Tychius praescutellaris
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 praescutellaris

description: 6. Tychius praescutellaris (Pic, 1902)
(Figures 11–14, 135–138, 249–250, 310, 367, 400, 434, 460)
Miccotrogus praescutellaris Pic, 1902: 147. Caldara, 1990: 120 (Tychius).
Material examined. CHINA: Inner Mongolia: Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences Farm, Cannabis sp., 8-VII-1961,leg Hongchang Li(1);Otog Qianqi,Dashatou(38°9’N 107°34’E, 1345 m), Medicago sativa, 22-V-2019, leg Chunyan Jiang, Xiaoliang Yang (2). Beijing: Xibeiwang, 15-VIII-1961, leg Shuyong Wang (1). Shaanxi: Yulin, Hengshan, Leilongwan (38°1’N 109°9’E, 1079 m), Medicago sativa, 20-V- 2019, leg Chunyan Jiang, Xiaoliang Yang (11).
Redescription. Length 2.10–2.50 mm (Fig. 11–14). Integument reddish except for blackish pronotum, base and sides of elytra and venter; on dorsum covered with grayish brown scales variable in shape, from subrectangular to subelliptical, and width, never seta-like on disc of pronotum and wider on elytra. Rostrum (Fig. 135–138) robust (Rl/Rw 3.35–3.67 in male, 3.25–3.50 in female; Rl/Pl 0.74–0.85 in male, 0.79–0.87 in female), in dorsal view with sides slightly convergent from base to apex, in lateral view moderately narrow after scrobe. Antennal funicle 6- segmented. Eyes weakly convex, slightly prominent. Pronotum subquadrate (Pw/Pl 1.04–1.20), with sides slightly curved from base, slightly convex on dorsum. Elytra subrectangular (El/Ew 1.42–1.65), at base distinctly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.27–1.38), with rectilinear sides, widest at middle, moderately convex. Femora (Fig. 249–250) without tooth. Profemora and protibiae (Fig. 310) without sexual characters. Claws with small and thin medial teeth, as long as half of claw. Male genitalia: with subparallel sides in basal 2/3 then gradually narrowing to apex (Fig. 400), apodemes slightly shorter than body of penis (Fig. 367). Female genitalia: spermatheca (Fig. 434) with long parallel-sided ramus, almost indistinct collum, thin nodulus, long and thin cornu; spiculum ventrale (Fig. 460) with arms joined at base then rectilinear and gradually diverging to apex.
Remarks and comparative notes. This species is easily distinguishable from all other Palearctic species due to the peculiar dorsal vestiture formed by scales that are variable in their shape.
Biology. One specimen was collected on Cannabis sp. around a farm of Beta vulgaris L., but we do not think this is the real host plant of T. praescutellaris. Very recently we collected some specimens on Medicago sativa L. in Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi (see Material examined).
Distribution. Previously known from Kazakhstan, Mongolia, eastern Siberia and from China without more detailed indication. We examined specimens from Northwest China (BEI NMO SHA).
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 page 12, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4856.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4411319