Aphanerostethus taiwanus Lewis, Fujisawa & Kojima 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lewis, Jake H.
name: Kojima, Hiroaki
name: Suenaga, Miyuki
name: Petsopoulos, Dimitrios
name: Fujisawa, Yusuke
name: Truong, Xuan Lam
name: Warren, Dan L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Aphanerostethus
Aphanerostethus taiwanus

description: Aphanerostethus taiwanus Lewis, Fujisawa & Kojima sp. nov.
Figs 3, 8 D – F, 10 F, 15 S, T, 21 A, B
Specimens examined.
Holotype: Taiwan: • Tainan Hsein, Kuanzruling, 6. IV. 1965, S. Ueno, male deposited in KUM, JHLHY_DAR_016. Paratypes: Taiwan: • Taipei Hsein, Kuanzruling, Yangmingshan, 28. III. 1965, Y. Hirashima (1, KUM), JHLHY_DAR_017; • Ping Tung Hsein, Kenting, 23. IV. 1965, S. Miyamoto, (1, KUM), JHLHY_DAR_018; • Kaohsiung City, Liouguei District, Zhong-Xing-Long Li (near Mt. Taiyuanshan), 19. X. 2015, H. Yoshitake, (1, NMNST), JHLHY_DAR_019 (EGP 0160 E 02); • Pingtung Hsein, Kenting, 4. IV. 1965, T. Saigusa (2, KUM; 1, OIST), JHLHY_DAR_021, JHLHY_DAR_036, JHLHY_DAR_070; • Pingtung City, Shan Shimen village, Mt. Kao-shih-fo, 14. VII. 2014, Y. Komeda, (1, KUM), JHLHY_DAR_129; • Mudan Township, Pingtung County, 22°06'13.46"N, 120°47'33.88"E, 5. III. 2016, Y. Fujisawa, (1, TUA), JHLHY_DAR_600; • Mudan Township, Pingtung County, 22°08'21.71"N, 120°51'31.23"E, 9. III. 2016, Y. Fujisawa, (1, TUA), JHLHY_DAR_601; • Mudan Township, Pingtung County, 22°05'23"N, 120°47'58"E, 6. III. 2016, Y. Fujisawa & S. Shimizu, (2, TUA), JHLHY_DAR_602, JHLHY_DAR_603; • Pingtung Hsein, Kenting, 22–26. II. 1982, T. Lin and S. C. Lin, (8, TARI), JHLHY_DAR_083 – JHLHY_DAR_090.
Diagnosis.
Body length 1.7–1.9 mm. Cuticle coated in dark, sandy gray, and white scales in contrasty pattern. Funicle with six articles. Procoxae contiguous. Second and odd-numbered elytral intervals with sub-erect scales. Erect elytral scales evenly distributed, not concentrated in bundle. Femora without ventral teeth. Scutellum reduced. Prosternal cavity prominent and with steep lateral ridges. Metaventrite with a distinct elevated transverse ridge separating the meta- and mesocoxae. Metatibial uncus simple in both sexes. Aedeagus evenly curved at apex, and in lateral view (Fig. 15 S, T). Internal sac without prominent basal protruding structure (Fig. 15 S, T).
Distribution.
This species is known from a few sites in Taiwan (Kuanzruling, Kenting, Zhong-Xing-Long Li).
Etymology.
The specific name is an adjective in reference to the collection locality of the species.
Comments.
Our ML analysis (Fig. 3) consistently clustered A. taiwanus with A. distinctus (BS: 100); however, the presumed basal position of A. taiwanus (i. e., sister to A. distinctus) was only weakly supported (BS: 55, PP: 0.84). Here, we separate A. taiwanus from A. distinctus based not on this weak molecular evidence, but primarily on consistent differences in morphology and biogeography. In particular, A. taiwanus possesses an oblique row of erect scales on the pronotum (A. distinctus with at most 4 or 5 recumbent scales), sub-erect scales on the odd and second elytral intervals (A. distinctus with recumbent scales only on odd elytral intervals), differences in male genitalia, and apparently non-overlapping geographic range (A. taiwanus only known from Taiwan; A. distinctus only known from Japan).
description: Published as part of Lewis, Jake H., Kojima, Hiroaki, Suenaga, Miyuki, Petsopoulos, Dimitrios, Fujisawa, Yusuke, Truong, Xuan Lam & Warren, Dan L., 2024, The era of cybertaxonomy: X-ray microtomography reveals cryptic diversity and concealed cuticular sculpture in Aphanerostethus Voss, 1957 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), pp. 1-45 in ZooKeys 1217 on pages 1-45, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1217.126626