Cycadophila (Cycadophila) Xu, Tang & Skelley

Skelley, Paul, Xu, Guang, Tang, William, Lindström, Anders J., Marler, Thomas, Khuraijam, Jibankumar Singh, Singh, Rita & Rich, Stephen, 2017, Review of Cycadophila Xu, Tang & Skelley (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Pharaxonothinae) inhabiting Cycas (Cycadaceae) in Asia, with descriptions of a new subgenus and thirteen new species, Zootaxa 4267 (1), pp. 1-63 : 12-15

Cycadophila (Cycadophila) Xu, Tang & Skelley , nominate subgenus

Type species. Cycadophila debaonica Xu, Tang & Skelley, 2015 , by original designation.

Adult diagnosis. Cycadophila (Cycadophila) is distinguished externally from the subgenus Strobilophila by the thin lateral pronotal carinae in lateral view with single row of punctation, by the lack of stout setae on the lateral margin of the protibia or with only a few setae at the extreme apex and with sexual dimorphism present or not, when present appearing on various legs.

Adult description. Length 3.04–6.95 mm, width 1.15–2.80 mm. Body: form elongate, not strongly parallel sided; dorsoventrally flattened to weakly convex; widest at middle of elytra; color reddish-brown or dark brown, with or without color pattern; dorsal punctation moderately coarse, evenly distributed, dense. Head: dorsal surface of head relatively flat to convex in profile; convex between eyes, clypeus flat to convex apically; some with vague depressions basally; clypeus truncate anteriorly; supraocular striae length variable; transverse occipital ridge present (vertexal line); stridulatory file on occipital region of head present, one on each side, widely separated, parallel; eyes prominent, coarsely faceted; usually lacking lateral temple behind eye. Antenna: antennomere I–VI length subequal to width, moniliform in most; antenna with 3-segmented club. Mouthparts: terminal maxillary palpomere cylindrical, acuminate at apex, elongate, 2–3× longer than preceding palpomere; terminal labial palpomere flattened, roughly oval in shape, 3/4 length of terminal maxillary palpomere; mentum with large triangular base defined by carina; lateral pockets in front of carina evident or not; submentum and gula relatively flat, suture not obvious, medially with weak to distinct depression bearing setose punctures. Pronotum: pronotal anterior marginal bead complete, fine; pronotal anterior margin near eyes emarginate, anterior angles rounded; pronotal basal pits present, associated longitudinal groove distinct, groove approximately 1/4 pronotal length; secondary transverse groove between pits present, broad, curving along posterior margin except medially where slightly separated from margin; pronotal lateral carinae evenly arcuate, lacking modifications; pronotal lateral carinal bead narrow. Scutellar shield: broadly pentagonal. Elytra: finely setose, indistinct; with coarse, dense interval punctures; elytra with marginal bead basally. Prosternum: mostly flat, depressed or not posterior of coxa; procoxal cavities narrowly open; pronotal hypomeron with longitudinal striations, weak in some. Legs: protibia dilated distally or not, angled laterally but without apical tooth; ventral apical margin with or without fringe of stout ventrally directed, tooth-like spinules, some present on disto-lateral margin; meso- and metafemora elongate oval, meso- and metatibiae moderately angularly dilated at apex. Abdomen: ventrites I–IV each with pair of long erect sensory hairs located adjacent to midline (often abraded). Sexual dimorphism: when evident, present in variously developed legs of males, being more robust, dilated distally or variously curved. Male genitalia: median lobe and tegmen flattened laterally, weakly twisted basally; penile struts not fused, separate for entire length, each 5–6× longer than median lobe; flagellum shorter than penile strut, not coiled; spiculum gastrale asymmetrical. Female genitalia: gonocoxites triangular, gradually narrowed posteriorly; apices of gonocoxites laterally with concave impression and setae. Gonostylus small, inserted at the concave impression of the gonocoxite, with several short setae and one long seta. Valvifers expanded posteriorly. Spermatheca elongated, C-shaped.

Remarks. Cycadophila (Cycadophila) presently comprises four species groups as diagnosed below: the lata group, fupingensis group, nigra group and papua group. Preliminary morphological and molecular data show these to be monophyletic groups, but further data and analyses are needed to substantiate relationships amongst them before they can be confidently assigned into separate subgenera. They are readily distinguished from each other by characters in the key and by diagnostic characters presented in the following accounts. The external morphological diversity of these groups makes a simple diagnosis of C. ( Cycadophila ) as presented here difficult.