Nesotocerus, Colonnelli, 2014

Colonnelli, Enzo, 2014, Apionidae, Nanophyidae, Brachyceridae and Curculionidae except Scolytinae (Coleoptera) from Socotra Island, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 295-422 : 357-358

Nesotocerus gen. nov.

Type species. Nesotocerus rectus sp. nov., by present designation.

Description. Medium size from 5.3 up to 8.9 mm. Vestiture of sparse to rather dense roundish and elongate scales intermingled with almost recumbent to erect little curved hair-like to narrowly capitate scales, latter semierect to erect at base of elytral intervals V to VII and on all intervals on elytral declivity. Rostrum not or hardly wider than long, slightly widening apically, pterygia moderately developed. Epifrons at level with interocular space, sides slightly converging forward and angularly sloping on sides, dorsum flat to barely convex and with at least trace of longitudinal middle carina, at base with shallow widely V-shaped transverse sulcus at least visible on sides. Epistome separated from epifrons by low thin carina. Mentum bisetose, not pedunculate. Head short, scrobes moderately large, pit-like and entirely visible from above, space between eyes sulcate in middle, vertex striolate at base, strigosities rather distant from eyes. Eyes quite large, slightly elliptical and moderately convex. Pronotum narrower than elytra, transverse, with flattened usually large granules and median sulcus or low flat carina, anterior and posterior margins truncate, sides moderately rounded, disc slightly convex with barely noticeable anterior depression. Scutellum invisible. Elytra elliptical, flat on disc at least in males, 10-striate, base not carinate, apical declivity almost perpendicular or slightly obtuse at apex. Legs quite robust, femora clubbed, edentate, tibiae slightly curved inwards at apical third, internal margin with stout mucro at inner apical angle. Anterior coxae contiguous, intermediate ones separate by triangular process narrower that diameter of coxa, posterior ones widely separated by space slightly less than twice length of metaventrite. Metatibial corbels open.

Differential diagnosis. Depressed elytra, presence of some specialized erect setae at base of lateral intervals and erect hair-like scales only on apical third of elytra make this new genus easy to separate from all the hitherto described African Peritelini . Nesotocerus gen. nov., due to its bisetose mentum, somewhat carinate rostrum, weak sulcus separating head from rostrum, striolate occipital area not reaching eyes, elytra not basally carinate and with ten striae, appears somewhat related only with Nematocerus Reiche, 1849 , a quite large genus including species distributed in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Socotra (see above), Kenya, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo, differing immediately from it, inter alia, by depressed elytra at least in males, erect setae at base of intervals 5 and 6, erect hair-like scales on elytral declivity and short mucro at inner margin of tibial apex. Nesotocerus gen. nov. appears very close to Socotracerus gen. nov., see below the differential diagnosis of the latter genus.

Etymology. The name of the new genus alludes to its affinity with Nematocerus and to its insular distribution, from the Greek ‘νήσος’, meaning island. Gender masculine.