Hellerius conflictus, 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 : 136

Hellerius conflictus n. sp.

Figs 25, 26

Anomalodermus flexuosocostatus – Heller 1916: 413, 414 (Perroud, in error).

DESCRIPTION. — Integument black, legs at times slightly reddened; scales contiguous or separate, grey, usually with bluish tint everywhere, specially on sides of head. In overall appearance much like H. ignambius and H. deplancheae but readily separated from these by having puncta of interstriae 4 and 5 in regular lines and extended to halfway down the declivity.

Male: aedeaus with short, pointed apex; basal sclerite as long as pedon, widish at base, thinned out to a soft flagellum.

Female: spermatheca falciform owing to duct extension coming off in right angle from stem, like the handle of a sichel; gland extension short, knobby; duct thin throughout, pigmented, twice as long as spermatheca.

Length: 6.8-10.5 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype female, 9.4 x 4.8 mm, Mt. Koghi , 600 m, 26-30.I.1963, G. Kuschel , NZAC. Paratypes with ANIC, BPBM, IRSN, MNHN, MNHW, NZAC, QMBA, SMT.D .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. 1 female, Mandjélia Mt. Mou, 1170 m, 27-29.XII.2004, G. B. Monteith; 1 female, Mt . above Pouébo, 600-750 m, 11-13.V.1984, G. Monteith & D. Cook; Koghi, 400-500 m, 11.II.1976, N. H. L. Krauss; 5 males, Mt. Koghi , 1 female, La Crouen, 300 m, 31.I.1963, G. Kuschel; 1 male, 1 fe- 500-750 m, 4-7.X.1978, G. Kuschel; 1 male, S of Koh, 31.I.1963, G. male, Nakéty, 26.IV.2005, G. B. Monteith; 1 male, Col d’Amieu, 450 Kuschel; 1 female, 7 km S of Koh, 300 m, 31.I.1963, C. M. Yoshim, 31.I.1963, G. Kuschel; 1 female, Plateau du Dogny, 700-900 m, moto; 2 males, 2 females, Col de Mouirange , 10.II.1963, N. L. H. 1.II.1963, G. Kuschel; 1 female, Plateau du Dogny, 29.III.1968, J. L. Krauss; 1 female, Rivière Bleue, 10.X.1978, G. Kuschel; 1 male, 1 Gressitt; 1 male, 3 females, Mt. Do , 900 m, 31.X.1978, G. Kuschel; female, Pic du Grand Kaori, 22°17S, 166°54’E, 250 m, 15.II.2004, 1 male, Mt. Do , 1000 m, 20.V.1984, G. Monteith & D. Cook; 1 fe- M. Wanat; 1 female, Bois de Sud , 23-24.IV.2005, G. B. Monteith; 1 male,up Boulari River mountains , 3-4.XI.1958,C. R.Joyce; 1 female, female, Forêt Nord, 22.XII.2004, G. B. Monteith; 1 male, 10 km S Mt. Humboldt, 1350m, 6.XI.2002, C. J. Burwell; 4 males, 5 females, of Plum, 50-100 m, 24.III.1968, J. L. Gressitt & T. C. Maa; 1 male, Mt. Humboldt , top hut, 10.II.2005, on Araliaceae, S. Cazères ; 1 fe- Col des Pirogues , 330 m, 21.II.1963, C. M. Yoshimoto; 4 males, 4 male, Kwa Neie, 500 m, 18.XI.2002, G. Gibbs; 4 males, 4 females, females, Baie de Prony, Coll. Fauvel; Pic du Grand Kaori, 22°17’S, Mt. Koghi, 500-700 m, 26-30.I.1963, G. Kuschel; 1 male, 1 female, 166°54’E, 8 specimens; ‘ N. Caledonia’. 67 specimens .

HOSTPLANTS. — Araliacaeae.

ETYMOLOGY. — The epithet ‘conflíctus’ is Latin for contested, to allude to the misidentification of the species in Heller’s work (1916).

REMARKS. — Heller reported, in his key to Anomalodermus , this species under the name of A. flexuosocostatus .