Indomias beesoni ( Marshall )

Y, R A M A M U Rt H & Ayri, Shaloo, 2010, Revision of the genus Indomias Marshall (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae, Tanymecini) from India, Zootaxa 2357, pp. 1-49 : 11

5. Indomias beesoni ( Marshall)

(figs. 6, 34, 57, 94, 168, 198, 199 and 200)

Sympiezomias beesoni Marshall, 1921: 165 ; 1941: 350 [BMNH]

Description: Colour black, head and rostrum with thin bluish grey vestiture; prothorax with vestiture sparse, dull blue dorsally, sides entirely clothed with dense, metallic green vestiture; elytra with disk, as far as the fourth stria, covered mainly with black vestiture, interspersed with green scales, which are sometimes denser along the suture, beyond fourth stria, sides clothed with dense, pale green vestiture, almost to the margin, inner edge of green area being very irregular; the lower surface with dense, greyish green vestiture. Head 0.87x as long as rostrum, upper surface convex, with coarse punctations, usually confluent longitudinally, with a faint, broad, transparent impression behind the eyes; vertex with a median fovea and rarely with a median stria. Rostrum shallowly impressed at middle, 1.1x as long as broad, anterior margin 0.68x as broad as the posterior margin; median furrow broad and rounded anteriorly, narrowed and pointed posteriorly; lateral carinae run through length of rostrum and parallel throughout; sides straight and parallel posteriorly; scrobes broader and rounded anteriorly and narrow, sharply pointed and parallel to eyes posteriorly. Eyes dorsal and convex, space between eyes as much as between scrobes (figs. 6 and 34). Antennae piceous; scape gradually clavate; funicle with first segment 1.33x as long as second, third to sixth bead like and equal; club much broader than funicle segments and conical (fig. 57). Prothorax 1.07x as broad as long, broadest at about middle, where it is 1.1x as broad as posterior margin; sides gently rounded, narrowed anteriorly; anterior margin only 0.77x as broad as posterior margin, truncate dorsally and oblique laterally, posterior margin subtruncate with its basal lobe emarginate; upper surface with coarse, confluent punctations, interspaces finely and sparsely punctate, without any dorsal stria or impressions, elongate scales very short, flattened and recumbent. Legs with hind tibial apex without any dense, golden yellow hairs. Elytra narrowly ovate (male) or slightly broader (female), basal margin strongly raised, external angle acute, humeral fold not very prominent, posterior declivity not impressed; striae deeply punctate; intervals slightly convex and of even height, excepting first, which is somewhat raised at apex, flattened elongate scales short, recumbent and inconspicuous at the basal half, longer and more curved behind; elytral vestiture with predominant scales subcircular, light brown, with surface irregularly impressed (fig. 94).

Male genitalia: Aedeagus with median lobe slender; in profile slightly arcuate, apex rounded, ejaculatory duct distinct; length: breadth ratio 8.5:1; apophyses 0.41x as long as median lobe (figs. 198–199). Tegmen with dorsal piece 3x as broad as basal piece and very long, as long as manubrium; parameres short, uniformly broad, apices indistinct; manubrium slender, very short, only 0.17x as long as median lobe, with apex blunt (fig. 200). Spiculum gastrale with shaft 0.94x as long as manubrium, uniformly broad, with apex broadened and smoothly rounded; basal prongs subequal, their apices pointed (fig. 168).

Length: male, 7.5–8.85 mm; Breadth: male, 3.00– 3.5 mm.

Specimens examined: 1 male, INDIA: Tamil Nadu: Nilambur, 15.VIII.1925, Coll. C.F.C. Beeson; 1 male, Aravallicava, 21.VIII.1925, Coll. S. N. Chatterjee (NPC).

Associated habitat: Teak.

Economic importance: This species feeds on the leaves of young teak and in some cases, defoliate the trees ( Marshall, 1921).