Epiphanops Reitter, 1895

Genus Epiphanops Reitter, 1895 View in CoL

Type species— Epiphaneus jucundus Reitter, 1890 by original designation.

Description. Male. The body is covered with dense green or light brown vestiture. Rostrum and its dorsum conically tapering apically in dorsal view. Dorsum of rostrum with or without (usually) medial depression. Head behind eyes without transverse constriction, without transverse depression between dorsum of rostrum and forehead. Temples with dense subparallel-sided scales, slightly diverging posteriorly. Epistome triangular, epistomal carina barely or noticeably raised, with row of setae behind the latter. Eyes lateral, elongate oval, evenly convex, most strongly so in middle, weakly protruding from the head contour, situated equidistal from dorsal and ventral head sides. Ventral side of rostrum evenly concave in lateral view. Antennal scrobes narrowly visible in dorsal view, directed toward eyes, barely widened outward apically. Antennal scape claviform thickened in apical part, somewhat curved in middle part of length, at rest, protruding beyond posterior margin of eye. 1 st funicular segment about 1.16 times as long and 1.28 times as wide as 2 nd segment, the latter 2.21 times as long as wide, the remaining segments rounded or oblong. Antennal club fusiform, about 2.12 times as long as wide, its 1 st segment noticeably shorter that remaining segments combined.

Pronotum widest in the middle or at base. Bases of pronotum and elytra of equal width. Scutellum triangular. Elytra without humeri, rounded laterally, widest in the middle, occasionally subparallel-sided, with basal margin slightly raised; apical declivity of elytra gently sloping, apices slightly reflexed and divergent. Elytral striae narrow, each with a row of poorly visible recumbent setae, in basal part straight or slightly curved laterally. Sutural and 2 nd elytral striae fused at apex. Fore tibia slightly or moderately incurved in apical part. 2 nd segment of fore tarsus as long as wide, 3 rd segment bilobed, 2.23 times as wide as 2 nd, and thrice as wide as claw-segment. Claws connate, claw-segment projecting beyond apical margin of 3 rd segment by 1.4 times lengths of the latter.

Basal half of antennal scrobes, antennal scape and funicle, tibial corbel, tarsi and scutellum densely clothed with scales. Antennal club velvet dark brown, without scales. Outer surface of mandibles with noticeable or vague sparse scales. Body covered with contiguous rounded or broad lanceolate scales supplemented with semi-erect or subrecumbent setae; 3 rd, 7 th and 8 th interstriae usually slightly lighter. Scales forming 6–9 confused rows along elytral interstria. Basal and apical margins of pronotum fringed with a dense row of scales each.

Inner face of tibiae with series of straight light-colored, acuminate setae with inclusions of one or two thickened dark brown setae. Tufts of long silky hairs on inner face in apical half of male hind tibiae (two species, E. davidiani ( Iraq) and E. talamellii ( Turkey), also have tufts of hairs on inner face of middle tibiae). Hind tibiae on inner face with a small premucro. Apical setal comb of tibiae dark brown.

Penis symmetrical, smoothly curved dorsoventrally, on ventral side with vague, occasionally well-distinct median carina. Anteapical setae of aedeagus present or absent, occasionally thickened and very short.Aggonoporium in the endophallic armament with a large horseshoe shaped sclerite, (similar to that in Pholicodes species).

Female. Ventral side of spiculum ventrale without median carina. Gonocoxites subparallel-sided, blunted apically, with small rounded styli. Spermatheca with stout sickle-shaped cornu, ramus subparallel-sided, larger than collum.

Biology: Host plants of Epiphanops species are species of Centaurea . Parthenogenetic reproduction by these weevils is not known.

Comparative diagnosis: In the green color of the vestiture Epiphanops is similar to Epiphaneus Schoenherr, 1842 , from which clearly differs in the following features: scutellum triangular; body, antennal scape and funicle, corbels and tarsi covered with contiguous scales, hind tibiae of male near inner apical angle with small premucro.

Distribution: The genus Epiphanops is known from the Transcaucasus ( Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), Turkey, Iran and Iraq.