Pheude punctatus Omar & Zhang

Omar, Youssef M., Zhang, Runzhi & Davis, Steven R., 2014, The new genus Pheude (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Cossoninae) with description of a new species from mainland China, ZooKeys 466, pp. 29-41 : 30-34

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Curculionidae

Pheude punctatus Omar & Zhang sp. n. Figs 1-4, 5-9, 10-13, 14-23, 24-32, 33-38

Description.

Male measurements. BL: 3.52-4.60 mm; EL: 2.09-2.56 mm; EWB: 1.33-1.65 mm; EWW: 1.38-1.73 mm; PN L: 1.04-1.38 mm; PNW: 1.00-1.25 mm; RL: 0.74-0.89 mm; RWA: 0.34-0.42 mm; RWB: 0.34-0.42 mm; AL: 0.85-1.03 mm; ASL: 0.38-0.44 mm; AFL: 0.34-0.38 mm; ACL: 0.21-0.25 mm; ACW: 0.15-0.19 mm. Female measurements. BL: 4.10 mm; EL: 2.00 mm; EWB: 1.52 mm; EWW: 1.55 mm; PN L: 1.14 mm; PNW: 1.12 mm; RL: 0.93 mm; RWA: 0.34 mm; RWB: 0.34 mm; AL: 0.94 mm; ASL: 0.36 mm; AFL: 0.32 mm; ACL: 0.26 mm; ACW: 0.13 mm.

Integument. Body densely, deeply punctured throughout (Fig. 24); Color brown to dark brown, opaque, one specimen rusty colored, dull (Figs 1-4).

Rostrum long, more than 2 × longer than wide, uneven dorsally, curved from point of anntenal insertion to anterior (apical) fourth of rostrum, apical fourth becoming more linear; dense, elongate, deep punctures throughout, punctures occasionally longitudinally confluent, coarse. Scrobe well-defined, wide, located along basal half of rostrum (Figs 25, 26).

Antenna moderately robust, wide; scape with elongate punctures; long, gently widening from base to apex, shorter than funicle and club combined; funicle slightly glossy, chestnut brown, compact, robust, articles three to five approximately equal in size; articles six and seven approximately equal in size, wider than long (Fig. 26); club glossy, chestnut brown (Figs 26, 27); club article 1 longer than others combined and glabrous; club articles 2 and 3 with yellowish, erect setae (Fig. 27), strongly compact, ovate.

Head oval, coarse, punctures nearly confluent in various circular and oblong shapes. Eyes dark brown to black, with coarse, convex facets (Fig. 25), widely separated dorsally, located laterally at base of rostrum. Temples swelling.

Pronotum with moderately elevated longitudinal carina from base to apex; laterally curved, dorsally convex, with deep, circular punctures, occasionally confluent, unevenly distributed with distance 0.5-1.0 × puncture diameter; each puncture with minute seta off-centered near margin (Fig. 28); basal pronotal margin bisinuate.

Scutellum fuscous, glossy, large.

Elytra arcuate, basal margin slightly concave, apex gently rounded and emarginate laterally; striae with deep circular punctures, diameter longer than distance between punctures; intervals: with evenly shaped and distributed punctures; punctures with median keel dividing each puncture and with minute setae slightly off-center on keel (Fig. 28); first interval dilated behind declivity to apex, with fine punctures and appressed, minute setae from declivity to apex; intervals four and six connate and fused at declivity (Fig. 24); humeri convex, limited by striae six to eight and intervals six to nine. Sclerolepidia along dorsal margin of metaventrite appearing closer to digitate type 2A (Figs 31, 32), in which sclerolepidia are divided into two distinct lobes, with each lobe divided into several short digits ( Lyal et al. 2006).

Abdominal terga. Median sclerites developed on T3-6 (Figs 19, 30), small, round spiracular sclerites on all tergites; numerous small sclerites laterally, between median and spiracular sclerites, and scattered medially from T1-2; microtrichial fields present along T3-6 posterior to median sclerites.

Legs coarse, femora robust, widening along apical 3/4; tibiae strong, with elliptical, deep punctures; unci large, curved, originating at outer apical angle and small premucro on inner apical angle (Figs 33-36); tarsus article 3 cylindrical, subglabrous; article 5 long, slightly curved (Fig. 38); tarsal claws (pretarsal ungues) simple, joined basally, small (Fig. 37).

Ventral areas. Prosternum densely, deeply punctured; distance between procoxae approximately 0.5 × diameter of coxa; procoxal cavities closed, procoxae separated by distance ca. one third of diameter of coxa, positioned close to posterior margin of prosternum; mesoventrite with sparse, deep, circular punctures. Ventrites with sparse, deep, circular punctures, ventrites 1 and 2 slightly elevated, with circular punctures separated by 1-3 × puncture diameter, more convex than other ventrites, posterior margin of ventrite 1 convex medially; 2 slightly narrower than 1; 3 and 4 subequal in width, narrow, sparsely and shallowly punctured; 5 sparsely and shallowly punctured, with large, oval convexity medially.

Male terminalia and genitalia (Figs 5-9). Spiculum gastrale broadly curved, with narrow apex; base slender. Eighth sternite not divided, bearing a few setae near postero-lateral margins. Tegmen complete; manubrium short, slightly less than 0.5 × length of tegmen. Penis with median struts slightly longer than median lobe; apical margin of median lobe bearing sparse setae; endophallus (internal sac) bearing numerous minute setae/microtrichia near apex.

Female terminalia and genitalia (Figs 10-13). Gonocoxites of typical form; coxites oblong, somewhat quadrate; styli elongate, narrow. Spermatheca with globular base; apex strongly curved. Eighth tergite with slight rounded concavity along margin at middle and row of small setae along apical margin. Eighth sternite with base strongly bifurcate; spiculum short, approximately 0.5 × length of base.

Material examined.

Holotype. ♂, China: Guangdong Province: Xiancun, Guangzhou; Col. Unknown; VIII 1974; collected from Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willdenow; Paratypes. 7♂ and 1♀, same data as holotype.

Distribution.

Guangdong Province, southern China.

Host plant.

The type series was collected from the tree Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willdenow ( Euphorbiaceae ), but it is not known if this is a larval host of the weevil.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a Latin past participle and used to refer to the punctate body of the species.

Sexual dimorphism.

No strong differences are apparent between sexes other than the slightly longer and narrower rostrum of the female and the concave first and second ventrites in the male.