Azotoctla aecuatorialis, 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 : 571-572

AZOTOCTLA AECUATORIALIS CARDONA- DUQUE & FRANZ SP. NOV. ( FIG. 6 )

Diagnosis: Yellowish to light reddish brown; rostrum not tumescent above antennal insertion, dorsally punctulate; scrobe not projected beyond antennal socket; basal portion of basal plate of sternum 9 subrectangular, T-shaped; tegminal apodeme as long as the aedeagal length. Azotoctla aecuatorialis shares with A. anerunca and A. gottsbergeri the presence of spine-like endophallic sclerites that extend basad of the aedeagus, as well as a subcontiguous ramus and collum of the spermatheca. However, A. aecuatorialis can be distinguished from the latter two species by the antennal scrobe not projected beyond the antennal socket, and by the lack of sclerites on the pedon of the aedeagus.

Description: Male ( Fig. 6A ): small, length 1.4–1.6 mm, width 0.6–0.8 mm, oval l/w = 2.0–2.3 (N = 2). Colour yellowish to light reddish brown; vestiture long, golden, most conspicuous on pronotum, elytra, metaventrite, abdominal sternites, femora, tibiae, and tarsi. Rostrum short, 0.3 mm; r/p = 1.0–1.1, reddish brown, simple above antennal insertion (as opposed to slightly tumescent), apex dorsally slightly flattened; in dorsal view punctulate between antennal insertion and eyes; antennal insertion near apical third; scrobe subrectate, not projected beyond antennal socket, basally deep. Antennal club oval, similar in colour to funicle, I slightly longer than two times length of II + III, II and III similar in length. Head light reddish brown; ventrally barely pilose, dorsally pilose. Eyes distant from pronotal margin by nearly half their diameter. Pronotum l/w = 0.8, light reddish brown, in dorsal view subcircular, anterior margin 0.3–0.5¥ width of posterior margin, lateral margins rounded, greatest width at midpoint, vestiture long; posterior margin slightly bisinuate; in lateral view conical. Mesepimeron ventrally not projected. Prosternum subglabrous (few setae posteriad); procoxal cavities inserted at middle; prosternal process rounded; metaventrite pilose, even, metathoracic discrimen running along its posterior half; metacoxal cavities separated by distance similar to mesocoxal diameter. Ventral vestiture long. Prothoracic legs light reddish brown; procoxa slightly pilose; profemur f/p = 1.1–1.3, pilosity very sparse; meso- and metafemur with dense vestiture; protibia t/f = 0.8–0.9. Meso- and metatibiae anteroventrally pubescent along apical third. Scutellum triangular, reddish brown. Elytra elongate, l/w = 1.5–1.6, anterior margins rounded; lateral margins subparallel throughout anterior two thirds, thereafter nearly straight and converging; in lateral view slightly evenly convex; striae subequal to intervals; strial punctures large, dark brown, suboval; intervals yellowish brown, vestiture short. Abdomen nearly two times length of lateral margin of metaventrite, vestiture denser than on metaventrite; sternites 1 and 2 mesally nearly flat; 1 slightly longer than 2; 2 slightly shorter than 3 + 4; 5 slightly longer than 2. Tergites 1–2 incomplete; tergites 3–7 complete; tergites 4–6 posteriorly with paired strigate-sculptured regions. Tergite 8 completely covered by elytra; distinctly wider than long, posterior margin straight, simple (as opposed to plicate), laterally rounded. Distal angle of sternum 8 with one to two large setae. Sternum 9 ( Fig. 6B ) with basal portion of basal plate subrectangular, T-shaped; apodeme two times width of aedeagal apodemes. Tegminal plate reduced, basal piece Y-shaped; tegminal apodeme nearly straight, long, as long as aedeagus. Aedeagus ( Fig. 6C ) short, l/w = 2.3–2.4 (N = 2); longitudinal plates elongate; basal margin diffuse, apex rounded, projected (projection medium sized and wide); tectum with two subapicad, convergent, transversally orientated, slender sclerites; endophallus with few mesally positioned spine-like sclerites, converging to a midline and with dense, small spine-like sclerites, extended basad to aedeagus; in lateral view slender, ventral margin deflexed; aedeagal apodemes in lateral view slightly deflexed at base, slightly sinuate at apex.

Female: length 1.7 mm, width 0.8 mm, l/w = 2.1 (N = 1). Rostrum 0.4 mm; r/p = 1.3, reddish brown, dorsally arcuate, ventrally subrectate. Head setae converging towards midline. Pronotum reddish brown, l/w = 0.7, anterior margin 0.7¥ width of posterior margin; in lateral view subrectangular. Prosternum laterally scarcely pilose. Prothoracic legs f/p = 1.3; t/f = 0.8. Elytra l/w = 1.5. Abdominal suture between sternites 1 and 2 not evident; sternite 5 slightly longer than 4. Tergites 1 and 2 incomplete; lateroposterior part of tergites 5 and 6 with paired strigate-sculptured regions, tergite 7 simple. Tergite 8 semicircular, slightly elongate; posterior margin simple; anterior margin widely rounded; lateral margins simple. Terminalia not described because only a sac with egg-like structures was apparent in the single observed female.

Variation: Little variation is apparent amongst the examined specimens. The single available female has a longer funicular antennal segment I than observed in males.

Type material: Holotype male (dissected) ‘ Ecuador, Pichincha, 47 km S [south] Sto. [Santo] Domingo, Río Palenque , on palm flowers, V-18/30–1975 leg. S. & J. Peck’ ( CMNC) . Paratypes, same label information as holotype ( CMNC: three males, one female; three dissected) .

Etymology: Named after the country of Ecuador, i.e. the region of the type locality and only country where A. aecuatorialis has so far been found.

Natural history: Azotoctla aecuatorialis is known only from the western lowlands of Ecuador ( Fig. 36 ) on the western flange of the Andean Cordillera, where it is sympatric with A. femorata and A. angustacra . The specimens were collected at the Río Palenque Biological Station, located along the Santo Domingo- Quevedo corridor, between 100 and 200 m. These habitats are characterized by intermixed tropical humid forest and cultivated areas of African palms and other trees, and are rather isolated from other forests in the western Ecuador. The purported occurrence on ‘palm flowers’ (label information) is probably a misidentification.

Figures

Figure 6. Azotoctla aecuatorialis, male. A, habitus, lateral view; B, sternum 9; C, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral view.

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