Usingerius, Zimmerman, 1942

Zimmerman, Elwood C., 1942, Curculionidae of Guam, Insects of Guam I, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, pp. 73-146 : 94

Genus USINGERIUS , new genus

Head subglobular, interocular area only about one half as broad as base of rostrum; eyes anterior, their fore margins at base of rostrum, large, coarsely faceted, strongly convex, separated beneath by breadth of rostrum. Rostrnm slender and elongate, longer than prothorax in both sexes; antennae inserted just beyond middle in female, and within apical third in male; scrobes lateral, extending to eyes; mandibles dentate and decussate. Antennae with scape very slender, filiform, rather abruptly but not strongly clavate at the apex, reaching to eyes in both sexes, obviously longer than funicle; funicle only 6-segmented, only first segment distinctly elongated; club 4-segmented, not strongly compacted. Srntellum well developed, pubescent. Elytra broadly ovate, distinctly broader at subrectangular humeri than base of prothorax; ten striate, tentl1 stria complete; without posterior calli; each elytron individually rounded at apex. Wings functional. Legs rather stout; femora stout, strongly but not abruptly clavate, each armed with a large tooth at distal third, hind pair reaching to or slightly beyond hind margin of fourth ventrite; tibiae slightly compressed, slightly sinuous in outline, with a fine dorsal carina, without a distinct apical mucro, but witha TODO minute vestige of one on hind tibiae of male; tarsi with segment 2about as long as1, trapezoidal, 3 about as long as 2, about twice as broad as long, deeply bilobed,4 TODO projecting for about half its length beyond apex of 3, claws deeply and strongly cleft. Sternum with prosternum plain before globose coxae, distance between fore margin and coxae about equal to that between fore and mid coxae, fore coxae practically contiguous, cavities extremely narrowly separated, almost confluent; mesosternum with intercoxal process sloping strongly ventro-caudad, narrowing posteriorly, roughly subtriangular, its apex about half as broad as a coxa; side pieces distinct; metasternum between mid and hind coxae about as long as breadth of a mesocoxa, episternum broad, suture distinct. Venter with intercoxal process strongly convex, about as broad as length of a coxa at trochanter; coxae reaching to metepisterna only; ventrites 1 and 2 fused, but suture not obliterated; five ventrites subequal in length along a line behind trochanters.

Genotype: Usingerius marnlatus , new species.

This is a rather aberrant genus because of its lack of distinct apical mucrones on the tibiae. It has, in part, this character together with the 6-segmented funicle in common with Amblycnemus , but the genera are not allied. These two characters in combination with the cleft claws, strongly toothed femora, structure of the head, rostrum and venter will adequately distinguish the genus. The head, rostrum, and antennae recall Nanophyes ; but on that genus, in addition to other differences, the claws are connate and not cleft and the tibiae are mucronate; it belongs to a different subfamily.

I dedicate this genus to my friend Dr. R. L. Usinger in recognition of his researches in Guam.