Eulechriops Faust, 1896: 91

Anzaldo, Salvatore S., 2017, Review of the genera of Conoderinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, ZooKeys 683, pp. 51-138 : 75-76

Eulechriops Faust, 1896: 91 Fig. 79

= Zygomicrus Casey, 1897: 679 [Syn.: Champion, 1906b: 109 (with doubt); Blatchley and Leng 1916: 423]. Type species: Eccoptus minutus LeConte, 1824 [by monotypy].

Type species.

Eulechriops erythroleucus Faust, 1896 [by subsequent designation: Sleeper 1963: 215].

Gender.

Masculine.

Diagnosis.

Eulechriops is a large and variable genus that can be identified from related genera by the following combination of characters: antennal funicular article 2 is not longer than 1; the mesoventrite has a carinate channel that can terminate on the meso- or metaventrite, but when closed on the mesoventrite it is not pronounced and sharply carinate (as in Turcopus ); the femora are not carinate and are ventrally unarmed; the profemora lack a striolate patch (as in Copturomorpha ); the pronotum lacks a strongly convex, arcuate pronotal carina (as in Macrolechriops ), and the hind legs are not sexually dimorphic (as in Cylindrocopturinus and Coturpus ).

Notes.

The genus was erected by Faust (1896: 91, in footnote) to accommodate Lechriops that have unarmed, non-carinate femora; Marshall (1922: 70) notes the lack of interdependence of these two characters. The type species was not originally designated by Faust and is given by Sleeper (1963) as the Venezuelan species E. erythroleucus , which was the first of three species described by Faust under his new genus - this was apparently overlooked in subsequent catalogs where the type species is listed as undesignated. Eulechriops is possibly the most diverse genus of Conoderine when considering the large number of undescribed species ( Hespenheide 2007), as well as the most speciose genus of Conoderinae in the Caribbean region with sixteen species described by Hustache (1932a) from Guadeloupe.

Keys .

Champion 1906b: 110 (for Central America), Hustache 1931: 285 (for Guadeloupe), Hespenheide 2003: 95 (for two U.S. species).

Phylogenetic relationships.

The genus is likely related to the genera Copturomorpha , Macrolechriops , Cylindrocopturinus , Turcopus , and Coturpus , most of which have a combination of the following characters: unarmed, non-carinate metafemora, a funicular article 2 that is not longer than article 1, and the rostral channel of the mesoventrite with relatively parallel longitudinal carinae. The species recognized as Eulechriops are unlikely to represent a monophyletic group ( Hespenheide 2005 b) and the species currently recognized in the genus can only be identified to Eulechriops by not having the distinguishing characters of the aforementioned related (and smaller) genera.

Host associations.

Mostly unknown. Two of the three U.S. species and related Mexican species (of the E. minutus species group of Hespenheide 2003) are associated with Quercus ( Sleeper 1963, Hespenheide 2003). Several undetermined Central American species have been reared from Cecropia , Coussapoa Aubl. and Pourouma Aubl. ( Urticaceae ) ( Jordal and Kirkendall 1998: 159, LaPierre 2002). Some South American species have been reared from Rubus L. ( Rosaceae Juss.) ( Hespenheide 2005), Manihot Mill. ( Euphorbiaceae Juss.) ( Monte 1938) and Gossypium L. ( Malvaceae ) ( Barber 1926).

Described species.

Fifty-seven species are known from the focal region (with one described by Hespenheide 2007 and one fossil species described by Poinar and Legalov 2013) and an additional 31 species are known from South America ( Wibmer and O’Brien 1986: 264, with one more described by Hespenheide 2005 b).

Range.

U.S.A., Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic ( Poinar and Legalov 2013, fossil), Guadeloupe; South America.

Figures

Figures 79 - 82. Lateral and dorsal habitus images of Lechriopini. 79 a-b Eulechriops minutus [ASUHIC 0024145] 80 a-b Euzurus ornativentris [ARTSYS 0000800]. 81 a-b Hoplocopturus varipes [SSAC 0001086] 82 a-b Lechriops vestitus [SSAC 0001114]. Scale bars = 2 mm.