Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e130023
doi: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e130023
Taxonomy & Inventories
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.:
Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), a new
ambrosia beetle from Laos
Wisut Sittichaya‡, Sarah M. Smith§
‡ Agricultural Innovation and Management Division, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, 90110,
Songkhla, Thailand
§ Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, 243 Natural Science Bldg., East Lansing, MI 48824,
United States of America
Corresponding author: Wisut Sittichaya (wisut.s@psu.ac.th)
Academic editor: Li Ren
Received: 19 Jun 2024 | Accepted: 12 Jul 2024 | Published: 18 Jul 2024
Citation: Sittichaya W, Smith SM (2024) Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae,
Xyleborini), a new ambrosia beetle from Laos. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e130023.
https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e130023
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ABBDED4F-185F-4956-B1AC-3AC9233229FA
Abstract
Background
The ambrosia beetle genus Anisandrus Ferrari, 1867, is a member of the bark and
ambrosia beetle subfamily Scolytinae, Tribe Xyleborini. Currently, it is comprised of 40
species of which four species were recorded in Laos.
New information
A new species, Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. is described from the Bolaven Plateau in
southern Laos. With the inclusion of the species described and recorded here, the diversity
of Anisandrus is increased to 41 species, of which five occur in Laos. New distribution
records, a synoptic list and a key to the Anisandrus of Laos PDR are presented.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
2 Sittichaya W, Smith S
Introduction
The ambrosia beetle genus Anisandrus Ferrari, 1867, is one of the more diverse members
of the tribe Xyleborini in Asia and is currently comprised of 40 species of which 33 are
distributed in Indochinese Peninsula and China (Smith et al. 2020, Smith et al. 2022;
Sittichaya et al. 2023). Sittichaya et al. (2023) provided distributions and a short taxonomic
history of the genus. Generic diagnostic characters are given by Smith et al. (2020) and
subsequently modified by Sittichaya et al. (2023). Four Anisandrus species were previously
recorded from Laos (Beaver et al. 2014, Beaver and Liu 2018, Smith et al. 2020). In the
present study, we describe one new species from Laos, increasing the diversity of the Laos
fauna to five species and that of the genus to 41. We also present new records and provide
a key and synoptic list of the Anisandrus of Laos.
Materials and methods
Specimens were extracted from a small branch of Symplocos sp. (Symplocaceae) from the
Bolaven Plateau, Champasak Province, Laos. The new species was then compared with
types specimens or photos of Anisandrus type specimens (in MSUC, NMNH, NHMUK,
NHMW, WSTC) photographed by the authors. Type material of the great majority, over
90%, of described Anisandrus have been examined by at least one of the authors.
Photographs of type specimens of almost all the remaining described species were also
examined by at least one author. Photographs were processed as described in Sttichaya et
al. (2024). Antennal club and pronotum types and characters follow those proposed by
Hulcr et al. (2007) and subsequently elaborated by Smith et al. (2020). The number of
segments in the antennal funicle excludes the pedicel. Length was measured from the
pronotum apex to the apex of the declivity excluding processes or spines and width at the
widest part of specimen.
Abbreviations used for entomological collections
• MSUC, Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, USA
• NHB, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel, Switzerland
• NHMUK, Natural History Museum, London, UK
• NMNH, Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., USA
• NHMW, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria
• WSTC, Private collection of Wisut Sittichaya, Songkhla, Thailand
Taxon treatments
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov.
• ZooBank C7592BD6-6FA5-48FA-8E7F-386895E9C0F0
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ... 3
Material
Holotype:
a. country: Laos PDR; stateProvince: Champasak; county: Paksxong; locality: Bolaven
plateau; verbatimLocality: Paksong; verbatimElevation: 1150 m; verbatimCoordinates:
15°04'26.4"N 106°12'03.3"E; samplingProtocol: hand collecting (W. Sittichaya);
eventDate: 14.viii.2023; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; recordNumber:
1; recordedBy: Sittichaya & Smith; disposition: NHMW; identifiedBy: Sittichaya, W &
Smith SM; type: Holotype; occurrenceID: 7AE477B9-F5C5-50BB-8418-2D42EE1EA5F7
Description
Female. (Fig. 1) 2.4 mm long; 1.71× as long as wide. Body less elongate, stout. Head,
anterior slope of pronotum and ventrite dark brown, pronotal disc reddish-brown, elytra
black and appendages brown. Body densely covered with different long brownish
setae. Head: epistoma complete, transverse, with a row of short, hair-like setae, setae
moderately dense. Frons feebly impressed from epistoma to upper margin of eyes,
impressed areas sub-rectangular, deepest at epistoma, the depth decreasing upwardly
to upper margin of the eyes, surface of impressed areas feebly convex, alutaceous,
strongly shiny, rather sparsely punctured, puncture small and shallow, some larger
punctures near lateral margin of the eyes, each puncture with very long brownish, fine,
hair-like setae; a weak, impunctate median ridge extends to upper level of eyes. The
area from mandible bases to lateral margin of eyes weakly convex, punctate; punctures
broad and shallow. Eyes feebly emarginate just above antennal insertion, upper part
slightly smaller than lower part. Submentum triangular, small, slightly impressed.
Antennal scape long and thickened, 1.12× as long as club. Pedicel as wide as scape,
shorter than funicle. Funicle 4-segmented, segment 1 as long as pedicel. Club longer
than wide, obliquely truncate, type 1; segment 1 corneous, encircling anterior face,
anterior margin concave, sharp carinate; segment 2 corneous on anterior face,
corneous part concave, narrow; sutures absent on posterior face. Pronotum: 0.94× as
long as wide. In dorsal view, type 0, feebly conical anteriorly, sides convex; anterior
margin with a row of seven small, slightly protruding serrations, equal in size to those
on anterior slope. In lateral view, type 3, short and tall; disc as long as anterior slope,
summit at mid-point. Anterior slope with moderately densely spaced, large coarse
asperities, becoming lower and more strongly transverse towards summit; setose,
setae moderately long, semi-recumbent, pointing backwards, decreasing in length to
summit. Disc alutaceous, shiny, with moderately dense, fine granulate punctures, each
puncture either with a short, fine, semi-recumbent, brownish hair-like seta or with long
semi-erect brownish hair-like seta, the longer setae 2–3× as long as the short setae,
setae pointing anteriorly, some longer setae present at margins. Lateral margins
obliquely costate. Base slightly concave, posterior angles angularly rounded. Mycangial
tuft present along basal margin, tuft moderately setose, approximately the width of
scutellum. Elytra: 1.28× as long as wide, 1.78× as long as pronotum. Scutellum broad,
large, linguiform, flush with elytra, flat, shiny. Elytral base transverse, edge oblique,
humeral angles rounded, parallel-sided in basal 2/3, then broadly rounded to apex.
Disc strongly shiny, broadly convex, striae flat, with small, shallow, oblique margin,
4 Sittichaya W, Smith S
setose punctures separated by < 0.5× diameter of a puncture, setae 2–2.5× as long as
diameter of punctures, fine, recumbent, hair-like; interstriae flat, 2× as wide as striae,
granulated punctures confused, setose; setae long, 2× as long as strial setae, erect
hair-like, increasing their length and thickness posteriorly; granules in interstrial
punctures minute, but distinct. Declivity occupying approximately half of elytral length,
densely setose, summit broadly rounded to declivity, declivital face flattened from
interstriae 1–3, feebly convex near lateral margins from interstriae 4–6; striae distinctly
impressed; strial punctures shallow, 2× larger than those of disc, striae 1–3 curved
laterally, striae with fine recumbent, hair-like setae, setae 2–2.5× as long as diameter of
punctures, pointing inwardly to declivital medial suture; interstriae uniseriate
granulated; granule minute, setose, setae very long, 3–5× width of an interstria, erect,
hair-like. Posterolateral margin rounded, unarmed by granules, costate only close to
apex. Legs: procoxae contiguous. Protibiae obliquely triangular, broadest at apical 1/3;
posterior face inflated, minutely granulate; apical 1/3 of outer margin with six small,
socketed denticles, their length as long as basal width. Meso- and metatibiae flattened;
outer margins evenly rounded with nine and eight long and slender, acute, socketed
denticles, respectively.
Male. Unknown.
Similar species: Anisandrus auco Smith, Beaver & Cognato, 2020, A. cryphaloides
Smith, Beaver & Cognato, 2020, A. tanaosi Sittichaya, Smith & Beaver, 2023.
Diagnosis
2.4 mm long (n = 1); 1.71× as long as wide. Small and stout species. Pronotal anterior
margin slightly angularly projecting, median pair of asperities on anterior margin not
prominent; elytral disc broadly convex, strongly shiny, without a saddle-like impression,
declivity appears more obliquely sloped as compared to many other Anisandrus
species, declivital summit unarmed, declivity flat from interstriae 1–3, declivity
unarmed, densely covered with interstrial setae, setae very long, 3–4× as long as
interstrial width; striae distinctly impressed; strial punctures shallow, 2× larger than
those of disc, striae with fine recumbent, hair-like setae, setae 2–2.5× as long as
diameter of punctures, setae pointing inward to declivital medial suture.
This species is similar to A. auco, A. cryphaloides and A. tanaosi. It can be
distinguished from A. auco by the following characters (A. bolavenensis given first):
declivital face flattened from interstriae 1–3, feebly convex near lateral margins from
interstriae 4–6 and posterolateral margin near the apex costate vs. declivital face
convex and posterolateral margin rounded along its length.
It is distinguished from A. cryphaloides by the following characters (A. bolavenensis
given first): pronotum from dorsal view feebly conical anteriorly, declivital summit
unarmed and declivital face flattened vs. pronotum from dorsal view strongly
protruding, declivital summit armed with a pair of small incurved spines on interstriae 2
and declivital face convex.
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ... 5
It is also distinguished from A. tanaosi by the following characters (A. bolavenensis
given first): declivital summit unarmed vs. declivital summit armed with a pair of
spinulose granules on interstriae 2.
Figure 1.
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. holotype female A dorsal view; B lateral view; C postero-
lateral view; D pronotum; E frons; F antenna; G pro- and mesotibiae.
6 Sittichaya W, Smith S
Etymology
Bolavenensis, in reference to the collection locality of the holotype, Bolaven Plateau,
Lao People's Democratic Republic. Noun in apposition.
Distribution
Laos (Champasak Province).
Biology
The holotype was collected from a newly fallen (leaves still green) small branch of
Symplocos sp. (Symplocaceae).
Anisandrus hirtus (Hagedorn, 1904)
Material
a. country: Laos PDR; stateProvince: Hua Phan; locality: Phu Phan Mt.[mountain];
verbatimElevation: ~ 1750 m; verbatimCoordinates: 20°12'N, 104°01'E; eventDate: 03.vi.
2007; individualCount: 12; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; recordedBy: Vít Kubáň;
disposition: NHB; identifiedBy: Smith S.; occurrenceID: 7D5E05D6-
E0BE-5B50-9D09-13014788C385
Description
3.4–4.5 mm long (mean = 3.92 mm; n = 5); 1.95–2.53× as long as wide. Body medium
size, stout, brown to black in colour, appendages paler; densely covered with fine, long,
erect dark brown hair-like setae. Pronotum from dorsal view round (type 1), base with
mesonotal mycangial tuft the length of the scutellum; elytral disc convex; lateral side
parallel to apical ¼ then rounded to apex; declivity rounded, summit unarmed,
posterolateral margins rounded.
Distribution
Bhutan, Cambodia, China (Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan), India
(Meghalaya, West Bengal), Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan,Thailand, Vietnam, New to
Laos (Hua Phan).
Anisandrus ursulus (Eggers, 1923)
Materials
a. country: Laos PDR; stateProvince: Hua Phan; locality: Phu Phan Mt.[mountain];
verbatimElevation: ~ 1750 m; verbatimCoordinates: 20°12'N, 104°01'E; eventDate: 03.vi.
2007; individualCount: 2; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; recordNumber: 2; recordedBy: Vít
Kubáň; disposition: NHB; identifiedBy: Smith S.; occurrenceID:
B559B261-0364-5775-9792-ED7165E15366
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ... 7
b. country: Laos; stateProvince: Phongsaly; locality: Phongsaly env.; verbatimElevation: ~
1500 m; verbatimCoordinates: 21°41-2'N, 102°06-8'E; eventDate: 8.v.-20.vi.2003;
individualCount: 1; recordedBy: Vít Kubáň; identifiedBy: Smith S; occurrenceID:
9141C501-CFAB-50FA-AA98-01B85AEADFAD
c. country: Laos; stateProvince: Phongsaly; locality: Phongsaly env.; verbatimElevation: ~
1500 m; verbatimCoordinates: 21°41'N, 102°6'E; eventDate: 6.-17.v.2004;
individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; recordedBy: M. Brancucci; disposition:
NHB; identifiedBy: Smith s; occurrenceID: FCE80182-237B-57A6-A6A3-1FEE7110A664
d. country: Laos; stateProvince: , Phongsaly env., 6.-17.v.2004, ~1500m, M. Brancucci leg.
(1, NHB). Xieng; locality: Phonsavan (30 km NE): Phou Sane Mt.; verbatimElevation:
1420 m; verbatimCoordinates: 19°38.20'N, 103°20.20'E; eventDate: 10.-30.v.2009;
individualCount: 2; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; recordedBy: D. Hauck; disposition: NHB;
identifiedBy: Smith S; occurrenceID: 9933E070-0D18-5619-A114-C6FEFEA8BCFF
Description
4.3–4.9 mm long (mean = 4.5 mm; n = 5); 1.88–1.96× as long as wide. Body large size,
robust and stout, brown to black in colour, appendages paler; densely covered with
fine, moderately long, erect, dark brown hair-like setae. Pronotum from dorsal view
round (type 1) anterior margin armed with 5 serrations, the middle pair is prominent;
pronotal base with mesonotal mycangial tuft the length of the scutellum; elytra short,
disc convex; lateral side parallel to apical 1/3 then broadly rounded to apex; declivity
obliquely truncate, unarmed, declivital striae not impressed and posterolateral margins
obliquely truncate armed with small tubercles.
Distribution
China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi), India (Nicobar Is, West Bengal),
Indonesia (Bali, Batoe Is, Java, Maluku, Sulawesi, Sumatra), Laos, East and West
Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Vietnam (Smith et al.
2020). New to Laos (Hua Phan, Phongsaly, Xieng Khouang).
Identification keys
Key to Anisandrus species present in Laos (females only)
Interstriae 2 without spines or granules on upper margin of elytral
1 2
declivity.
Interstriae 2 with spines, spinulose granules or blunt tubercles on upper
– 4
margin of elytral declivity; sparsely hairy species.
Median pair of asperities on anterior margin of pronotum distinctly larger
2 3
than outer pair, larger, 3.4‒4.9 mm long.
8 Sittichaya W, Smith S
Median pair of asperities on anterior margin of pronotum not distinctly A. bolavenensis
–
larger than outer pair(s), smaller, 2.4 mm long. sp. nov.
Larger, stouter species, 4.3‒4.9 mm long, 1.9‒2.0× longer than wide;
3 A. ursulus (Eggers)
declivital striae not impressed.
Smaller, more elongate species, 3.4‒4.5 mm long, 2.1‒2.5× longer than A. hirtus
–
wide; declivital striae impressed. (Hagedorn)
A. niger
4 Posterolateral margins of elytra rounded; larger, 5.8–5.9 mm.
(Sampson)
A. cristatus
– Posterolateral margins of elytra costate or carinate; smaller, 3.3‒3.7 mm.
(Hagedorn)
Discussion
The ambrosia beetle genus Anisandrus diversified in mountainous areas of Southeast
Asia, particularly in the Indochinese Peninsula (Smith et al. 2020, Smith et al. 2022,
Sittichaya et al. 2023). Laos is rich on natural habitats, 40% of the land being covered with
forests and most of them are at high elevations (Chouangthavy et al. 2020). Four of five
Laotian species (Table 1) were reported only in the north of the country and one from the
south. There is no doubt that much of the diversity awaits discovery as its neighbours
Thailand and Vietnam each have 11 species (Smith et al. 2020Smith et al. 2022Sittichaya
et al. 2023).
Table 1.
Synoptic list and habitat types of the Anisandrus fauna of Laos PDR. References are to records of
the species in Laos PDR.
Species Laos provincial Habitat Reference
distribution
Anisandrus Champasak Bolaven Plateau, low This publication
bolavenensis sp. nov. montane forest, 1150 m
Anisandrus cristatus Hua Phan Phou Pan (Mt.), 1300 – Smith et al. (2020)
(Hagedorn, 1908) 1900 m
Anisandrus hirtus Phongsaly Phu Phan Mt, ~ 1750 m Beaver and Liu (2018), (personal
(Hagedorn, 1904) communication), this publication
Anisandrus niger Hua Phan Phou Pan (Mt.), 1300– Beaver and Liu (2018), Smith et al.
(Sampson, 1912) 1900 m (2020)
Anisandrus ursulus Dudomxai, Hua Phan Luang Phu Phan Mt., ~ 1750 Beaver et al. (2014), this
(Eggers, 1923) Phrabang, Xieng Khouang m, Phou Sane Mt., publication
1420 m
Anisandrus bolavenensis sp. nov. (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini), ... 9
Acknowledgements
We are most grateful to Matthias Borer and Isabelle Zürcher (NHB), Maxwell Barclay,
Michael Geiser (NHMUK), Heinrich Schönmann†, Harry Schilhammer (NHMW) and
Lourdes Chamorro (NMNH) for access to specimens. Thank you to Roger A. Beaver for
providing country records and distributions of Anisandrus in Laos.
Author contributions
WS: Research concept, insect survey and collecting, specimen’s identification, prepared
original draft, review and editing the MS. SMS: review and editing the MS.
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