Melanterius Erichson, 1842

Pinzón-Navarro, Sara V., Jennings, Debbie & Oberprieler, Rolf G., 2017, Host associations of Melanterius Erichson (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cleogonini), with a diagnosis and delimitation of the genus and description of five new species, Zootaxa 4298 (1), pp. 1-77 : 6

Melanterius Erichson, 1842

Melanterius W. F. Erichson, 1842: 209 (type species, by subsequent designation ( Lea, 1899: 206): Melanterius porcatus Erichson, 1842 )

Chaleponotus Casey, 1892: 444 (type species, by monotypy: Chaleponotus elusus Casey, 1892 ); Anderson, 2008: 42 (syn.) Melanteriosoma Lea, 1899: 267 (type species, by subsequent designation (Pullen et al., 1914: 226): Melanteriosoma costatum Lea, 1899 ); Zimmerman, 1994: 644 (syn.)

Redescription. Shape small, compact; colour brown to black, integument usually mostly bare but on pronotum and elytra with sparse small fine setae or rows or clusters of larger, ferruginous scales, rarely densely squamose; underside and legs somewhat more densely setose or squamose. Rostrum stout, subcylindrical, downcurved, retractable onto venter and there reaching metaventrite, longer and slenderer in female. Head with eyes slightly convex but not protuberant; ventrally not contiguous, there separated by width of rostrum at base. Antennae inserted in about apical third of rostrum in males, in middle in females; with scape folding into sharply delineated scrobe and not quite reaching eye in repose. Pronotum finely regularly punctate; prothorax laterally extended anteriad into ocular lobes covering eyes in repose. Prosternum excavate for receiving rostrum in repose; channel formed anteriorly by precoxal flanges (sometimes with “peep-hole”), medially by usually separate, mesally flattened and ventrally edged procoxae and posteriorly by flattened to concave or saddle-shaped median process of mesoventrite with small to large lateral flanges or butts, open posteriorly (not forming closed receptacle). Elytra with 9 complete striae and abbreviated 10 th (terminating before apex of metanepisternum), dorsal striae usually deep with large, narrow, confluent or subconfluent punctures, occasionally with very large, round and open punctures; interstriae usually costate to carinate to some degree, sometimes only odd ones, rarely flat. Metanepisternal sutures with row of fine sclerolepidia. Metaventrite with flattened to concave disc, laterally (between meso- and metacoxae) delimitated by blunt edge to sharp carina. Abdominal ventrites ( Fig. 9 ) 1 and 2 enlarged, each often as long as 3+4, suture between them fused but distinct and complete; 1 usually slightly concave in male but convex in female; 5 usually with large, transverse, shallow median fovea in both sexes. Legs. Femora slightly flattened and medially inflated, with ventral tooth at about apical third and often with slight shallow groove on underside for reception of tibiae; tibiae narrowly subcylindrical, uncinate, uncus usually extending into apical flange (false corbel) with flat outer (upper) lobe, uncus in females of some species arising from outer (upper) angle of tibial apex ( Figs. 2, 4, 6, 8 ); setal comb usually long and oblique; tarsal claws fine, simple, divergent. Genitalia. Aedeagus with penis short and broad to elongate and narrow, flat, more or less downcurved; temones long and slender; endophallus usually with apical and basal pairs of small sclerites, sometimes without sclerites; tegmen narrow, with long slender parameres and short broad manubrium; gonocoxites usually elongate, narrow, with large, sometimes broad and flat, apical styli, but membranous without styli in M. maculatus group; spermatheca weakly sclerotised, of subequal width throughout, often with ramus differentiated and large gland with short, sclerotised duct.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 13. Diagnostic structures of some Melanterius species. 1 – 8: apex of left protibia, odd numbers – males, even numbers – females (arrows showing point of origin of uncus); 1 – 2: M. acaciae Lea; 3 – 4: M. castaneus Lea; 5 – 6: M. maculatus Lea; 7 – 8: M. servulus Pascoe. 9: ventrites of M. ventralis Lea, male (arrows showing lobed posterior margin of ventrite 1 and setose median area of ventrites 3 – 5). 10: antennal funicle and club of M. ventralis (arrow showing flattended ventral surface of club). 11 – 13: elytral declivities (arrows showing arrangement of costate interstriae); 11: M. castaneus; 12: M. maculatus; 13: M. servulus.