Metapocyrtus simillimus Bollino 2025, new species
Creators: name: Bollino, Maurizio
name: Ersoy, Doğan Erhan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Metapocyrtus
Metapocyrtus simillimus

description: Metapocyrtus simillimus Bollino, new species
http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 9A2609E4-64AD-4D2B-A6C4-2BCA5DC650B0
(Figure 4A–D; 8H–I, N)
Holotype (Figure 4A–B) male: Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Manunggal / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 16– 17.IX.2023 / Lg. D. Mohagan —coll. Bollino (typed on white card) // HOLOTYPE / Metapocyrtus simillimus / BOLLINO, 2025 (typed on red card) (SMTD).
Paratypes (5♂♂, 3♀♀): 3♂♂, 3♀♀ Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Manunggal / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 16–17.IX.2023 / Lg. D. Mohagan —coll. Bollino; 2♂♂ Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Manunggal / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 26–30.IX.2023 / Lg. local people —coll. Bollino (MBLI). The additional label: “ PARATYPE / Metapocyrtus simillimus / BOLLINO, 2025” (typed on red card) was added to all paratypes.
Diagnosis. The new species is very similar to both Metapocyrtus restrictus and Metapocyrtus pilositibialis Schultze, 1925. It can be distinguished from both taxa by a significant reduction in elytral markings and, above all, by the morphology of the everted endophallus: in M. restrictus, the greatly expanded basal diverticulum present in both M. pilositibialis and M. simillimus is absent, while in M. pilositibialis, the median portion is markedly shorter than in M. simillimus.
Description. Male. Integument entirely black with spots of pinkish to violet markings formed by recumbent round scales. Rostrum without colored scales, with only a few recumbent whitish setae along lateral margin and proximally to the scrobe. Frons with central patch of scales. Prothorax with small lateroventral patch on each side, formed by few colored scales. Each elytron with following markings of round scales: 1) basal spot at origin of interstriae III–IV; 2) subbasal rounded spot on interstria IX; 3) round spot after middle on interstria III; 4) round spot at middle on interstria V; 5) round spot after middle on interstria VII; 6) two round spots on declivity on interstriae III and V; 7) subapical spot on interstria V. Metasternum with lateral patch of round scales. Head with smooth surface, moderately, minutely punctured, forehead slightly flattened, with median groove ending at posterior margin of eye. Eyes relatively small, moderately convex from lateral contour of head, with each eye highest behind middle. Antennae with slender scape, longer than funicle, slightly clavate in distal third; segment I elongate, about 5 times longer than wide and almost 1.25 times longer than segment II; segment II elongate, about 4 times longer than wide and 4 times longer than segment III; segments III–VII as long as wide; club swollen, covered with dense brown pubescence, about 2.3 times longer than wide. Rostrum longer than wide (LR/WR 1.3); dorsum coarsely, rugosely punctured, with slight median depression in central portion; basal transverse groove pronounced. Pronotum subglobular, slightly longer than wide (WP/LP: 0.95), glossy but slightly granulated on disc, rugose laterally, with thin longitudinal median groove. Elytra ovate (LE/WE 1.48), wider than pronotum (WE/WP 1.10), with greatest width at middle, convex in dorsal profile, higher at middle where convexity decreases; without defined striations, with coarse punctures arranged in irregular lines, fine yellowish hairs arising from punctures. Ventrites I–III with marked axial concavity. Legs slender, with clavate femora; tibiae slightly curved at apex, fore and mid- tibiae with straight inner edges, series of short tubercles more evident in distal half,mucrones blackish; hind tibiae without tubercles, with thin inner fringe of dark-colored bristles. Genitalia as illustrated (Figure 8H–I, N).
Dimensions: LB: 8.6–11 (HT: 10.2 mm; â: 10); LR: 1.7–2.1 (2 mm; â: 1.95); WR: 1.3–1.6 (1.5 mm; â: 1.5); LP: 3.1–4.1 (3.8 mm; â: 3.7); WP: 3.3–4.4 (4 mm; â: 3.9); LE: 5.9–7 (6.3 mm; â: 6.4); WE: 3.7–4.7 (4.5 mm; â: 4.3). N=6.
Female. Elytra more convex in female than in the male, with a more regular convexity; on average, larger than those of males (â LB ♀♀ / â LB ♂♂: 1.09), with more oval elytra and a slightly more elongate apex; the declivity is less steep, with some short yellowish parasutural hairs arising from punctures. Ventrites I–III with flat surface. Hind femora shorter than in the male, only slightly extended beyond elytral apex. Other characters are similar to those of the male.
Dimensions: LB: 9.3–11 (â: 10.2); LR: 1.8–2.0 (â: 1.9); WR: 1.4–1.6 (â: 1.5); LP: 3.2–3.8 (â: 3.5); WP: 3.8–4.2 (â: 4); LE: 6.2–7.3 (â: 6.9); WE: 4.3–5.2 (â: 4.8). N=3
Chorology. The new taxon is apparently restricted to the central mountain region of Cebu, where it is quite scarce.
Etymology. The Latin name " simillimus ” is the superlative degree of “ similis,” meaning extremely similar, referring to the strong resemblance in the color of the integument and the color and distribution of scale patches on the elytra of the new species to Pachyrhynchus sugbo from the same area.
Notes. Metapocyrtus pilositibialis (Figure 5A ─C), M. restrictus, and M. simillimus are three vicariant taxa whose reliable distinction is possible only through examination of the everted endophallus, with its species-specific morphology (Figure 8). Rukmane-Bārbale (2024) highlighted the high degree of variability in M. pilositibialis specimens from Mount Canlaon, both in size and in prothoracic morphology. In the series from Mount Canlaon that have been examined, I did not observe such variability, while some size variability was noted between these populations and those from Mount Irene, where the specimens are on average slightly smaller and more slender (â LB ♂♂ Canlaon / â LB ♂♂ Mt. Irene: 1.05). However, they do not exhibit any further significant differences, except that on Mount Irene a few specimens show a slight reduction in the size of the scale markings, resembling M. simillimus in this respect (Figure 5C). South of Mount Irene, Metapocyrtus pilositibialis disappears and appears to be replaced on the Cuernos de Negros mountain range by Metapocyrtus restrictus. Metapocyrtus simillimus, finally, is the vicariant species found on the island of Cebu.
description: Published as part of Bollino, Maurizio & Ersoy, Doğan Erhan, 2025, New Pachyrhynchini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from the Visayas, Philippines, pp. 143-162 in Zootaxa 5620 (1) on pages 151-154, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5620.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/15218981