Proapocyrtus SCHULTZE 1918

Zettel, H., 2010, Redescription of the original specimens of Proapocyrtus SCHULTZE 1918 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 42 (1), pp. 581-586 : 582

Proapocyrtus SCHULTZE 1918

T y p e s p e c i e s: Proapocyrtus insularis SCHULTZE 1918 (by monotypy).

D i a g n o s i s: Large, total length 13.4-15.4 mm. Head and pronotum small, when compared with elytra. Dorsum of rostrum in lateral aspect hardly convex, in dorsal aspect slightly diverging from base to level of insertion of scapes, posteriorly with median furrow prolonging a fine median sulcus on frons; base of rostrum dorsally sharply delimited by deep, straight, transverse groove. Eyes slightly bulging. Antennal scape hardly surpassing head posteriorly; funicular segments 2 and 3 subequal in length. Prothorax subcylindrical; anterior margin ventrally not concave, margin almost straight in lateral aspect. Pronotum with large, round, flattened tubercles (largest medially) and with weak median impression. Scutellum absent. Elytra strongly inflated, but somewhat flattened dorsally and abruptly bent ventrad at sides which bear more or less distinct impressions; posterior part of elytra strongly narrowed to a slender apical process. Foretibia of male hardly modified. Hind femur not reaching apex of abdomen in both sexes.

N o t e s: The two species of Proapocyrtus – one known in female, the other one in male – have a very different appearance and it is uncertain whether they form a monophyletic clade relative to their closest relatives, Apocyrtus ERICHSON 1834 and Pseudapocyrtus HELLER 1912 . According to SCHULTZE (1918) the main difference between Apocyrtus and Proapocyrtus is the shape of elytra, which are strongly inflated (also dorsad) in Apocyrtus (and Pseudapocyrtus), but dorsally flattened and laterally abruptly declined in Proapocyrtus . In the female ( P. insularis ) the elytra have strong lateral impressions; these structures being weakly developed in the male ( P. luzonicus ), they are not present in any Apocyrtus. The apex of the elytra is strongly protruded in Proapocyrtus , but at most weakly so in Apocyrtus and in the females of Pseudapocyrtus. Apocyrtus has a characteristic ventral emargination of the anterior prothoracic margin; this feature is lacking in Proapocyrtus . The structures of sternites 3-5 of the Proapocyrtus insularis female ( Fig. 8 ) differs strongly from the situation in Apocyrtus and Pseudapocyrtus, most of all by the pronounced medial tip of sternite 4.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d i n c l u d e d s p e c i e s:Thegenusisendemictothe Philippines and includes two species, P. insularis from Panay and P. luzonicus from Luzon.

Figures

Figs 1-8: Proapocyrtus insularis. (1, 4, 5) Holotype female, (2, 3, 6, 7) females from Culasi: Habitus in dorsal and lateral aspect; and labels. (8) Sternites 3-5, ventral aspect, dissected from a Culasi female.