Pseudolechriops alleni Hespenheide & LaPierre

Hespenheide, Henry A. & Lapierre, Louis M., 2006, A review of Pseudolechriops Champion (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Conoderinae), Zootaxa 1384, pp. 1-39 : 24-26

8. Pseudolechriops alleni Hespenheide & LaPierre , new species

Fig. 8 , a–d

Diagnosis: Black except tip of rostrum, tarsi, anterior and middle legs and basal ½ of posterior femora and apical ½ of posterior tibiae reddish brown; posterior tibiae slender, subcylindrical, not conspicuously flattened; from above slender, subcylindrical, with elytra not conspicuously wider than base of pronotum; setae on sides of pronotum sparse, irregularly distributed over most of surface; elytra with conspicuous transverse white fascia at base connected to weak sutural spot beyond middle; male with eyes more widely separated, males densely white setose at base of rostrum above antennal insertions; Costa Rica.

Description: Holotype male: Black, except apex of rostrum, antennae, base of hind femora and apex of hind tibiae, tarsi, anterior and middle legs reddish brown; from above ( Fig. 8 a), setae mostly hair like and white, elytra with transverse band of setae at bases of elytral intervals extending anterior to humeri to lateral margins, setae extending along intervals 1–2 to beyond middle, more conspicuous in a vague white spot beyond middle; pronotum with hair like setae, transparent and inconspicuous from above, except at sides with indistinct area of white setae; head glabrous above, front with dense white setae between eyes and extending on rostrum to antennal insertions; beneath and on sides moderately densely and uniformly covered with white setae, denser on epimera, sparser on middle of abdominal sternite 1 and on sternite 5; external faces of anterior and middle femora rather densely covered with fine white setae, setae somewhat sparser on posterior femora and tibiae; 2.6 mm long.

Head prominent, about 3/4 as long as pronotum, dorsally finely punctate, with medial carina, eyes arcuately rounded, as wide as pronotum at apex; from front ( Fig. 8 c), eyes rather widely separated for almost their entire length with shallow linear depression along midline, rostrum expanding basally with antennae inserted at middle, narrow and polished distal to antennal insertions, carinate along midline above antennal insertions, from side nearly straight. Pronotum from above nearly conical, base 1/3 wider than apex, from lateral view nearly flat, disc somewhat coarsely punctate, with fine medial carina and small glabrous spot along midline just before middle. Elytra together about 1/4 broader than pronotum, widest behind humeri, 1/3 longer than wide, lateral margins very weakly arcuate, narrowing only slightly to near apices, apices broadly, separately rounded. Mesosternum with well-defined groove with low ridges to receive rostrum continuing to excavate and carinate anterior margin of metasternum; metasternum narrowly incised along midline to abdomen. Abdomen with first and anterior 1/2 of second ventral sternite weakly depressed along midline; sternite 5 convex. Femora unarmed, posterior femora with very fine carina only at basal 1/4; posterior tibiae terete ( Fig. 8 b).

Holotype male: Costa Rica: Heredia Pr., Est. Biol. La Selva., 50–150 m, INBio-OET, 10o 26’ N 84o 01’ W, 0 9.05.2002, L.M. LaPierre, ex Cecropia insignis , ID #: (INBC).

Paratype: Same data as Holotype, except 10.1997, and “see records Cins 97.28” (CHAH).

Etymology: Named in honor of Robert L. Allen, nature photographer, author and biology professor in California, who encouraged LaPierre’s interest in insects during high school.

Discussion: The aedeagus of the teneral paratype is pale transparent brown, darker in the middle 1/3, and is illustrated in Figure 8 d, and the paratype is 2.7 mm long. Pseudolechriops alleni resembles P. janeae in having conspicuous white setae on the front and in the pattern of white setae on the elytra, but it is black rather than brown and the setae on the lateral portions of the pronotum are not condensed into a well-defined oblique stripe. This species has been reared from live petioles of juvenile Cecropia (see Table 1 and the Discussion section for more detailed information).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Pseudolechriops alleni, new species: a. dorsal habitus, b. lateral habitus and hind leg, c. front of head of male (a – c, line = 1.0 mm), d. dorsal (left) and lateral (right) views of entire male aedeagus (line = 0.5 mm).