The subfamily Nanophyinae Gistel includes 33 genera and approximately 310 described species in two two tribes, Corimaliini Alonso-Zarazaga and Nanophyini Gistel (Alonso- Zarazaga, 2014). This is mainly an Old World group (Alonso- Zarazaga, 1989) with 60 described species under 11 genera in the Palaearctic region (Alonso-Zarazaga, 2017). Only five species belonging to two genera (Alonsiellus Zherikhin and Nanophyes Schoenherr) under the tribe Nanophyini with 5 desmomeres in antennal funicle recorded in the Korean fauna until now (Han et al., 2013).

They are small (0.75-5 mm) weevils but adults of most species do not measure more than 2.5 mm. They are usually strictly monophagous or oligophagous on different plant families, where their larvae cause galls on aerial parts or develop in fruits (Alonso-Zarazaga and Perrin, 2011).

The genera of tribe Nanophyini with 6 desmomeres in antennal funicle were include 7 genera, Ctenomerus Schoenherr (12 spp.), Hexatmetus Marshall (three spp.), Kantohia Alonso- Zarazaga & Perrin (one sp.), Lyalia Alonso-Zarazaga & Perrin (three spp.), Oxycorax Alonso-Zarazaga (one sp.), Pseudorobitis Redtenbacher (three spp.), and Shiva Pajni & Bhateja (six spp.) (Alonso-Zarazaga, 2014).

We found the genus Pseudorobitis Redtenbacher for the first time in South Korea. In this paper, we report a new record of P. gibbusRedtenbacher, 1868 with morphological characteristics and photographs of its adults.

Material and Methods

Examined specimens were collected on the leaves of crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.; Lythraceae) in the Gyeonggi Campus of Gyeongin National University of Education, Anyang on May 27 and June 1, 2024, and in the Hanbat Arboratum, Daejeon on May 12, 2024. Specimens were taken pictures with a digital USB 3.0 microscope camera (DMC5400) that is attached to Leica M125 Stereo microscope. The pictures were stacked by using the LAS software (version X). Specimens examined in this study are deposited in insect collections of the Department of Agricultural Life Science in SCNU. Meanwhile, import inspection data on seedlings of crape myrtle, known as the host plant, were obtained from database of the Pest Information System (PIS), an internal network of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Korea.

Taxonomic Accounts

Subfamily Nanophyinae Gistel, 1848

Tribe Nanophyini Gistel, 1848

Identification of genera: Key to the 7 genera of this tribe with 6 desmomeres in antennal funicle was provided by Alonso-Zarazaga and Perrin (2011).

Genus PseudorobitisRedtenbacher, 1868

PseudorobitisRedtenbacher, 1868: 162. (Type species: Pseudorobitis gibbusRedtenbacher, 1868)

TemnalysisAlonso-Zarazaga, 1989: 125. (Type species: Temnalysis axeliAlonso-Zarazaga, 1989)

Diagnosis: Body integument monochrome black. Antennal funicle with 6 segments. 8^th interstria not crenulate on humeral callus, keel reaching at basal third. 10^th stria erased between metacoxal and abdominal suture II level. Intermesocoxal distance about 0.75 times same as the intermetacoxal one.

Number of species: 3 species (Alonso-Zarazaga, 2017).

Distribution: Korea (New record), Japan (Ryukyu), Taiwan, China (Anhui, Shanghai) (Alonso-Zarazaga, 2017).

Pseudorobitis gibbusRedtenbacher, 1868 배롱별창주둥이 바구미(신칭)(Fig. 1-4)

Pseudorobitis gibbusRedtenbacher, 1868: 163. (Type locality: Schanghai; Type specimen deposited in the Naturhistorische Museum, Wien); Giusto, 1993: 311. (Lectotype designated and redescribed)

Diagnosis. Body (Fig. 1) strongly convex. Integument black, scape and 1st funicle segment testaceous, 2nd - 6th funicle segments, club and claws piceous brown to black, rostrum, tibiae and tarsi brownish-black. Vestiture formed by slightly arcuate piliform scales. Rostrum slightly and uniformly curved from base to apex, almost at the same level as frons; in dorsal view uniformly widened from base to apex; with five longitudinal carinae; sulci between carinae punctate, each point bearing a minute hairlike scale. Antennae inserted in the basal 0.58 in male and 0.45 of rostrum in female (Fig 2). Scape elongate, apically clubbed, 1.4 times longer than funicle and 1.5 times than club. Pronotum conical, densely and shallowly punctate; lateral puntures thicker and deeper than those of disc; sides almost straight; base rounded; basal crenulation formed by minute teeth hardly visible and partly fused with a thin basal keel which bears on sides a row of small brownish spines. Scutellum absent. Elytra widest shortly behind humeral calli; basal crenulation of elytra formed by teeth coarser than those of basal crenulation of pronotum; crenulation of 8^th interstria absent on humeral callus and composed by 2 basal and 8 distal denticles. 10^th striae reduced to a row of minute separate punctures in the apical third. Interstriae flat or hardly convex. Humeral calli well developed. Metacoxae separated by 1.25 times the intermesocoxal distance. Abdominal suture I almost absent, reduced to a very fine and superficial groove visible only on side; suture IV complete. Legs robust; femora incrassate, pro-, meso- and metafemora with 4/4-3/4(3)-3/4 (left/right) teeth in male and with 4/4-4(3)/4(3)-4(3)/4(3) (left/right) teeth in female. Tibiae almost straight, bisinuate on internal margin, and mucronate in male and unarmed in female apically. Protarsi long. Claw fused, equal. Male genitalia and female spermatheca shown in Fig. 3.

Body length (excluding rostrum) 2.8-3.1 mm.

Specimen examined. [SCNU] 1♀, Hanbat Arboretum, Dunsandae-ro 169, Seo-gu, Daejeon, Korea, 12.v.2024, D.-K. Park; 4♂♂, 1♀, Gyeonggi Campus of Gyeongin National University of Education, Sammak-ro 155, Manan-gu, Anyang, Korea, 27.v.2024, collected on the leaf of crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.; Lythraceae), S. Park; 3♂♂, 3♀♀, ibid, 1.vi.2024, K.-J. Hong.

Distribution. Korea (new record - Central); China (Anhui, Shanghai) (Giusto, 1993;Alonso-Zarazaga, 2017).

Biological notes. Adults were collected on the leaves of crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.) belonging to the family Lythraceae and found to be gnawing on their red shoots (Fig. 4).

Remarks. Nanophyes miwaiKôno, 1930 from Formosa (Taiwan), and Temnalysis axeliAlonso-Zarazaga, 1989 from Formosa (Taiwan) and Ryu-Kyu Archipelago also belong to this genus, but no specimens have been available for this study. These two species could be easily distinguished from Pseudorobitis gibbus Redtenbacher by the smaller sizes (respectively 1.6-1.7 mm and 2.71 mm, excluding rostrum) and metafemora with 3 teeth. On the other hand, May, when this nanophyinid species was collected, is the time when new buds of crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.) sprout in South Korea. Anyone with even the slightest interest in insects will be able to easily recognize insects active in these shoots. The authors believe that the occurrence of this nanophyinid species firstly confirmed in Anyang and Daejeon cities this year is most likely an invasion from its country of origin. From that perspective, as a result of investigating the inspection status of crape myrtle seedlings imported to South Korea over 5 years (2019-2023) using the Pest Information System (PIS), more than 99% of crape myrtle seedlings were imported from China, and among them, 61.5% of crape myrtle seedlings were imported from Anhui Province, this nanophyinid type specimen's origin (Table 1). This meaning may indicate that it is highly probable that this species was introduced from China.