Curculio sleeperi Pelsue and Zhang, 2002

Pelsue, Frank W. & Zhang, Runzhi, 2002, A Review Of The Genus Curculio From China With Descriptions Of New Taxa. Part III. The Curculio subfenestratus Voss Group (Curculionidae: Curculioninae: Curculionini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 56 (1), pp. 1-39 : 31-32

Curculio sleeperi Pelsue and Zhang , new species

Figs. 45–46, 100–102

HOLOTYPE. China. Jianyang : male [ China / Fujian /Jianyang/ 270–1,200 m / 10 August 1960 / F. Pu et al.] ( IZAS).

Description. Male: length: 6.0 mm (n = 1); width: 3.1 mm (n = 1). Head: smallsized, short, punctures small with short, narrow, dirty white scales; frame of white scales around base of eye; frons 0.2 as broad as head across eyes, with interocular fovea. Rostrum: length: 4.5 mm (n = 1); 0.75 as long as body; sub­cylindrical to antennal insertion, becoming more cylindrical towards apex; 1 dorsal carina from frons to half way between frons and antennal insertion, large oval punctures between carina and ridge of scrobe; evenly arced from frons to apex; scrobe lateral; scape inserted in basal half. Antenna: length: scape 1.7 mm, funiculus: segment one 0.5 mm, two 0.5 mm, three 0.25 mm, four 0.2 mm, five 0.2 mm, six 0.15 mm, seven 0.2 mm, club 0.6 mm, funicle 1.9 mm (n = 1); scape 0.89 as long as funicle; derm fuscous; vestiture of narrow, elongate, and suberect fuscous scales; club small, elongate, acuminate, segment 1 of club longer than funicular segment 7, not as long as funicular segments 4–7. Thorax: length: 1.8 mm (n = 1); width: 2.5 mm (n = 1); 0.72 as long as broad; disc somewhat rounded, but almost straight from base angled to constriction, punctures small, numerous with short, narrow, fuscous scales with fringe of white scales along basal ridge; convex in lateral view; pleuron sparsely clothed with narrow, elongate, white scales; mesosternal intercoxal process not prominent; scutellum medium, not impressed, as long as broad, squarish, bifid, clothed with dirty white scales; mesepimeron clothed with clavate, dirty white scales; mesepisternum, metepisternum, clothed with short, narrow, white scales; procoxae clothed with narrow, elongate, white scales. Elytra: length: 3.3 mm (n = 1); striae deep with short, elongate, dirty white scales; humeri feebly prominent, rounded; intervals flat, broad, with vestiture of fuscopiceous scales and lateral fringe of white scales; feeble indication of fascia of white scales in distal half; disc flat in lateral view; crosshatched setae long, fuscopiceous with short vitta of white scales on interval one apically. Legs: length of hind femur 3.1 mm (n = 1), all femora with small, acute teeth; pro­ and mesofemoral teeth smaller than hind tooth; femoral clava medium­sized; hind femur with basal carina from trochanter to clava; all femora clothed with narrow, elongate, white scales; tibiae almost straight, prouncus large, mesouncus medium, and metauncus small; hind femur slightly longer than abdomen. Abdomen: sternite 1 longer than 2 behind coxal cavity, 2 ascending to 3; sternites 3 and 4 equal in length, combined longer than 5; sternites 1 and 2 with moderate median declivity; all sternites clothed with short, narrow, acute, white scales. Pygidium : moderate. Genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus 0.9 mm (n = 1) in length; 0.2 mm (n = 1) in width, margins thin, evenly spaced from base to near apex, then narrowing to broadly rounded apex in dorsal view, thick, slightly deflected to turned down apex in lateral view; apodeme 0.9 mm (n = 1) in length (Figs. 100–102).

Remarks. Looks similar to C. challeti n. sp. and C. tarae n. sp. but can be separated by the scale pattern, length of rostrum, length of hind femur, and male genitalia.

Etymology. Named in honor of senior author’s mentor and friend Professor Elbert L. Sleeper.