Piezonotus latiscapus Heller

Riedel, Alexander, 2024, Taxonomic review of weevils of the tribe Celeuthetini, mainly from Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae), Zootaxa 5464 (1), pp. 1-75 : 57-58

Piezonotus latiscapus Heller

Piezonotus latiscapus Heller, 1896: 18 , fig. 10. Type locality: Mt. Lompobattang .

Platyspartus latiscapus (Heller) : Faust 1897: 247–248.

Description. Length. Pronotum plus elytron 12.0– 14.7 mm. Body ( Fig. 32a ) elongate. Black, legs ferruginous. Integument dull coriaceous; pronotum densely granulate, other parts sparsely granulate; scattered with minute, appressed, greenish, microgranulate scales; with interspersed, suberect setae. Head elongate, with angulate transverse sulcus separating rostral base, joined by median furrow on forehead. Eyes convex; separated from apex of prothorax by ca. 1.2 X length of eye. Rostrum 1.33 X as long as wide, sides subparallel; dorsum and sides rugose; apical declivity swollen, punctate, with sunk-in scales; dorsal profile subangulate, forming knob behind antennal insertion. Antenna. Scape flattened; from base markedly widening, anteriorly laminate; weakly rugose; with sparse long bristles. Funicle with article 2 slightly shorter (0.80 X) than article 1. Pronotum subglobose, slightly longer than wide (1.05 X). Metanepisternum nude. Elytra elongate, 2.56 X as long as wide; striae indistinct; dorso-apically extended over concave apex; in dorsal aspect apex medially incised; weakly granulate, with sparse small scales, sparsely setose. Legs. Protibia near middle ventrally weakly denticulate. Venter. Procoxae subcontiguous; distance to apex 0.3 X distance to base of prothorax. Mesoventral process trapezoid, 1.28 X as long as posterior width. Abdomen. Male / female ventrites 1–2 ca. 1.5 X / 2.4 X longer than ventrites 3–5; female ventrites 3–5 exposed, well-chitinized, without modifications. Genitalia. Penis ( Fig. 32b ) with apex pointed, asymmetrical; ostium shifted to the left. In basal half body containing elongate endophallic sclerite. Apodeme ca. 1.6 X as long as body of penis. Endophallus long. Transfer apparatus crescent-shaped, ca. 0.4 X as long as body of penis.

Material examined. INDONESIA, S-Sulawesi, Gn. Lompobatang: 6 exx, ARC6637 (GenBank # OR557452) , ARC5225 (not sequenced) , Malakaji, Parambintolo, 1600–2130 m, 22-IX-1997 ( ARC in SMNK) .

Notes. Presumably, the unusual body form of this species prompted Faust (1897) to erect the monotypic genus Platyspartus . However, in all the molecular phylogenies at hand it is deeply nested within Piezonotus , closely related to other Piezonotus species from Mt. Lompobattang. The series of syntypes at SMTD was examined to confirm the identification of the specimens cited above.

Figures

FIGURE 32. Piezonotus latiscapus Heller. (a) Habitus (b) Penis.