Pandeleteius griseus (Voss)

Howden, Anne T., 2011, On some species of Pandeleteius Schoenherr, 1834, in South America south of the tenth parallel (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Entiminae: Tanymecini), Zootaxa 2977, pp. 50-60 : 51-54

Pandeleteius griseus (Voss)

Figs. 1, 2, 7–9, 22

Hadromeropsis (Pandeleteinus) griseus Voss, 1954: 233 . Type series from Südperu: Aina, 1400 m. The series was “destroyed in the war” (Voss, in litteris, 22 May 1963; Weidner, 1976:129). Neotype here designated: male, labeled “ Peru: Madre de Dios / Puerto Maldonado / 3.I.1984 / leg. L. Huggert” and with my neotype label (ZMUL).

Pandeleteius griseus (Voss) ; Howden 1982: 2 (new combination).

Diagnosis. Body thick in profile. Epistoma large, conspicuous, apex reaching four-fifths to interantennal line; anterior edge of epistoma one-half width of rostrum; sides of epistoma keeled, glabrous or with fewer than seven small, shiny scales. Elytron with intervals 3, 5, and 7 very slightly elevated, more so on females; lacking distinct apical umbo. Female with elytral declivity depressed in profile; sutural interval at summit of declivity distinctly but moderately produced. Protibia of both sexes slightly to distinctly curved, inner edge with fine setae each longer than width of protibia (male) or shorter than width of protibia (female). Male genitalia: aedeagus with dorsolateral edges acute, sharp; surface between edges granulate; ventral surface with carina on proximal half; internal sac in form of thread-like tube.

Description of Neotype. Male, slightly teneral, length 3.8 mm, width l. 5 mm. Dorsal surface with pale tan scales; prothorax with indistinct median vitta; elytron with white scales forming circular spot on interval 5 basad of middle and an irregular “V” on declivity from suture to stria 5, circular spot bordered with darker tan scales, remainder of elytron slightly mottled. Scales: contiguous, lacking margins, white scales often imbricate. Rostrum: slightly longer than wide; dorsolateral edges well marked, approximately parallel, very slightly curved inward; sides and scrobe narrowly visible in dorsal view; sides of epistoma glabrous, tapering to point at frons. Interantennal line at half distance to interocular line, glabrous for width of two scales. Epistoma large, conspicuous, apex reaching four-fifths to interantennal line; anterior edge of epistoma one-half width of rostrum; sides of epistoma keeled, glabrous or with fewer than seven small, shiny scales. Scrobe deep, not reaching ventral surface, separated from eye by three scales. Antenna: scape reaching middle of eye, funicle with antennomeres 1 and 2 subequal; club spindleform, slender, as long as last five antennomeres of funicle combined. Eye prominent, almost hemispherical in dorsal view, very slightly eliptical in lateral view, separated from dorsal surface by one or more scales. Prothorax: as wide as long; in dorsal outline, sides almost evenly arcuate, 1.3 times wider over procoxae than across basal constriction; in profile, apical constriction 2.0 times longer than basal constriction, disc almost flat. Pronotum with large foveae separated by more than own diameter; with 9 or 10 postocular setae arising from slight thickening of edge of prothorax. Elytra: 2.3 times longer than prothorax, 1.2 times wider across humeri than across prothorax, 1.7 times longer than wide. In dorsal view, sides of elytra subparallel, apical umbo not evident, apex broadly rounded. In profile, elytra very slightly arcuate basally, gradually elevated to middle, thence gradually arcuate to indefinite summit of declivity; declivity oblique, vertical opposite intervals 9 and 10. On widest part of elytra, intervals 3, 5, and 7 very slightly wider, slightly, if at all, more convex than other intervals. Setae uniserial on intervals, inconspicuous, same color and size as adjacent scales, completely arched, sparse, except larger on intervals 9 and 10 on declivity. Legs: profemur enlarged from extreme ends, 1.5 times longer than metafemur, 2.8 times wider than metafemur; 0.8 times as wide as prothorax at apical constriction; in profile, inner surface indistinctly nodulate, each nodule covered by one scale. Protibia slightly bowed, inner edge with five small, equidistant teeth and a mucro; distally with very small tubercles each with a slender seta perpendicular to surface, as long as 1.5 times width, gradually changing proximally to arcuate, shorter than width of protibia. Protarsomere 1 1.6 times longer than protarsomere 2; protarsomere 2 triangular, protarsomere 5 1.5 times longer than protarsomere 2. Ventrite 5 2.0 times as wide as long, apex truncate-emarginate, evenly convex, apical fourth without scales. Genitalia of neotype not dissected.

FIGURES 1–6. Pandeleteius , adult males; 1–2. P. g r i s e u s (Voss), 1, dorsal view; 2, lateral view ( Peru). 3–4. P. p l a t e n s i s (Brèthes), 3, dorsal view; 4, lateral view. 5–6. P. s a h l b e rg i Howden, 5, dorsal view; 6, lateral view ( Brazil).

Variation. Males, length 3.4–4.4 mm, width 1.2–1.7 mm; females, length 3.5–4.8 mm, width 1.3–2.0 mm. Color pattern of elytra variable, apparently not associated with locality, somewhat less pattern in males than in females. Three independent patterns: 1) overall surface of elytra almost uniformly tan or gray to slightly mottled; 2) interval 5 on basal third with no change in color of scales (infrequent) or with spot of few-to-many imbricate white scales, or with oblique fascia of white scales from stria 3 to stria 6 or 7; white markings sometimes encircled with dark scales; 3) declivity with scattered white scales, or with oblique white fascia from summit of declivity to stria 7. Elytra of males 2.1–2.4 times longer than prothorax, 1.0–1.2 times wider across humeri than across prothorax; elytra of females 2.3–2.8 times longer than prothorax, 1.1–1.3 times wider across humeri than across prothorax. Elytra of females in dorsal view with sides divergent to apical third, thence broadly rounded, apex triangular beneath striae 4 and 5, without apical umbo; profile of disc similar to that of male or more arcuate, summit of declivity distinct at apical twelfth, declivity concave in profile. Procoxae of females separated by distance approximately equal to width of antennal club. Profemur of male 2.1–2.8 times wider than femur; female 1.6–2.2 times wider than metafemur. Protibia of both sexes slightly to distinctly arcuate, inner edge with 5–8 teeth; inner edge of females with tubercles smaller than those of male or absent, long setae shorter than width of protibia, but longer than teeth. Ventrite 5 of female 2.0 times wider than long, apex subtruncate, explanate margin entire, almost flat with pair of shallow basal depressions, scales covering one-half to two-thirds of surface. Genitalia of male (N=4); aedeagus with dorsolateral edges acute, sharp; surface between edges granulate; ventral surface with carina on proximal half; 1.2–1.4 mm; aedeagal apodemes 0.7–0.8 mm long. Internal sac slender tube greater than 0.25 mm (N=1) or approximately 1.0 mm (N=1) with proximal fifth sclerotized, very slender. Tegmen length 0.8 mm. Genitalia of female (N=3); coxites with ventral baculus 1.25 mm long; vagina with two pairs of proximal blades, ventral pair 0.7–0.9 mm long, dorsal pair 0.5 mm long, without sclerites; spermathecal duct 1.4–1.6 mm long. Sternite 8 1.6–1.7 mm long; straight in dorsal view.

Specimens examined. 84 males, 113 females. ARGENTINA. Chaco: Resistencia; El Zapaliar. Corrientes: Laguna Brava, E. Corrientes; Laguna Totora, San Cosme. Formosa: W. Clorinda, N.W. Formosa, NW Pirané. Salta: General Ballivian. Santa Fe: Las Garzas, NE Reconquista. BOLIVIA. Beni: Reyes, Trinidad. La Paz: Calisaya, Encuentro. Santa Cruz: Buena Vista, Ichilo, La Sierra (at Rio Pirai), Portachuelo, Potrerillos de Guenda, Quatro Ojos, Samaipata, Santa Cruz, Warnes. BRAZIL. Goyas: Jatahy, Sarandi. Paraná: Porto Rico. PARA- GUAY. Alto Paraná: Embascada, Hohenau. Asuncion: Boquerón, Cué, Itapua, Paraguari, San Bernardino, San Lorenzo. Caaguzu: Cnel. Oviedo. Central: Nemby. Guaira: Col. Independencia, Villarrica. Itapua: S. Lorenzo.

La Cordillera: Caacupé. Paraguari: Ybcuí. San Pedro: San Estanislao, B. Acerval. Santa Cruz: Buena Vista. PERU. Madre de Dios: Puerto Maldonado.

This species is known from five countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru ( Fig. 22 ).

Notes on the Neotype: The collection locality data for the type series is given as “Südperu: Aina in 1400 m Höhe (7., 8.5, 1936, Hamb. Südperu-Expedition” ( Voss 1954). The specimen chosen for the neotype is from a locality nearest to that of Voss’s type locality. A female with data identical to that of the neotype is a teneral specimen missing its abdomen, but otherwise in good condition. Voss’s (1954) Figure 6 is an excellent rendition of a male including its tibial setae.

In the description of the neotype, I have included details of all the features that Voss used to facilitate comparisons in his description of P. g r i s e u s. The only character state of the neotype that does not appear to be compatible with Voss’s description is the presence of a color pattern. However, color patterns vary considerably, as shown in the discussion of the variation within the species. Thus, a uniformly gray (“gleichmassig greis”) male is within the range of variation, and, indeed, several old male specimens from Argentina ( Formosa), Bolivia (Santa Cruz), and Paraguay, differ only in vague white markings which, to the naked eye, may appear to be gray.

Taxonomic notes. The carina on the ventral surface of the aedeagus is distinctive within the species group. A similar carina is seen in other species groups, e.g., P. hercules Howden and an undescribed species from Ecuador.

Compared with other species of Pandeleteius , P. griseus bears a superficial resemblance to P. maculatus (Hustache) , which occasionally overlaps the range of P. g r is e u s. I have seen no males of P. maculatus , but females are recognizable by the following combination of characters: length 3.3–3.7 mm; rostrum with all scales apicad of interantennal line, smooth, shiny, slightly metallic; epistoma reaching less than one half to interantennal line; elytral declivity in profile evenly rounded to apex; elytral apex lacking apical umbo; and, vagina with one pair of small sclerites instead of two pairs of proximal blades.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Map of collection localities for Pandeleteius griseus (black dots) and P. s a h l b e rg i (grey dots).