Acronymolpus meteorus, Samuelson, G. Allan, 2015

Samuelson, G. Allan, 2015, Acronymolpus, a new genus of Eumolpinae, endemic to New Caledonia (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), ZooKeys 547, pp. 93-102 : 97-99

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Chrysomelidae

Acronymolpus meteorus sp. n. Fig. 4

Description

(Holotype). Body subrobust with elytron strongly narrowed from humeral region to briefly rounded apex. Dorsal surfaces piceous; antenna with basal 3 segments orange-testaceous, remainder piceous; venter largely piceous but coxae and abdominal ventrites reddish testaceous; legs piceous. Dorsum glabrous; venter: metasternum with sparse adpressed pubescence. Body length 2.6 mm; body breadth 1.5 mm.

Head: frontal surfaces largely with fine, isodiametric sculpture; frons fairly closely punctulate above; postantennal swellings ± oblique, not conspicuous; oblique suture a fairly deep sulcus along upper eye margin; vertex below with several large punctures on each side, coronal suture deep at mid-vertex, then obsolete above; upper vertex with moderately large punctures centrally; interantennal space about 2.75 × as broad as transverse diameter of antennal socket, surface rough, punctate; antennal socket and orbit subequal in breadth; interantennal space slightly broader than maximum eye diameter (22: 19); eye subovate; gena slightly over 0.4 × as deep as eye.

Antenna attaining apical 1/4 of elytron; relative lengths of segments (cmm): 24: 12: 16: 18: 24: 30: 26: 24: 24: 26: 36; apical 5 segments distinctly heavier than preceding ones.

Prothorax about 0.60 × as long as broad; lateral margin nearly straight basally before convexly narrowed anteriorly; disc closely and heavily punctate, central punctures commonly 3-4 × as broad as raised interstices.

Elytron broadest across humeral region, then subevenly narrowed to convex apex; humerus moderately produced, very briefly impunctate; basal discal punctures closely and confusedly punctate, punctures larger and rounder than the pronotal ones, and 3-4 × as large as interspaces; elytral interstices smooth-shining with hint of microsculpture.

Ventral surfaces: hypomeron impunctate but with heavy isodiametric sculpture; metasternum with finer microsculpture, obscurely punctulate; metacoxae enlarged and ending slightly before apical margin of abdominal ventrite 1; relative lengths of ventrites (cmm): 42: 11: 10: 10: 18; surfaces with moderate isodiametric sculpture; first ventrite moderately inclined between coxae; last ventrite with median impression apically.

Legs: femora nearly smooth, with fine microsculpture; metatibia as long as femur, straight, surface with duller microsculpture than femur.

Measurements: BL 2.6 mm; BB 1.4 mm; HB 90 cmm; IAS 22 cmm; AS 8 cmm; ORB 8 cmm; IOS 44 cmm; EYE 38 × 26 cmm; GENA 16 cmm; PNL 74 cmm; PNB 124 cmm.

Paratype.

Essentially identical to holotype; body length 2.6 mm; body breath 1.5 mm.

Holotype.

NEW CALEDONIA: Plateau de Dogny, 700 m, 1.ii.1963, N.L.H. Krauss collector (BPBM 16,844); Paratype, NEW CALEDONIA: Col d’Amieu, 500-600 m, 28.xii.1976, J.L Gressitt coll. (BPBM).

Remarks.

The uniform piceous dorsal coloration along with the closely and deeply punctate dorsal surfaces mark this species. Differs from Acronymolpus gressitti , sp. n. by the closer pronotal puncturation and the more narrowed elytral preapex. The name refers to the pitted surface of an iron meteorite.