Hesperophanes pilosus Bodungen, 1908

Hesperophanes pilosus Bodungen, 1908 View in CoL ( Fig. 2D)

Materials examined: 1♂, IRAN, West Azarbaijan (Azarbaijan-e Gharbi) province, saline lands around Soldoz wetland, 37°02'29"N, 45°36'53"E, 1280 m a.s.l., ex Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) Bieb., 1819 ( Amaranthaceae ), collection date of plant materials, 02. V.2019, emergence date of imago 10. VI.2019; 1♀ same data, collection date of plant materials, 13. V.2020, emergence date of imago 15. VI.2019; 2♂♂, 1♀ same data, collection date of plant materials, 24. V.2021, emergence date of imagoes 16–21. VI.2020; 2♀♀ same data, 8.IIX.2021, collected from the host plant, leg. Y. Karimpour.

Diagnosis. medium size, body length in male 15–19 mm, female 24–28 mm. Body more or less pale brown with reddish tint ( Fig. 2D). Antennae in male slightly extend beyond middle of elytra, in female shorter. Pronotum with subparallel sides between anterior and posterior 1/4. Elytral surface with very dense small puncture hidden with short dense pubescence, and with numerous visible, shiny and somewhat smoothed punctures with very weakly elevated anterior edge, bearing rather long semistanding setae. Hesperophanes pilosus can be easily distinguished from H. sericeus , the only other species of the genus known from Iran, by the following characters: shorter antennae (in male H. sericeus antennae slightly extend beyond elytral apex, in female distinctly extend to the middle of elytra); pronotum in H. sericeus somewhat shorter than in H. pilosus , spheroidal, with slightly irregularly arcuate sides, elytral punctures distinctly deeper and rougher, somewhat rasp-shaped with distinctly elevated anterior edge, with much shorter recumbent setae. Hesperophanes andresi , recently described from Egypt and also living in roots and stems of Halocnemum strobilaceum differs from H. pilosus according to its description ( Sama & Rapuzzi, 2006) by spheroidal pronotum with some discal setigerous points and shorter recumbent elytral setae.

Life cycle. We could not find any evidence to determine the required time to complete a single generation. But it appears that two years may be required to complete the life cycle. Due to our recent obtained data, it can be inferred that adult insects are active during the summer and while feeding on the soft tissues of the host plant, they mate from time to time and lay eggs singly. After hatching, the young larvae bore into the root crown of larger lateral roots and feed on its contents by creating larval corridors. Mature larvae ( Fig. 2B) overwinter in the root crown. Pupation ( Fig. 2C) occurs in late spring and adults gradually appear in the late spring and summer.

Distribution. Azerbaijan ( Baku environs, Qaradağ region) ( Bodungen, 1908; Hoskovec et al., 2022) and Iran ( West Azarbaijan province, around Soldoz wetland), as the new record.