Copturus Schoenherr, 1825: c.586

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 : 72-73

Copturus Schoenherr, 1825: c.586 Figs 6 , 76

= Zurus Heller, 1895: 5 (non Amyot, 1846). Type species: Zurus aurivillianus Heller, 1895 [by subsequent designation: O’Brien and Wibmer 1982: 8].

= Neozurus O’Brien & Wibmer, 1982: 168 [replacement name for Zurus ] [Syn.: Wibmer & O’Brien 1986: 5].

Type species.

Poecilma papaveratum Germar, 1824 [by original designation].

Gender.

Masculine.

Diagnosis.

Copturus is very similar to Microzurus with a concealed scutellum and a closed receptacle of the mesoventrite that is laterally flanged near the apex (Fig. 6 ), and can be distinguished from Microzurus by the ventrally toothed pro- and mesofemora, larger tarsal claws, and flattened (not costate) elytral intervals. The first two funicular articles vary in length among the species, with the second article being longer than or subequal to the first ( Champion 1906b: 87).

Notes.

The usage of this generic epithet has a particularly complicated history, as explained by Muñiz-Vélez and Ordóñez-Reséndiz (2010). The first usage of the name Copturus was as a subgenus of Zygops ( Schoenherr 1825: col. 586), where the type species was designated as Poecilma papaveratum Germar, 1824. The subgenus was elevated to genus by Dejean (1835), and dozens of additional species were described to the genus (e.g. Schoenherr 1838, 1845, Kirsch 1875a, b). Heller (1895) created several genera out of specimens included in Copturus including the genus Zurus Heller, 1895 for the species of Copturus that have a concealed scutellum, second funicular article that is barely longer than the first, and a unique, horseshoe-shaped modification to the mesoventrite. Among the species moved from Copturus into Zurus was Poecilma papaveratum , which Heller recognized as the previously designated type species of Copturus . Neozurus O’Brien & Wibmer, 1982 was created as a replacement name for Zurus ( O’Brien and Wibmer 1982: 4) which was preoccupied by Zurus Amyot, 1846 and was later synonymized with Copturus as an unjustified replacement name ( Wibmer and O’Brien 1986, Alonso-Zarazaga and Lyal 1999: 111). As a result, all species treated as Copturus by Heller became newly recombined as Macrocopturus , one of Heller’s original subgenera of Copturus elevated to genus ( Wibmer and O’Brien 1986: 17), and all species treated as Zurus by Heller and subsequent authors until Wibmer and O’Brien (1986) became newly recombined as Copturus , returning the type species Poecilma papaveratum to its original genus.

Keys .

Champion 1906: 87 (to Zurus of Central America), Heller 1895: 5 (to Zurus of Central and South America).

Phylogenetic relationships.

Hespenheide (1984: 315) suggests a relationship with Microzurus , Euzurus , and Cylindrocopturinus . Of those three, it is most similar to Microzurus , the only differences given by Champion (1906: 87) being the ventrally toothed pro- and mesofemora, the larger body size and comparatively proportionate tarsal claws. Euzurus also has a scutellum concealed by a posterior lobe of the pronotum, but the manner of it’s concealment differs from Copturus and Microzurus : where the posterior pronotal lobe of Copturus and Microzurus subducts the elytra, completely concealing the scutellum, in Euzurus the posterior lobe is only extended posteriorly and not below the elytral base, leaving the scutellum visible in posterior view. Despite this difference, Lyal et al. report Type II sclerolepidia to be present in Copturus , Microzurus , and Euzurus , which, among the sclerolepidia-bearing lechriopines, is only also known in the very different Psomus . See entry on Cylindrocopturinus for the present interpretation of the relationship of that genus. The relationship of Copturus and Microzurus within the Lechriopini and whether or not Euzurus is found to be the sister-genus is not easily hypothesized by the external characters examined thus far.

Host associations.

The widespread Central and South American species Copturus aurivillianus (Heller, 1895) is reported by Costa-Lima (1956: 219) to bore stems of Canavalia Adans., Dolichos L., and Phaseolus L. ( Fabaceae ) as larvae in Brazil.

Described species.

Six species are known from the focal region and an additional 27 species are known only in South America.

Range.

Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Guadeloupe; South America.

Figures

Figures 1 - 9. Variation in the mesoventrite. 1 Trichodocerus brevilineatus [ARTSYS 0000616] showing a prosternal rostral " sheath " with the sides converging below the procoxae, the transverse ridge anterior to the mesocoxae and the region of the mesoventrite posterior to the ridge with dense yellow scales 2 Lobops bonvouloiri [ARTSYS 0000527] showing a cup-shaped receptacle for receiving the rostrum 3 Piazurus trifoveatus [SSAC 0001118] with an " open " channel on the mesoventrite 4 Pseudopinarus condyliatus [SSAC 0001116] with an " open " channel on the mesoventrite 5 Acoptus suturalis [ASUHIC 0016914] showing a flat, unmodified mesoventrite 6 Copturus sanguinicollis [ASUHIC 0086638] showing a closed receptacle on the mesoventrite with lateral flanges 7 Cylindrocopturinus pictus [SSAC 0001288] showing a rostral channel of the mesoventrite formed by relatively parallel carinae and no posterior termination 8 Euzurus ornativentris [ARTSYS 0000796] 9 Hoplocopturus javeti [SSAC 0001289] with an inverted U-shaped carina and the region posterior to the carina invaginated.

Figures 75 - 78. Lateral and dorsal habitus images of Lechriopini. 75 a-b Copturomorpha sp. [ASUHIC 0086641] 76 a-b Copturus aurivillianus [ASUHIC 0024140] 77 a-b Coturpus arcuatus [ARTSYS 0000531] 78 a-b Cylindrocopturinus pictus [SSAC 0001288]. Scale bars = 2 mm.