Ottinychus, Marshall, 1931

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 : 179-180

Gensu OTTINYCHUS Marshall

Ottinychus Marshall, 1931: 253 . — Zimmerman 1939: 302, 308. — Emden 1944: 582.

Ottinycha (in error) – Emden 1936: 234.

Type species: O. buxtoni Marshall. DESCRIPTION. — Full-winged, densely squamose small species. Head and rostrum jointly tapering apicad in straight line, exposed part of temples extremely short; eyes latero-dorsal, coarsely facetted; rostrum at least as deep as broad, strongly curved from frons to apex, without any depression across base; epistome symmetric, not raised, flat, not delimited behind by a sulcus; mandibles bisetose; scrobes T-shaped, deeply sulcate, directed downwards to gular angle, impinging dorsad to considerably reduce the intrascrobal space. Scape curved, weakly clavate at apex; funicle slender, segment 1 much thicker than 2; club elongate-oval. Prothorax not or only slightly wider than long, weakly rounded on sides, not humped, weakly bisinuous at base. Scutellum protruding above level of elytra. Elytra slightly tapering to beyond middle, from here rounded off to apex, rectangular at shoulders, proclinate at base, high above mesonotum, with ten striae, suture lacking spine or low tubercle. Metasternum longer than a mid-coxal diameter; metepisternum narrow, its sutsure distinct throughout. Fore coxae disjunct, separated by more than thickness of funicle. Fore femora and tibiae largely similar in both sexes; fore and middle tibiae with small unciform mucro; tarsal segments gradually widening, tarsite 3 with broad lobes; claw segment short, just extending beyond sole pad of tarsite 3 including its slender single claw. Tergites 3-7 weakly pigmented, medially undivided, 4-7 with pruinose patches.

Male (characters based on O. futunae ): tergite 8 largely free beyond 7. Sternite 8 divided into two weakly pigmented plates; sternite 9 as long as venter, articulated, with symmetrical, bilobed blade; apodeme robust, lacking lobes, weakly upcurved. Tegmen shorter than aedeagal body, with long, tapering parameral lobes; apodeme well-pigmented, stronger and longer than aedeagal apodemes. Aedeagus extending far into thoracic lumen, 1.4 x longer than venter; body a little over twice as long as apodemes, largely cylindrical, briefly widened at base, tapering to a blunt point from ostium to apex, in lateral view weakly curved, briefly upcurved at apex; internal sac not exposed between apodemes, with flagellum inside aedeagal body.

Female (characters based on O. futunae ): sternite 8 as long as 0.7 of venter, not articulated, blade weakly, uniformly pigmented, with long apical setae, these about as long as blade; apodeme much more deeply pigmented, gently curved. Ovipositor elongate, one-half length of venter, proximal hemisternites unpigmented, distal hemisternites weakly pigmented, made up of half the length of ovipositor, each hemisternite narrow, gradually tapering, with four or five rather long and strong setae at apex, lacking styli; vulva recessed cephalad a little more than half the length of distal hemisternites; vagina extending beyond ovipositor by two-thirds of ovipositor; bursa very short; spermatheca rounded and bulbous at base, lacking duct or gland extensions; gland small, not quite as long as spermatheca wide across bulbous base; duct about 2.5 x longer than ovipositor, firm, pigmented, partly convoluted, gradually, just perceptively thichening for nearly half its length towards bursa, inserting on bottom of rounded base on spermatheca and ventral base on bursa.

DISTRIBUTION. — Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu.

ETYMOLOGY. — ‘Ottínychus’ of uncertain derivation, possibly formed by inverting the prefix ‘otti’ of Ottistira and using part of the Greek term ‘ónychos’ (= claw), to draw attention to the presence of a single claw in this genus.

REMARKS. — Two species are present from Vanuatu, which may be separated as follows:

1. Elytra jointly rounded at apex. Interstria 10 not raised at end. Eyes small, at lower level from dorsal surface than upper part of scrobes. 1.8-2.2 mm. Vanuatu ( Futuna, Aneityum) ........................... futunae — Elytra separately rounded at apex. Interstria 10 raised to a conspicuous swelling at end. Eyes larger, at same level with upper part of scrobes from dorsal surface. 2.3 mm. Vanuatu (Vanua Lava)....... lavae