elaeidobius bilineatus

description: Elaeidobius bilineatus (Hustache, 1924) comb. nov.
Figs 1A, 2A, 4A, 5D–F
Derelomus bilineatus Hustache, 1924: 75.
Prosoestus armatus Voss, 1956: 629. syn. nov.
Material examined
Lectotype (here designated)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO • “ HOLOTYPUS [red label]” “Musée du Congo. Haut-Uelé: Moto. -1922. L. Burgeon ” “ Lectotype ♀ [here designated]. Derelomus. bilineatus. Hustache 1924. Kuschel 2009 [red label]” “ Derelomus. bilineatus. Type Hust” “ Elaeidobius. bilineatus. (Hust. 1924) Kuschel 2009”; MRAC.
Paralectotype (here designated)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO • 1 ♀; “Musée du Congo. Haut-Uelé: Moto. -1922. L. Burgeon ” [labelled as follows] “ Paralectotype Derelomus. bilineatus. Hustache 1924. Kuschel 2009”; MRAC.
Other material
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Haut-Uelé Province • 2 ♀♀; Moto; 1922; L. Burgeon leg.; MRAC • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 1920; MRAC • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; Jan. 1927; MRAC • 1 ♀; Watsa; 1922; L. Burgeon leg.; MRAC.
ANGOLA • 6 ♂♂, 15 ♀♀; C.E.Salazar; 9.16º S, 14.55º E; 14 May 1973; P. Carvalho leg.; oil palm inflorescence; TMP.
IVORY COAST • 1 ♂; Boudoukal; 2014; JHAR00286_0104; CBGP.
SENEGAL • 1 ♂, holotype of Prosoestus armatus Voss, 195]; La Digue near Rufisque; 8 Apr. 1951; Bechyné leg.; NHMB.
Other specimens identified and labelled by G. Kuschel at IFPE, MNHN, MRAC, NHMUK, NZAC, USNM and ZMB.
Diagnosis (♂ ♀)
BODY LENGTH. 2.2–3.0 mm.
COLOUR. Reddish or yellowish brown with dark markings on pronotum and elytra, also sterna darkened.
HEAD. Forehead in both sexes not impressed. Rostrum relatively long, in male 1.5 × as long as prothorax, lacking a postmental tubercle, in female 1.8–1.9 × as long, slender, slightly downcurved.
PROTHORAX. Disc with a pair of dark stripes, slightly convergent; lateral carina continued to apex with a distinct indentation or interrupted, in lateral view strongly curving upwards before apical collar.
ELYTRA. Presence of irregular dark stripes, generally with a short one in middle of interstria 2, and an elongate one along interstria 6 from basal quarter to top of declivity, often expanding on interstriae 5 and 7, a further stripe on interstria 9; punctures of striae as wide as width of interstriae or slightly smaller; interstriae with a row of very short recumbent hairs. Prosternal process in male variously developed, from a large spatulate structure to a reduced or even absent one.
ABDOMEN. Tergites 1 to 6 medially membranous, tergite 4 on sides subtruncate, anteriorly angulate, tergite 7 truncate at apex; row of approximately 15 plectral pegs flanked by narrow, clear sides, area between plectral rows parallel-sided, dark, smooth.
GENITALIA. Penis as long as last two ventrites and half of ventrite 3, body 2.17 × as long as apodemes, about 2 × as long as wide (ratio w/l: 0.56), symmetrical, gradually widening apicad, abruptly apiculate (Fig. 4A); internal sac with straight, stiff, robust sclerite half length of body.
Life history
Adults are found on inflorescences of Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae), the African oil palm. (JH pers. obs.).
Distribution
Angola (C.E. Salazar (?)); Benin (Cotonou, Dassa, Niaouli); Cameroon (Likomba, Moliwe); Congo (Brazzaville); Democratic Republic of Congo (Haut-Uelé: Moto, Moku Moto, Watsa, Yambula); Ghana (Kumasi, Aburi); Guinea (Nimba); Ivory Coast (Boudoukal); Nigeria (Ibadan, Ife, Lagos); Senegal (Dakar, La Digue); Sierra Leone (Njala); Tanzania (Morogoro); Togo (Kloto).
Remarks
Elaeidobius bilineatus has, in lateral view, the marginal carina of the prothorax strongly upcurved, a character that safely distinguishes this species from all others of the genus. As Elaeidobius is said to be a West African genus, its presence in Tanzania is unexpected and it has to be confirmed whether it is a native or an introduced element. Elaeidobius bilineatus was described by Hustache as Derelomus bilineatus based on two female specimens from Haut Uelé (Democratic Republic of Congo) (Hustache 1924). These two specimens were located in the MRAC collection, bearing a red “ holotype ” label. As the original description of this species did not designate a holotype, one of them was designated as the lectotype for this species and was labelled accordingly. The second syntype was labelled as paralectotype. The other specimens from the same collecting event (2 ♀♀) are not part of the type series. We examined the holotype of the species Prosoestus armatus Voss, 1956, described from a single male specimen from Senegal (La Digue nr Rufisque). A detailed observation of the external and internal morphology of this specimen showed no difference from the lectotype of Elaeidobius bilineatus. As a result of this, Prosoestus armatus Voss, 1956 should be considered as a junior synonym of E. bilineatus.
description: Published as part of Haran, Julien M., Beaudoin-Ollivier, Laurence, Benoit, Laure & Kuschel, Guillermo, 2020, Revision of the palm-pollinating weevil genus Elaeidobius Kuschel, 1952 (Curculionidae, Curculioninae, Derelomini) with descriptions of two new species, pp. 1-32 in European Journal of Taxonomy 684 on pages 5-7, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.684, http://zenodo.org/record/3959113