Pandeleteius peruvianus Voss

Howden, Anne T., 2008, The species of Pandeleteius Schoenherr of coastal Chile and Peru (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), Zootaxa 1773, pp. 55-62 : 61

Pandeleteius peruvianus Voss

( Fig. 20 )

Pandeleteius peruvianus Voss 1954: 230 .

Diagnosis (based on Voss’s description). Length 3.5–4.7 mm. Scales predominantly gray, head and thorax medially with wide brown vitta, elytra beside suture with brown spots, apical third with narrow, C-shaped oblique band; brown color in part somewhat “copperglazed”. Setae very short, curved. Frons twice as wide as length of eyes, eyes slightly convex. Antennal club twice as long as wide, as long as segments 2 to 7 of funicle. Thorax almost as long as wide, greatest width anteriorly of middle, sides moderately strongly rounded; basal and apical constrictions cylindrical, of equal width; disc finely and not densely punctured among the scales. Elytral declivity in one sex in profile slightly concave and apex more attenuate; sutural interval at summit of declivity with setae longer, scales paler; intervals much wider than striae. Fore femur much more enlarged than the others, easily half as enlarged as width of thorax. Tibiae straight, fore tibia slightly curved inwards at apex and drawn out in a spine, inner edge sharply dentate.

Remarks. Voss compared P. peruvianus with P. variegatus , the only Pandeleteius species known from coastal Peru at that time, but apparently did not see a specimen of P. variegatus (“... P. variegatus MIGHT possess an even wider head.., ...the peculiar curved elytral apices in one sex MAY be missing in this species...”, Voss 1954: 231). Because his knowledge of P. v a r i e g a t u s was limited to the illustration and description, his comment on its wider head is understandable (see P. variegatus ).

The characteristics of P. peruvianus that suggest that its description may apply to baccharis are: 1) elytral declivity slightly concave, apex more attenuate “in one sex”, 2) the longer setae on the sutural interval at the summit of the declivity with longer setae and paler scales IN BOTH SEXES, and 3) the brown color in part somewhat “copperglazed”. Descriptors that do not seem to apply to P. baccharis are: 1) thorax with sides moderately strongly rounded, and 2) fore tibia drawn out in a spine.

Because of the Second World War, the publication of Voss’s (1954) work on the Curculilonidae of Peru was delayed for years after it was written and after the types were destroyed. Thus, P. baccharis Kuschel was published earlier and its name has priority over peruvianus and distinctus , whether or not these are synonymous with baccharis . Specimens of Pandeleteius from southwestern Peru are needed to determine the status of P. peruvianus . The type series was also “destroyed in the war” (Voss, in litt., 22 May 1963: Weidner 1976:129); the label dates are “Südperu: Hac.[Hacienda?] (28.3.1936, Hamb. Südperu-Expedition)”; Viscas- Tal, “in 1000 Höhe (5.4.1936, Hamb. Südperu-Expedition)”.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Map of southern Peru and northern Chile showing known distribution of Pandeleteius species. P. variegatus (Pierce), purple; P. peruvianus Voss, yellow; P. distinctus (Voss), green; P. baccharis Kuschel, red.