Elytroteinus vitiensis, Kuschel, 2008

Kuschel, Guillermo, 2008, Curculionoidea (weevils) of New Caledonia and Vanuatu: Basal families and some Curculionidae, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 197, pp. 99-250 : 214-215

Elytroteinus vitiensis n. sp.

Fig. 102

DESCRIPTION. — Integument dark or reddish brown, sparsely covered for most part with piliform or narrow ochrous scales, and some white scales on top of first oblique row of tubercles on elytra.

Head behind squamose area finely asperate with minute granules, derm at scaly area shiny, smooth, lacking a median carina and without a bare dot on either side. Frons and rostrum nearly bare, with small, sparse scales; frontal fovea minute, punctiform, lateral furrows conspicuous, bare, converging slightly towards vertex, extending to level of fovea, at top part as wide as frons between eyes.

Prothorax 1.4 x wider than long, bisinuous at base, rounded on sides, somewhat unevenly convex across owing to three shallow, longitudinal depressions, scales in the depressions appressed and slightly diverging, those on the areas between depressions longer and raised; derm largely smooth, moderately shiny but apical collar and areas between depressions with scattered small granules, sides by lateral margin with sparse, larger granules.

Elytra 1.09 x wider than prothorax, 1.19 x longer than combined width, distinctly bisinuous at base, evenly rounded on sides, without an obvious sinus, with two parallel arcs of tubercles, first one curving from behind humeral areas on interstriae 5 to about middle of suture, the other shortly behind with tubercles on interstriae 3, 5 and 7; sparse granules on suture, denser granules at base of interstriae 3, 5 and humeral angle. Striae shallow, stria 7 complete, 10 obsolescent, traceable as far as posterior end of metepisternum.

Metepisternal suture raised to a blunt carina. Ventrites 1 andf 2 broadly impressed in male, remainder of abdomen at markedly different level in relation to ventrite 2, turned up considerably under elytra. All femora lacking a tooth.

Length: 3.8-4.0 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype male, 4.0 x 2.3 mm, data as above, plus 2 paratypes, NZAC.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fiji. Viti Levu : Nandarivatu, 1000 m, 3 males, 17.X.1977, ex litter sample 77/121, G. Kuschel. 3 specimens .

HOSTPLANTS. — Unknown. The sample of sifted leaf litter and chopped wood was taken on top of the narrow ridge above the village of Nandarivatu.

ETYMOLOGY. — The specific epithet is a patronymic name based on the name of the island the species was collected from.

REMARKS. — The relationship of E. vitiensis with E. geophilus is unquestionably close. Its salient differences are: furrows on the sides of the forehead much more conspicuous, a pronotum with a slightly uneven disc, distinctly bisinuous base and presence of granules, elytra with arcs of tubercles, a metepisternal raised suture, and fore femora without a tooth.