Achorius strigiceps, Kuschel, 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 : 151-152

Achorius strigiceps n. sp.

Fig. 47

DESCRIPTION. — Black or piceous, legs and antennae reddish brown. Vestiture (once specimen cleansed) grey, depending on light in part coppery or green, forming a denser pile on rostrum and sides of prothorax and elytra; femora with a pale ring at swallen part.

Head and forehead coarsely strigose with forward directed carinules. Rostrum laterally below antennal insertions densely punctate and pubescent, lacking a smooth sulcus. Scrobes bare and shiny halfway to eyes, densely covered with bifid vestiture in front of eyes. Prothorax strongly transverse. Elytra with a distinct elevation at base of interstria 3 and behind humeral area on interstriae 8 and 9, and with a low tubercle on ineterstriae 3 and 5 before declivity, interstriae 3, 5 and 7 usually more convex; striae wide, with large, deep puncta. Mesosternal process advancing considerably forward to an overhanging structure. Other features as in the description of the genus.

Length: 2.4-3.2 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype male, 2.4 x 1.3 mm, Mt. Koghi , 500 m, 26.I.1963, in leaf litter, G. Kuschel , NZAC. Paratypes with BPBM, IRSN, NZAC, QMBA, SRFP .

MATERIAL EXAMINED.— New Caledonia. 2 males, 2 females, Mt. female, Mt. Mou , 750 m, 2.XI.1978, litter sample 78/271, G. Kus- Koghi , 500 m, 26.I.1963, in leaf litter, G. Kuschel; 5 males, 4 fema- chel; 1 female, Col de Mouirange , 11.X.1978, litter sample 78/225, les, Mt. Koghi , 550 m, 5.X.1978, litter sample 78/207, G. Kuschel; G. Kuschel; 1 male, Rivière Bleue , 10.X.1978, litter sample 78/221, 1 male, Mt. Koghi , 700 m, 9.X.1978, litter sample 78/219, G. Kus- G. Kuschel; Pic du Pin, 1 male, 22°15’S, 166°49’E, 26.XI.2004, chel; 1 female, Mt.Koghi, 500 m, II-III.2004, X. Lignières; 1 male, 1 litter, G. B. Monteith & P. Grimbacher. 20 specimens .

ETYMOLOGY. — The species name ‘strígiceps’ is a Latin compound derived from ‘striga’ for fine line, and ‘ceps’, short for caput, meaning head.

REMARKS. — The strigose head and forehead condition is a feature of all the species of the genus. Uneven elytra with elevations, short, squamiform setae, non-dentate basal angle of elytra, and a considerably forward projecting mesosternal process are features that combined define A. strigiceps . All the samples were sifted leaf litter taken in rainforest.