Title: ON A COLLECTION OF SCOLYTID-BEETLES (SCOLYTIDAE: COLEOPTERA) FROM SIKKIM, INDIA
KeyWords: Scolytid beetles, coleoptera, Sikkim
Year of Publication: 1984
ISSN No: Ree. zool. Surv. India, 81 : (3 & 4) 1-8, 1984
Author Name: NIVEDITA SAHA and P. K. MAITI
Details:
INTRODUCTION
The bark- and timber-beetles belonging to the coleopterous family .Scolytidae of Sikkim, a Himalayan State of the e;lstern India, are extremely poorly known so far. As early as in 1904, Hagedorn published a paper dealing with some scolytid species from Sikkim and Japan. In this paper, some six species have been recorded from Darjeeling which is now outside the limit of the newly defined political State of Sikkim. However, only two species, namely Cnestus nitidipennis (Schedl) and Xyleborus asperipennis Eggers are reported from the area so far. The first one was originally described as Xyleborus nitidipennis from Java by Schedl (1951) which was subsequently reported from Sikkim by the same author in 1969, as a species under the genus Cnestus Sampson. The other species was reported by Schedl (1969) which had now been transferred to the genus Euwallacea Hopkins.
However, in a recent collection trip to Sikkim undertaken by Zoological Survey of India, a small collection was made available to us on which the present report is based. A total of 9 species belonging to 7 genera has been dealt with in the present paper with particular regard to their synonmy, distribution and taxonomic remarks, etc. All the species reported here are recorded for the first time from the area. The two known species referred to above were not available in the present collection.
The most common genus Xyleborus Eichhoff containing a large number of heterogenous group of species is now splitted into a number of genera (Wood, 1980). Accordingly, some species, so far included under this genus have been transferred to some other genera in the present study· as follows: The species Xyleborus interjectus Blandford has been transferred to the genus Euwallacea Hopkins, Xyleborus mus Eggers to Microperus Wood and Xyleborus artestriatus Eichhoff to Xyleborinus Reitter.