On the Sicilian species of Pseudomeira Stierlin (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)
Author
Bellò, Cesare
Author
Baviera, Cosimo
text
Zootaxa
2011
3100
35
68
journal article
45977
10.5281/zenodo.204879
e289c8b1-0af5-4775-8b7b-2bbfac2ea24c
1175-5326
204879
Pseudomeira obscura
(
Solari & Solari, 1907
)
(
Figs. 23
,
49
,
62
,
74
)
Peritelus obscurus
Solari & Solari, 1907
: 117
.
Peritelus parvulus
Seidlitz sensu Desbrochers, 1871
:
Bertolini, 1899
: 89
;
Vitale, 1900a
: 19
;
Vitale, 1901
: 426
;
Vitale, 1906b
: 29
.
Peritelus
(
Peritelus
)
obscurus
:
Luigioni, 1929
: 872
.
Peritelus
(
Meira
)
obscurus
:
Porta, 1932
: 64
.
Peritelus
(
Pseudomeira
)
obscurus
:
Lona, 1937
: 264
.
Pseudomeira obscura
(Solari & Solari)
:
Pierotti & Bellò, 1994
: 111
;
Abbazzi et al., 1995
: 23
;
Pierotti & Bellò, 1998
: 105
;
Sparacio, 1999
: 138
;
Colonnelli, 2003
: 48
;
Osella et al., 2005
;
Abbazzi & Maggini, 2009
: 62
.
Type
locality
: Sicily, Messina (see below).
Diagnosis
: Small (
2.6–3.8 mm
), globose, elytral disc gibbous anteriorly. Epistoma impressed, clypeus flat and longitudinally impressed in middle. Elytra clothed with earth-brown or silvery scales and short almost almost recumbent setae with moderately widening apex. Aedeagus with quite rounded apex.
Description
: Body globose. Dorsal vestiture of earth-brown scales, usually forming two longitudinal darker stripes on each side of pronotum and a patch around scutellum, here and there paler, sometimes silvery, and of short setae with moderately widening apex which are recumbent on frons and pronotum and more or less suberect on elytra.
Rostrum strongly transverse, sided hardly (Ƥ) or distinctly (3) converging towards apex. Epistoma concave with bulging edges; pterygia not or just slightly protruding; clypeus subrectangular and with a longitudinal depression. Eyes nearly hemispherical, slightly protruding from head. Antennae quite robust; basal half of scape not or weakly thickening; second funicular segment as long as or shorter than the combined length of the following two, segments 3–7 pearl-shaped; club rather elongate and with the first segment widely conical.
Pronotum more (3) or less (Ƥ) transverse, anterior margin as wide as basal one, sides weakly sinuate, disc with obvious dense punctures.
Elytra oval, globose, humeri wanting. Striae punctured, interstriae feebly convex.
Legs moderately robust; external margin of protibiae straight, shortly rounded at apex.
Aedeagus: see
Figs. 62
,
74
.
Lectotype
:
Solari & Solari (1907)
described this species from: “Sicilia (Messina, coll. Vitale); Calabria (Santa Eufemia, Aspromonte, coll. Paganetti); Salernitano (Vallo di Lucania, coll. nostra)”. In accordance with the priority criterion, according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, considering that all Palaearctic
Peritelini
are wingless species consisting of populations which is some cases are now being separated as different taxa, it seems suitable to select
lectotypes
of with more than one
type
locality species to avoid possible future misinterpretations. We thus checked the Solari and the Vitale collections where we found 27
type
specimens (males only from Messina) from which we select here a male
lectotype
(SOL) labeled as follows: [genitalia glued on a white label], "Messina, F. Vitale" [white, printed], "co-Typus" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Lectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten], "foto Bellò 2011" [yellow, handwritten].
Paralectotype
: Two specimens (VIT), both with "Messina, F. Vitale" [white, printed], "
Peritelus obscurus
, det. F. Solari" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
Sol.
, det. C. Pesarini 2001" [white, printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
), det. Bellò 2009 [white, printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten]. One
paralectotype
(VIT), with "Messina, F. Vitale" [white, printed], "
Peritelus obscurus
nob.-cotyp" [white, handwritten], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten], "
Pseudomeira obscurella
Bellò & Pierotti
, det.
C. Bellò 2010
"; this is a specimen of
Pseudomeira obscurella
Bellò & Pierotti, 1994
. Fifteen
paralectotype
(SOL), all with "Calabria, S.ta Eufemia" [white, printed], "Paganetti" [white, printed], "co-typus" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten]. Five
paralectotype
(SOL), all with "Calabria, Aspromonte" [white, printed], "Paganetti" [white, printed], "co-typus" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten]. One
paralectotype
(SOL) with "Vallo Lucano, Sambiase,
V 1902
, Solari" [white, partly printed], 2 co-typus" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten]. Two
paralectotype
(SOL), both with "Sicilia, Messina, Calamarà,
3 1 1903
, Vitale" [white, partly printed], "co-typus" [white, partly printed], "
Pseudomeira obscura
(A. &
F. Solari, 1907
),
Paralectotypus
, det.
Bellò 2010
" [red, handwritten]. With the present selections, Messina becomes the
type
locality of this species.
Distribution
: Central and southern Apennines, Sicily.
Material from Sicily
: A total of
24 specimens
were examined; genitalia of 4 were studied.
Localities in Sicily
: Messina (BIN,
DOD
,
HOF
,
LUI
,
SOL
,
VIT
); Calamarà (
SOL
,
VIT
).
Ecology
: In spite of our efforts, we were unable to collect this species in the surroundings of Messina, Sicily, although we found it innearby Aspromonte, Calabria sifting leaf-litter taken under
Fagus sylvatica
L.,
Castanea sativa
Miller
,
Astragalus
sp., and turning stones in the nearby meadows.
Reproduction
: Amphigonic.
Notes
: Specimens under this name from other Sicilian localities in
RAG
,
SOL
and
VIT
, are actually
P. obscurella
Pierotti & Bellò
, a parthenogenetic species described subsequently.