Orthorhinoides caledonicus, Kuschel, Moneo, 2008

Kuschel, Guillermo, 2008, Curculionoidea (weevils) of New Caledonia and Vanuatu: Basal families and some Curculionidae, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 197, pp. 99-250 : 210-211

Orthorhinoides caledonicus n. sp.

Figs 99, 178, 179

DESCRIPTION. — Integument black or nearly so; scales mostly ovate, pale, condensed to an anchor-like design on median area of pronotum, nebulous on elytra, with a rather distinct dark, narrow band at top of declivity.

Head convex in front, squamose, granulose, smooth dark areas at back well-exposed. Rostrum 0.88-0.92 of length of prothorax, gently curved; prorostrum in male nearly as long as wide, densely punctate, postrostrum of same coarsely, rugosely punctate, squamose; prorostrum in female about 1.35 x longer than wide at apex, finely punctate, its postrostrum squamose on basal one-half, coarsely punctate, not rugose. Prothorax 1.13-1.18 x wider than long, parallel or nearly so on basal one-third, strongly convex, abundantly granulose. Scutellum squamose.

Elytra granulose, with a low, elongate tubercle on interstria 3 near base. Prosternal process wider than width of antennal club. Abdomen in male impressed, with erect hairs. Fore femora with small tooth, not distinctly asperate on lower edge, hind femora extending beyond tip of abdomen, heavily swollen, with large tooth, and on basal half of lower edge fringed with long hairs in both sexes. Fore tibiae in male long, slender, touching trochanter when folded, asperate apicad from basal one-third, with small tooth opposite femoral tooth; hind tibiae with strong tooth before apex. Fore tarsi in male sparsely pubescent dorsally, with fringe of long hairs, segment 2 strongly asymmetric, nearly as wide as long, twice as long as 3.

Male: tegmen as in Fig. 180, parameral lobes free, long, narrow. Aedeagus as in Fig. 178, 179, body 0.975 x 0.437 mm, widest at apical two-fifth, apodemes nearly twice as long as body; basal sclerite as long as body, median sclerites fused to a large steering plate, rather lightly pigmented and translucent.

Length: 6.9-11.5 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype male, 9.0 x 3.5 mm, Kanala [Canala], rec. Bougier, Coll. Fauvel , IRSN. Paratypes with IRSN, NHML, NZAC .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. 1 female, Mt. Panié , 1914, P. D. Montague; 4 males, 1 female, Canala, rec. Bougier, Coll. Fauvel; 1 female, Nouméa, 1923. 7 specimens .

HOSTPLANTS. — Unknown.

ETYMOLOGY. — The species name is a Latin patronymic for New Caledonia.

REMARKS. — O. caledonicus and O. ambiguus are the only two species of the genus with a contrasting design on the median area of the pronotum. The design, although similar is readily distinguished by being more or less bell-shaped in O. ambiguus and anchor-shaped in O. caledonicus . Besides, O. caledonicus differs from the latter in lacking dense scaling on the flanks of the prothorax, in having the smooth, glabrous area of the head capsule undivided and abundantly exposed, and, foremost, by lacking a prosternal canal.