Microcryptorhynchus basipennis, Zimmerman, 1942

Zimmerman, Elwood C., 1942, Curculionidae of Guam, Insects of Guam I, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, pp. 73-146 : 118

28. Microcryptorhynchus basipennis , new species (pl. 3, D).

Derm mostly reddish brown, covered with a very thick, dense yellowish or whitish incrustation that usually greatly distorts true outlines of body and sometimes enlarges lateral outline of body to about a fourth broader than actual breadth; setae white or yellowish.

Head completely concealed from above by the pronotum, finely, indistinctly punctate, with a single row of stout, spatulate, erect setae along inner margins of eyes that extends on crown above eyes. Rostrum with at most lines of fine punctures; but not distinctly carinate or sulcate, median line, however, sometimes appearing more polished near antennae; with a single row of setae, similar to those along eyes, on either side and occasionally one,to a few similar setae on either side of median line just behind antennae, but without a distinct additional row of spatulate setae. Prothorax-, when denuded of incrustation, distinctly longer than broad (2.5: 2), rounded on sides in basal three fifths, thence distinctly constricted, constriction continued deeply and prominently across dorsum at distal two fifths; basal squamose area modified into an almost perpendicular, sub-hemispherical area; with a few erect sharp or narrowly spatulate setae scattered across disk and two or three rows across apex, apical setae usually broader; punctures not large, but coarse, deep and dense, their interstices very narrow, the disk roughened by their density. Elytra, when abraded, elongate ovate, with a slight subapical constriction, three fifths as broad as long, twice as long as prothorax, rather evenly convex in longitudinal dorsal outline and not rising far above level of pronotum; striae very coarse, about twice as broad as intervals, their punctures large, subquadrate, their interstices about as broad as intervals; intervals convex, only alternate ones bearing setae, setae erect and distinct, variable, usually slender and sharp, but sometimes narrowly spatulate, rows sometimes more or less incomplete, second interval with a small, conical, sharply pointed, sclerotized spine at base that is shorter than setae and may become obscured by incrustation. Legs with femora and tibiae with scattered erect setae; tibial unci well developed. Sternum with mesosternal receptacle deep and cavernous, walls but slightly elevated, terminating close to hind margins of mesocoxae in female and but slightly more anteriorly in male; metasternum moderately coarsely punctate, slightly shorter between mid and hind coxae than breadth of a mesocoxa; metacoxa separated by twice median length of metasternum. Venter with first two ventrites densely and coarsely punctured, but punctures not very large, intercoxal process but slightly arcuate; ventrite 5 rather indistinctly punctate; setose. Length, 1.6-1.8 mm.; breadth, 0.6-0.8 mm.

Holotype male, allotype female, and five paratypes collected at Agana, from Pipturus , May 25, 1936; five paratypes from Riti <lian Point , June 2; and two paratypes from Machanao , June 30. All of the specimens were taken by Usinger .

The incrustation on this species is usually very thick and greatly distorts the outlines of the body. Some specimens appear to be quite broad because of the piling up of the incrustation at the sides of the body. The setae are much less regular and less conspicuous than on M. spinifer .