Tychius tectus LeConte 1876
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 tectus

description: 8. Tychius tectus LeConte, 1876
(Figures 17–20, 141–144, 253–254, 312, 369, 402, 435, 461)
Tychius tectus LeConte, 1876: 217. Clark, 1971: 20. Caldara, 1990: 133.
Tychius facetus Faust, 1891: 407. Franz, 1942: 262. Caldara, 1990: 134.
Material examined. CHINA: Beijing: Sanpu (600 m), 22-VIII-1960, leg Tiesheng Li (1). Inner Mongolia: Huhhot (1050 m), Beta sp., 11-VII-1961, leg Hongxing Li (1); Yakeshi city, Yakeshi Park (49°17’N; 120°44’E, 660 m), 7- VII-2018, leg Yizhe Li (1). Gansu: Jiuquan, Chengjiao Nongchang, Medicago sp., 25-VII-1962, leg Hongxing Li (1).
Redescription. Length 2.50–3.50 mm (Fig. 17–20). Integument blackish brown except for reddish rostrum, antennae, and legs; on dorsum almost completely hidden by elongate rectangular brown (whitish along midline of pronotum) scales; wide whitish scales densely covering base of pronotum and elytral interstria 1 and part of lateral interstriae, and usually interspersed throughout. Rostrum (Fig. 141–144) widest at base (Rl/Rw 4.90–5.30, Rl/Pl 0.90–1.15 in male; Rl/Rw 5.20–5.45; Rl/Pl 1.08–1.25 in female), evenly narrow to apex on dorsal view, widest at middle and evenly curved on lateral view. Eyes feebly prominent. Pronotum subrectangular (Pw/Pl 1.05–1.25), slightly transverse, weakly convex. Elytra subrectangular, distinctly wider than pronotum (Ew/Pw 1.05–1.25; El/ Ew 1.38–1.60), weakly convex. Femora (Fig. 253–254) unarmed, tibiae (Fig. 312) without sexual characters. Third tarsomere distinctly wider than second tarsomere. Claws with robust medial teeth, as long as half of claw. Male genitalia: body of penis (Fig. 369) short and wide, nearly parallel-sided, slightly narrowed until near apex with blunted tip (Fig. 402), apodemes slightly longer than body of penis. Female genitalia: spermatheca (Fig. 435) with short parallel-sided ramus, robust short collum, robust nodulus and robust cornu moderately narrowed in apical portion; spiculum ventrale (Fig. 461) with arms joined at basal quarter, then slightly convexly divergent.
Remarks and comparative notes. This is the only Holarctic species of the genus known from the eastern Palearctic region and North America. A distribution via Beringia was hypothesized by Clark (1977) and Caldara (1985b). It seems related to T. oriens with which it shares the pattern of its vestiture, the habitus and the shape of the genitalia. It differs by the more convex eyes, the shape of the rostrum and the wider pronotum.
Biology. It is well known that in North America this species feeds on various species of Astragalus and Oxytropis (Clark 1977). We have one specimen labeled as collected on Beta vulgaris L., however, we believe this association to be incidental.
Distribution. It was known from the central European Territories of Russia, Siberia and Mongolia. Already reported from North China (BEI), newly recorded from NMO GAN. It is also widely distributed in North America.
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 13, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4856.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4411319