Hypera kayali Skuhrovec, 2006, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Skuhrovec, Ji Ř Í
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2006
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Hypera
Hypera kayali

description: Hypera kayali sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–5, 7, 12, 17, 22)
Type material. Holotype ɗ (NMPC): “ SYRIA occ., 2. iv. 2001 / prov. Tartus / MASHTAL´ HELU env. / J. Skuhrovec lgt. ” [p] (white label) // “EX LARVAE / Breed no. [p] / 2001/8” [h] (yellow label) // “ Vicia / palaestina / Boiss.” [h] (green label) // “ Holotype / Hypera / kayali sp. nov. / design. J. Skuhrovec 2006” [p] (red label); Paratypes, 8 ɗɗ and 10 ΨΨ, all with same data as holotype (1 Ψ NMPC; 4 ɗɗ, 4 ΨΨ JSKC; 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ HWIC; 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ RBOC; 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ JVOC; 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ CNC; 1 Ψ MZMB).
Description
Color (Figs 1, 2). Frons with pale setae. Rostrum dark reddish to black, without distinct punctation, setae sparser than on frons. Base of rostrum with distinct black carina dorsally. Antennae reddish, distal part of each antennomere darker, more distinctly so in antennomeres near club. Club dark reddish.
Surface of pronotum black, covered with pale setae and pale reddish to reddish brown scales, which are bifid to apical third of their length (Fig. 5). Scales on middle of pronotum and lateral lines pale. Remaining scales on pronotum reddish to brown, forming three light lines on pronotum.
Elytra covered with scales and setae. Elytral intervals with pairs of pale setae and intervals 1, 2 and 4 with black setae near apex. Scales forming following color pattern: interval 1 black on basal two thirds, reddish on apical third except for black coloration at apex; interval 2 reddish, apical quarter black, connecting at apex with interval 1; interval 3 black on basal third, reddish on apical two thirds; interval 4 reddish on basal half, black on apical half; interval 5 reddish on basal half, very pale for remainder except for black coloration near apex, connecting at elytral apex with intervals 4 and 6; interval 6 black apically, connecting apically with intervals 4 and 5; intervals 7, 8 and 9 reddish.
Proximal parts of femora black with pale setae, apex slightly reddish. Tibiae light reddish to brown, bearing stout pale setae apically. Tarsi black with pale setae. Claws dark brown.
Abdomen reddish with pale setae and scales on abdominal ventrites, scales bifid to apical third their length.
Head. Eye oval, upper margin higher than base of rostrum in lateral view; nearly as wide as base of rostrum. Distance between eyes shorter than base of rostrum. Rostrum long, narrow, slightly shorter than pronotum (ratio = 0.72), slightly but distinctly downcurved, near base with small, distinct, ventral process in lateral view.
Antennae inserted one third from rostrum apex; scrobe in front of antenna broad and very short, near base of rostrum hardly noticeable. Antenna narrow, funicle 7­segmented, club oval, 4­segmented. Funicle segments 1 and 2 about three to four times as long as 5 to 7; 3 and 4 slightly longer than 5 to 7, 5 to 7 almost as long as wide. Club slightly shorter than funicle segments 3 to 7 together, but longer than 4 to 7 (Figs 1, 2).
Thorax. Pronotum wider than long (ratio = 1.27), widest near middle (Figs 1, 2), anterior margin almost straight in dorsal view, sides distinctly rounded, noticeably constricted basally, heavily punctated.
Elytra longer than wide (ratio = 1.83), base wider than base of pronotum, humeral angles prominent, sides slightly convex.
Profemur almost twice as wide as rostrum; mesofemora and metafemora more slender, all widest near middle. Protibia apically with distinct tooth on innner side. Tarsi with first tarsomere twice as long as second, third distinctly bilobed, fifth twice as long as third. Claws free (not connate at base).
Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with shallow impression medially.
Sexual dimorphism. Male with elytra oval (Fig. 1), female disciform (Fig. 2). Tibiae incurved in males, nearly straight in females. First abdominal ventrite with distinct depression in male (Fig. 3), not depressed in female (Fig. 4). Aedeagus (Fig. 7) moderately sclerotised, especially near apex of median lobe and parameres; inner medial part of medial lobe lacking stronger sclerotised projection present in all allied species (see Figs 8–11). Absence of inner medial part of medial lobe can be however caused by incomplete sclerotization of the whole aedeagus. Internal sac not easily visible (dotted in Fig. 7). Sternite 8 weakly sclerotised (Figs 12, 17). Spermatheca C­shaped (Fig. 22); weakly sclerotised.
Measurements. Length: holotype 7.6 mm; paratypes 7.3–8.0 mm.
Variability. No variability was observed in coloration. The ratio of rostral to pronotal length in all specimens varies between 0.65 and 0.85, the ratio of pronotal width to length between 1.14 and 1.46 and the ratio of elytral length to width between 1.62 and 1.85. No genitalic variatons was observed.
Etymology. The species is dedicated to my friend Naman Kayal from Syria, who assisted on our expedition to Syria where this new species was discovered.
Distribution. Western Syria (province Tartus).
Bionomics. Specimens of Hypera kayali sp. nov. were collected as larvae on Vicia palaestina Boiss. (Fabaceae). All larvae successfully pupated and hatched. The larvae are ectophagous, like those of most other Hyperinae (Skuhrovec 2003, Costa et al. 2004), except for Hypera nigrirostris (Fabricius, 1775) (Skuhrovec 2003) and other small species of tribe Hyperini Marseul, 1863 (unpublished data). Coloration of the larvae is similar to that reported for other larvae of tribe Hyperini, i.e. green with three white longitudinal stripes dorsally (unpublished data, Skuhrovec).
Diagnosis. Hypera kayali sp. nov. belongs to the subgenus Dapalinus. The most similar species are H. contaminata, H. striata and H. subvittata, which have alternating pale and dark elytral intervals (versus H. dapalis, H. fornicata, H. maculipennis, H. meles and H. tenuirostris, which have not alternating pale and dark elytral intervals). Some specimens of H. fornicata and H. meles have alternating pale and dark intervals as well, but bifid scales to the base on the elytra (Fig. 6). H. contaminata has dark spots on alternating intervals or at least on the sides and on the apex of elytra (versus H. dapalis, H. fornicata, H. kayali, H. maculipennis, H. meles, H. striata, H. subvittata and H. tenuirostris, which have no dark spots on elytra), and H. subvittata has elytra with long, projecting, bent setae before the apex (versus H. contaminata, H. dapalis, H. fornicata, H. kayali, H. maculipennis, H. meles, H. striata and H. tenuirostris, which have very short or without setae before the apex). The species closest to H. kayali sp. nov. based on external similarity is H. striata, whose elytral intervals 2, 4 and 6 are dark for their entire length, and the remaining elytral intervals reddish or pale. Hypera kayali has a characteristic coloration with dark parts on elytra occurring on the basal two thirds of interval 1, the apical quarter of interval 2, the basal third of interval 3, the apical half of interval 4, a short apical part of interval 5 and the whole interval 6, with the remaining parts being reddish (see Figs 1, 2).
Only the shape of the apical third of aedeagus is usually used for distinguishing the Hyperini species in most published papers (e.g. Smreczyński 1968, Kippenberg 1983), even though it does not show any considerable interspecific variability. In this paper I have examined male and female genitalia of H. kayali (Figs 7, 12, 17, 22) as well as of four species of the subgenus Dapalinus (Figs 8–11, 13–16, 18–21, 23–26) which are most similar to it. The shape of sternite 8 of both sexes was found to be most characteristic for each species examined. According to the shape of male sternite 8 it is moreover possible to distinguish two groups—the first group (H. kayali and H. contaminata) is characterized by oval shape of sternite 8, the second group (H. dapalis, H. subvittata and H. striata) by triangular shape of sternite 8. These structures are thus easy­to­use for identification of species, whereas they do not seem to be as variable on higher taxonomic levels and their utility for diagnosis of genera and subgenera requires further study. At present, the most important characters at genus and subgenus levels were found by the author in larval chaetotaxy and bionomy (Skuhrovec, unpubl. data).
description: Published as part of Skuhrovec, Ji Ř Í, 2006, Hypera kayali sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Hyperini) from Syria, with bionomic data, pp. 17-28 in Zootaxa 1282 on pages 19-24, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.173423