Strabonus altulus, 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 : 191-192

Strabonus altulus n. sp.

Figs 85, 138, 139

DESCRIPTION. — Black with bluish sheen, the blue more intense on elytra. Pubescence short, rather inconspicuous throughout, not obliquely diverted on declivity.

Head anteriorly shiny, very finely and sparsely punctate, posteriorly dull with alutaceous or coriaceous minisculpture. Eyes in male separated by a width of scape, in female by a double width of scape. Rostrum in male 0.82 x the length of prothorax, in female almost as long as prothorax, distinctly curved in male, nearly straight in female; postrostrum in male subcylindrical, abundantly punctate, in female depressed, more finely punctate, smooth on midline, in both sexes lacking a sulcus above scrobes; prorostrum a little longer than wide, punctulate. Scape extending a little beyond anterior margin of eyes; first two segments of funicle equally long, segment 2 nearly as long as the following three together; club as long as preceding six segments.

Prothorax in male as long as wide, in female slightly wider, coarsely punctate, transversely strigose. Scutellum smooth, glabrous.

Elytra at shoulders 1.48-1.53 x wider than prothorax, in male 1.46 x, in female 1.34 x longer than their combined width, in both sexes distinctly widening towards middle; in lateral view deep, strongly convex from basal quarter onwards. Striae deeply impressed, complete; stria 10 distinctly punctate throughout but but less so from alongside hind part of metepisternum. Interstriae much wider than striae, densely punctate, interstsriae 1-5 with several rows of puncta.

Mesepimeron usually, mesepisternum occasionally with a distinct row of puncta, metasternal sides coarsely punctate; metepisternum with a row of much finer puncta. Abdomen in male moderately convex, in female strongly convex, looking highly gravid; suture between first two ventrites complete and distinct in male, obsolete on middle in female; ventrite 5 sparsely punctulate in male, nearly smooth in female. Legs long and slender; hind femora extending well beyond elytra; all femora with a strong tooth, tooth on hind femora broader. Hind tibiae in male with lower apical angle distinctly prolonged.

Male: tergites 7 and 8, sternites 7 and 8, and tegmen much as in S. kanalensis . Aedeagus as in Figs 138, 139, 0.135 mm long, extending deeply into thoracic lumen; body a little longer than apodemes, symmetrical; pedon pigmented throughout, with long, in lateral view straight apex, this broadly rimmed with darker pigmentation, with a sharply

pointed triangle of same dark coloration just behind ostium. Tectum membranous. Internal sac with dense wall vestiture and a basal sclerite similar to that of S. vitticollis ; close to base of main body with two apparently connected bars at anterior end to form a weakly pigmented plate with upcurved sides.

Female: spermatheca as in Fig. 140.

Length: 2.5-3.0 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype male, 2.5 x 1.2 mm, La Crouen , BPBM. Paratypes with BPBM, NHML, NZAC .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. 1 male, Vallée d’Amoa nr Ponérihouen, 7.II.1963, G. Kuschel; 1 male, 2 females, La Crouen nr Canala, 16.III.1961, J. Sedlacek; 1 female, Mt. Canala, P. D. Montague; 1 female, ‘ Nlle. Calédonie’, Coll. Fauvel. 6 specimens .

ETYMOLOGY. — The specific name ‘áltulus’ is Latin to express the depth of the body seen in profile.

REMARKS. — Presence of distinct puncta throughout stria 10 distinguishes S. altulus from the otherwise closely resembling S. kanalensis .