Azotoctla nana, Cardona-Duque, Juliana & Franz, Nico M., 2012

Cardona-Duque, Juliana & Franz, Nico M., 2012, Description and phylogeny of a new Neotropical genus of Acalyptini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae) associated with the staminodes of Cyclanthaceae, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166 (3), pp. 559-623 : 583-585

AZOTOCTLA NANA CARDONA- DUQUE & FRANZ SP. NOV. ( FIGS 14 , 15 )

Diagnosis: Yellowish to dark reddish brown; tergite 1 divided in three sclerites; tegminal basal piece O-shaped; tegminal apodeme nearly as long as the aedeagus; endophallus with strongly sclerotized, papillate sclerites; female with lamina of sternum 8 angulate, mesally emarginate; furcal arms outer margin truncate; coxites globose. Azotoctla nana is the smallest amongst the herein treated species and is readily differentiated from its congeners by the papillate endophallic sclerites in males. Azotoctla nana closely resembles A. punctata , although in the former only abdominal tergite 1 is divided into three sclerites, whereas the latter abdominal tergites 1 and 2 are divided into three sclerites.

Description: Male ( Fig. 14A ): small, length 1.5– 1.8 mm, width 0.7–1.0 mm, oval l/w = 1.9–2.1 (N = 2). Colour yellowish to dark reddish brown; vestiture long, golden, most conspicuous on pronotum, elytra, metaventrite, abdominal sternites, femora, tibiae, and tarsi. Rostrum short, 0.4–0.5 mm; r/p = 1.2–1.3, dark reddish brown; in dorsal view pilose and even between antennal insertion and eyes; antennal insertion near apical third, scrobe subrectate, basally extended well below the eye, deep. Antennal club oval, similar in colour to funicle, I slightly longer than II + III, II and III similar in length. Head dark reddish brown; ventrally slightly pilose, dorsally distinctly pilose. Eyes distant from pronotal margin by nearly half their diameter; interocular distance slightly shorter than interantennal distance at insertion point. Pronotum l/w = 0.7, dark reddish brown, in dorsal view subcircular, anterior margin 0.7¥ width of posterior margin, lateral margins rounded, greatest width near midregion, vestiture long; posterior margin rounded; in lateral view conical. Mesepimeron ventrally not projected. Prosternum subglabrous (few setae laterad); procoxal cavities inserted at middle; prosternal process narrowly rounded; metaventrite pilose (setae long), even; metacoxal cavities separated by distance similar to mesocoxal diameter. Ventral vestiture long. Prothoracic legs slightly shorter than meso- and metathoracic legs, light reddish brown; procoxa slightly pilose; profemur f/p = 1.3–1.5; protibia t/f = 0.8–0.9. Meso- and metatibiae anteroventrally pubescent along apical third. Scutellum pentagonal, dark reddish brown. Elytra elongate, l/w = 1.5, anterior margins sinuate; lateral margins subparallel throughout anterior half, thereafter evenly rounded and converging; in lateral view dorsally flattened throughout anterior quarter, thereafter distinctly convex; striae subequal to intervals; strial punctures large, brown, subcircular; intervals reddish brown, vestiture long. Abdomen nearly two times length of lateral margin of metaventrite, vestiture dense, similar to that of metaventrite; sternites 1 and 2 centrally nearly flat; 1 slightly longer than 2; 2 slightly shorter than 3 + 4; 5 longer than 2. Tergite 1 divided in three sclerites, tergite 2 incomplete; tergites 3–7 complete; tergites 4–6 lateroposteriorly and tergite 7 lateroanteriorly with paired strigatesculptured regions. Tergite 8 wider than long, posterior margin straight, simple (as opposed to plicate), laterally rounded. Distal angle of sternum 8 with three to four large setae. Sternum 9 ( Fig. 14B ) with basal portion of basal plate suboval, Y-shaped; apodeme 1.5¥ width of aedeagal apodemes. Tegminal plate developed, basal piece O-shaped, not completely closed; tegminal apodeme subrectate, nearly as long as aedeagus. Aedeagus ( Fig. 14C ) short, l/w = 1.7 (N = 1); longitudinal plates elongate-triangular; basal margin diffuse, apex rounded, slightly projected (projection narrow); tectum membranous, simple (as opposed to with papillate tissue); endophallus extended basad to aedeagus, with six to seven mesally positioned, papillate sclerites; in lateral view wide, dorsal margin basally straight, apically curved, ventral margin subrectate; aedeagal apodemes in lateral view slightly sinuate at apex.

Female: length 1.7 mm, width 0.8 mm, l/w = 2.0 (N = 1). Rostrum 0.5 mm; r/p = 1.5, reddish brown, basally slightly pilose, even (as opposed to punctulate). Pronotum reddish brown, l/w = 0.8, slightly tubular, anterior margin 0.8¥ width of posterior margin; in lateral view subquadrate. Prothoracic legs f/p = 1.3; t/f = 0.9. Elytra l/w = 1.5. Abdominal suture between sternites 1 and 2 not evident; sternite 5 slightly shorter than 3 + 4. Tergites 1–2 incomplete; lateroposterior part of tergites 4–6 with paired strigate-sculptured regions, tergite 7 simple. Tergite 8 missing because of very weak sclerotization. Sternum 8 ( Fig. 15A ) with lamina angulate, mesally emarginate; furcal arms outer margin truncate, inner corners rounded, slightly projected. Coxites slightly shorter than apodeme of sternite 8, globose, styli apically with one to two long setae. Spermatheca ( Fig. 15B ) with corpus tubular; apex of cornu narrowly rounded; ramus and collum widely separated; ramus slightly protruded; collum slightly protruded and distant from ramus (openings to spermathecal gland and duct widely separated).

Variation: No significant variation is apparent amongst the examined specimens.

Type material: Holotype male (dissected) ‘ PANAMA, Chiriqui, Fortuna (8°44′ N, 82°15′ W) 1050 m, UV trap, Apr. 17, 1978, H. Wolda collector’ ( ASUT) . Paratypes, ‘ Panama, Bocas del Toro, Cor.[Corriente] Grande, Río Changuinola , 9°17′30″ N, 82°32′41″ W, leg. H. Wolda, II-04–1980 ’ ( ASUT: one female; dissected); same label as before except dates ‘ II-06– 1980 ’, ‘ III-25–1980 ’, ‘ II-15–1980 ’, ‘ II-16–1980 ’, ‘ II-25– 1980 ’ ( ASUT: five males; two dissected); same label information as holotype male except ‘ Mar. 26, 1979 ’ ( ASUT: one male, dissected) .

Etymology: Named for its small size and the short length of the aedeagus relative to the length of the apodemes, based on the Latin word nanus, which means ‘dwarf ’ ( Brown, 1956).

Natural history: Azotoctla nana is known from Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro in Panama ( Fig. 36 ), where specimens were collected with UV light traps (cf. Wolda, O’Brien & Stockwell, 1998). The host associations are unknown, although an association with cyclanths is probable .

Figures

Figure 14. Azotoctla nana, male. A, habitus, lateral view; B, sternum 9; C, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral view.

Figure 15. Azotoctla nana, female. A, sternum 8; B, spermatheca.

Figure 36. Azotoctla species distributions, II: Azotoctla aecuatorialis, Azotoctla clemmyssa, Azotoctla dasygastra, Azotoctla migueli, and Azotoctla nana.