Cnemidothrix notonesiotes, Kuschel, 2008

Kuschel, Guillermo, 2008, Curculionoidea (weevils) of New Caledonia and Vanuatu: Basal families and some Curculionidae, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 197, pp. 99-250 : 166

Cnemidothrix notonesiotes n. sp.

Fig. 65

DESCRIPTION. — Derm black, shiny, tarsi and last three ventrites reddish brown. Scales present on most of body, absent from apex of rostrum, funicle, tarsi and middle of abdomen, scales close to each other, but usually not contiguous, and overlapping only on a spot at base of interstria 5, rather weakly pitted, grey, mostly with metallic sheen of a pale pink; setae appressed, a little longer and semierect on elytral declivity; a tuft of long setae absent from sides of elytra; hind tibiae and tarsi with sparse, long, soft hairs, middle tibiae lacking such hairs.

Striae about as wide as interstriae. Sides of elytra somewhat variable, with a rather distinct lateral lobe, similar to that of the male of C. barbipes , present in one specimen, the other more like that of the female in C. barbipes . Middle and hind tibiae are hardly thickened basad from middle.

Male: tergite 7 broadly rounded at apex (instead of subtruncate or subemarginate). Aedeagal apodemes twice as long as body (instead of thrice or more), in ventral view arising from lateral angle of body and not or hardly incurved (instead of arising inward from lateral angle and being strongly incurved). Internal sac with two coarsely granulated areas, one at a distance twice the length of pedon, the other area three times the length of pedon.

Female: unknown.

Length: 7.0- 7.2 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype male, 7.0 x 3.4 mm, data as above , BPBM. Paratype with NZAC .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Vanuatu. Aneityum : 2 males, Analgaohat, 0-200 m, II.1986, N L H Krauss. 2 specimens .

ETYMOLOGY. — The species name ‘notonesiótes’ is a latinised Greek compound derived from ‘nótos’ for south, and ‘nesiótes’ for islander, as the species occurs on the southernmost island of Vanuatu.

REMARKS. — C. notonesiotes probably is the most distinctive species of the Vanuatuan ones of the genus. The main differences from the other species are given at the first couplet of the key.