Myoplatypus prenexus ( Wood, 1966 )

Kirkendall, Lawrence R. & Atkinson, Thomas H., 2023, The rare genus Myoplatypus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae): three new species, new reports, and first records for South America, Zootaxa 5351 (3), pp. 301-321 : 314-315

Myoplatypus prenexus ( Wood, 1966)

( Figs 2 , 9 )

New records. Seven males were trapped at a Costa Rican locality from February to April of 2002. These collections were part of the Project ALAS arthropod inventory, from the elevational transect on Volcán Barva (http://viceroy. eeb.uconn.edu/ALAS/ALAS.html): Heredia province, 6 km east-northeast of Vara Blanca , 1950–2050 m, 10° 11’ N, 84° 07’ W (10.183, -84.117), in montane wet forest. Five were from Malaise traps which were run from early February to late April 2002: 21 Feb.–10 Mar. (1), 22 Mar.–9 Apr. (2), 9–21 Apr. (2). Two were collected from pans placed at the bases of Malaise trap walls, hence categorized as flight intercept trap collections: 13–21 Feb. (1), 10–21 Apr. (1).

Comments. This species has only been collected from mountainous regions of Costa Rica. Specimens in Wood’s type series were from the Cerro de la Muerte mountains at ca 1700 m and from Volcan Poas at ca 2300 m; the host plant was not identified.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal, lateral, and angled posterior views of the declivities of four species of Myoplatypus. (A–C) M. biprorus. (D–F) M. prenexus. (G–I) M. connexus. (J–L) M. senexus. For sources of photos, see plates for the respective species; for sizes of species, see Table 1.

FIGURE 9. Myoplatypus prenexus (Wood), male holotype. (A) dorsal view. (B) Lateral view; one of the large, blunt backwardpointing spines is visible.(C) Frontal view.(D) Posterior view, showing declivity; the large, backward-pointing spines originating on ventrite 3 are visible. Photos: Smithsonian Institution (USNMENT00912049), CC0 license, by S.M. Smith.