Metapocyrtus bicolor Bollino, 2025

Bollino, Maurizio & Ersoy, Doğan Erhan, 2025, New Pachyrhynchini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from the Visayas, Philippines, Zootaxa 5620 (1), pp. 143-162 : 154-157

Metapocyrtus bicolor Bollino , new species

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:54BDA978-E449-41F4-B35A-7170456AE69D

( Figure 6A–D ; 9E–H )

Holotype ( Figure 6A–B ) male: Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Sunog—Barangay Gaas / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 10–15 september 2023 / Lg. D. Mohagan —coll. Bollino (typed on white card) // HOLOTYPE / Metapocyrtus bicolor / BOLLINO, 2025 (typed on red card) ( SMTD) .

Paratypes (8♂♂, 11♀♀): 3♂♂, 8♀♀ Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Manunggal / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 26–30.IX.2023 / Lg. local people —coll. Bollino ; 2♂♂ Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Sunog— Barangay Gaas / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 10–15 september 2023 / Lg. D. Mohagan —coll. Bollino ; 1♀ Philippines — Central Visayas / Mt. Mauyog—Brgy. Sunog / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / 16–20.XI.2023 / Lg. local people —coll. Bollino ; 3♂♂, 2♀♀ Philippines — Central Visayas / Hills North-East of Kaluangan / (Cebu Is.— Cebu Province) / May 2024 —m 400–500 / Lg. local people —coll. Bollino ( MBLI) . The additional label: “ PARATYPE / Metapocyrtus bicolor / BOLLINO, 2025” (typed on red card) was added to all paratypes.

Diagnosis. The new species is distinguished by the black color of the pronotum and dark brown elytra. This bicolored appearance is very rare among Pachyrhynchini and never occurs in the species present on the island of Cebu and the surrounding islands.

Description. Male. Head and pronotum with integument black, elytra dark brown, and legs brown, with areas covered by green or blue colored recumbent round scales. Rostrum without colored scales, but with recumbent blue setae on dorsal, lateral, and ventral sides. Frons with recumbent blue setae and central patch formed by a few cobalt-blue colored scales. Prothorax with anterior edge covered in green/blue scales, extending laterally and ventrally and continuing as thin line along inner margin of posterior edge; posterior edge covered with small round green scales. Elytra entirely dark brown, with cobalt blue scales sparsely distributed latero-ventrally. Metasternum with lateral patch of round blue-green scales. Rostrum longer than wide (LR/WR 1.35); dorsum with shiny, finely punctured surface, featuring slight axial groove and pronounced basal transverse groove. Head with smooth surface, moderately, minutely punctured, forehead slightly flattened, shiny, with deep median groove ending almost at anterior margin of pronotum. Eyes relatively small, moderately convex from lateral contour of head, positioned at middle of head. Antennae with scape slender, longer than funicle, slightly clavate in distal third; segment I elongate, about 6 times longer than wide, almost 1.2 times longer than segment II; segment II elongate, about 5 times longer than wide, 2 times longer than segment III; segment III approximately twice as long as wide; segments IV–VII as long as wide; club swollen and covered with dense brown pubescence, about 3 times longer than wide. Pronotum subglobular, slightly wider than long (WP/LP: 1.13), glossy and granulated across entire surface. Elytra subovate (LE/WE 1.3), wider than pronotum (WE/WP 1.26), with greatest width at middle, convex in dorsal profile, higher at middle where convexity decreases; without defined striations, featuring coarse punctures arranged in irregular lines, and fine light sea-blue hairs emerging 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 and small brown mucrones; hind tibiae with thin inner fringe of dark-colored bristles. Genitalia as illustrated. ( Figure 9E–H ). The everted endophallus is incomplete. In Figure 9E , the red arrow indicates the sac-shaped flagellar diverticulum, which could not be everted. As previously stated ( Cabras et al. 2018), this structure, always present in Orthocyrtus and Dolicocephalocyrtus and occasionally in Metapocyrtus , is extremely difficult to evert and requires attempts on many specimens, achieving positive results in only a very few cases, quantifiable at 1–2% of specimens. In this specific case, the limited number of available specimens did not allow for an optimal result to be achieved.

Dimensions: LB: 6.5–7.5 (HT: 7 mm; â: 7); LR: 1.3–1.5 (1.5 mm; â: 1.45); WR: 1–1.1 (1.1 mm; â: 1); LP: 2.1–2.4 (2.4 mm; â: 2.3); WP: 2.3–2.7 (2.6 mm; â: 2.6); LE: 4.2–4.7 (4.3 mm; â: 4.4); WE: 2.9–3.4 (3.3 mm; â: 3.2). N=5.

Female. Elytra of female more convex than in the male, with a more regular convexity; on average, larger than those of males (â LB ♀♀ / â LB ♂♂: 1.1), with more oval elytra, a small knob along sutural declivity and elongate apex; declivity less steep, with some short yellowish parasutural hairs arising from punctures. Ventrites I–III with flat surface. Hind femora shorter than in male, only slightly extended beyond elytral apex. Other characters are similar to those of the male.

Dimensions: LB: 7.2–8.6 (â: 7.7); LR: 1.2–1.5 (â: 1.3); WR: 1–1.3 (â: 1.1); LP: 2–2.5 (â: 2.2); WP: 2.4–2.8 (â: 2.5); LE: 4.8–6 (â: 5.3); WE: 3.3–4 (â: 3.6). N=6

Chorology. As with the previously discussed new taxa, this species also appears restricted to the central mountainous region of Cebu, where it is uncommon.

Etymology. The Latin name “ bicolor ” means “two-colored” and refers to the black color of the pronotum and the reddish-brown color of the elytra.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Metapocyrtus bicolor. Holotype. A: dorsal view; B: idem, lateral view; Metapocyrtus bicolor, female. C: dorsal view; D: idem, lateral view.

FIGURE 9. Male genitalia of Metapocyrtus smeraldinus. A: penis in lateral view; B: idem in dorsal view; C: sternite IX in dorsal view; D: endophallus in lateral view. Male genitalia of Metapocyrtus bicolor. E: penis in lateral view; F: idem in dorsal view; G: sternite IX in dorsal view; H: endophallus in lateral view.