Azotoctla anerunca, 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 : 573-575

AZOTOCTLA ANERUNCA CARDONA- DUQUE & FRANZ SP. NOV. ( FIGS 7 , 8 )

Diagnosis: Light reddish brown to dark brown; rostrum dorsally slightly rugulose, distinctly pilose; prosternal process flattened; posterolateral depressed area of metaventrite not preceded by a ridge. Azotoctla anerunca differs from the remaining Azotoctla species by the presence of complete abdominal tergites and the distinctly downward projected, hook-like aedeagal apex. It is furthermore distinguished from A. aecuatorialis and A. gottsbergeri by the suboval and T-shaped basal portion of the basal plate of the male sternum 9; by the paired, mesally positioned, roundly projected, and obliquely overlapping sclerites of pedon; by the finely ramified and densely arranged endophallic sclerites, which extend toward the apex of the aedeagal apodemes; and by the slightly angulate lamina of female sternum 8.

Description: Male ( Fig. 7A ): small, length 1.8–2.0 mm, width 0.9–1.0 mm, oval l/w = 2.0 (N = 2). Colour light reddish brown to dark brown; vestiture long, golden, most conspicuous on rostrum, pronotum, elytra, metaventrite, abdominal sternites, femora, tibiae, and tarsi. Rostrum short, 0.4–0.5 mm; r/p = 1.0, reddish brown; in dorsal view pilose (setae long) and slightly rugulose between antennal insertion and eyes; antennal insertion near apical quarter, scrobe arcuate, basally deep. Antennal club oval, I slightly longer than II + III, II and III similar in length. Head reddish brown; ventrally and dorsally pilose. Eyes distant from pronotal margin by nearly one third of their diameter. Pronotum l/w = 0.7, reddish brown, in dorsal view subquadrate, anterior margin 0.6¥ width of posterior margin, lateral margins rounded, greatest width near anterior third, vestiture short; posterior margin rounded; in lateral view subquadrate. Mesepimeron ventrally slightly projected. Prosternum scarcely pilose; procoxal cavities inserted at middle; prosternal process acute, flattened, pilose; metaventrite pilose (setae long), even, centrally slightly concave, posterolateral depression not preceded by a ridge; metacoxal cavities separated by distance slightly shorter than mesocoxal diameter. Ventral vestiture long. Prothoracic legs light reddish brown; procoxa distinctly pilose; profemur f/p = 1.1– 1.2; protibia t/f = 0.8–0.9. Meso- and metatibiae anteroventrally pubescent along apical third. Scutellum short, pentagonal, light reddish brown. Elytra semicircular, elongate l/w = 1.4–1.5, anterior margins slightly sinuate; lateral margins subparallel throughout anterior half, thereafter nearly straight and converging; in lateral view dorsally flattened throughout anterior two thirds, thereafter slightly convex; striae subequal to intervals, shallow; strial punctures large, brown, subcircular; intervals reddish brown, vestiture short. Abdomen nearly 2.5¥ length of lateral margin of metaventrite, vestiture denser and longer than on metaventrite; sternites 1 and 2 centrally weakly fused, nearly flat; 1 slightly longer than 2; 2 slightly shorter than 3 + 4. Tergites complete; tergites 4–6 lateroposteriorly and tergite 7 lateroanteriorly with paired strigate-sculptured regions. Tergite 8 wider than long, posterior margin rounded, simple (as opposed to plicate). Distal angle of sternum 8 with four to six large setae. Sternum 9 ( Fig. 7B ) with basal portion of basal plate suboval, T-shaped; apodeme two times width of aedeagal apodemes. Tegminal plate reduced, basal piece Y-shaped; tegminal apodeme subrectate, slightly shorter than aedeagus. Aedeagus ( Fig. 7C ) short, l/w = 2.6 (N = 1), longitudinal plates elongate-triangular; basal margin diffuse, apex acutely rounded, strongly projected downward (projection long); tectum membranous, mesad tissue smooth, spinose, dense; pedon with two mesad, roundly projected, heavily sclerotized, crossed overlapping sclerites, extending basad to aedeagus; endophallus with dense, small, spine-like sclerites, basally positioned, extended basad to aedeagus, finely ramified and dense toward apodemes; in lateral view slender, ventral margin subrectate, apex distinctly projected downward (hook-like); aedeagal apodemes in lateral view subrectate, very slightly sinuate at apex.

Female: length 2.2 mm, width 1.0 mm, l/w = 2.2 (N = 1). Rostrum 0.5 mm; r/p = 1.2, dark reddish brown, nearly straight, slightly tumescent above antennal insertion, apex dorsally flattened post antennal insertion, basally slightly pilose; antennal insertion near apical third; scrobe projected to apex. Head dark reddish brown, frons sparsely pilose. Pronotum dark reddish brown, l/w = 0.7, anterior margin 0.5¥ width of posterior margin; in lateral view subquadrate. Mesoventral process distinctly protruded. Prothoracic legs f/p = 1.3; t/f = 0.8. Elytra l/w = 1.8. Abdominal sternites 1 and 2 slightly fused, convex. Tergites 1–6 incomplete; lateroposterior part of tergites 4–6 and lateroanterior part of tergite 7 with paired strigate-sculptured regions. Tergite 8 semilunar; posterior margin simple; anterior margin widely rounded; lateral margins simple. Sternum 8 ( Fig. 8A ) with lamina slightly angulate and explanate, mesally emarginate; furcal arms narrow (as opposed to explanate), distally rounded, apex with four to six setae. Coxites nearly as long as apodeme of sternite 8, styli wide, apically with three long setae. Spermatheca is not here described because the unique female dissected did not have such a structure.

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

Type material: Holotype male (dissected) ‘ ECUADOR, Napo, Río Blanco Ecol. [Ecological] Reserve, 6 km E. (east of) Pto.[Puerto] Misahuali , on Rio Napo, 1700 ft., 7-IX-1998, J. E. Eger /on Cyclanthaceae’ ( CWOB) . Paratypes, same label information as holotype ( CWOB: two males, one female; one dissected) .

Etymology: Named in reference to the downwardly projected aedeagal apex, through combination of the Greek word aner, which means ‘male’ and the Latin word uncus, which means ‘hook’ ( Brown, 1956).

Natural history: Azotoctla anerunca is known from humid tropical forest habitats of the Napo region in the north-eastern Ecuadorian Amazon ( Fig. 37 ), which is characterized by a highly diverse flora and fauna. The specimens were collected on the northern side of the Napo River , at an elevation of nearly 500 m. This species is associated with an unspecified member of the Cyclanthaceae .

Figures

Figure 7. Azotoctla anerunca, male. A, habitus, lateral view; B, sternum 9; C, aedeagus, dorsal and lateral view.

Figure 8. Azotoctla anerunca, female sternum 8.

Figure 37. Azotoctla species distributions, III: Azotoctla anerunca, Azotoctla curvirostra, Azotoctla femorata, Azotoctla gottsbergeri, and Azotoctla melolauta.