Description of Kumatoeides gen. nov. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae) from New Caledonia
Author
Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-11-13
4521
1
89
115
journal article
27971
10.11646/zootaxa.4521.1.4
9c06ff9b-98e5-4011-99c9-357fc94ecbdc
1175-5326
2609701
C597590D-65D4-49A8-BB7F-24D334623E56
Kumatoeides
gen. nov.
Type
species:
Kumatoeides aulacia
sp. nov.
The new genus currently includes nine species of small sized (
2.23–3.20 mm
), winged species, glabrous on dorsum and of orange to brownish coloration, with or most typically without greenish metallic luster, and antennae, legs and mouth appendages uniformly pale. All the species have bulging, nearly entire eyes, and very short genae, with slender antennae, reaching slightly beyond middle of elytra in males and shorter in females, with pedicel short and slightly globose in males, shorter than third antennomere, fifth antennomere longest of basal six antennomeres, and antennomeres 7–11 feebly incrassate, with seventh longest of the antennal club (except for eleventh antennomere). Punctation generally strong and dense (
K. aulacia
group) or moderate and sparser (
K. tarsalis
group) on frons and pronotum. Pronotum transverse, anterior border of hypomera straight, and elytra as wide or imperceptibly wider at base than base of pronotum, with humeri marked, and generally with weak transverse depression behind humeri; elytra striate-punctate, with eight regular striae in their mid section, an additional subhumeral, curved stria connected to margin of elytron before middle, and short scutellar striae (missing in
K. anomala
sp. nov.
). Tibiae dilated at apex and mesotibiae slightly shorter than mesofemora, feebly curved, with first pro- and mesotarsomeres of males strongly dilated and all claws appendiculate. Pygidium with median longitudinal groove, as an important trait to place the new genus among the
Eumolpini
(e.g.,
Gómez-Zurita
et al.
2005
). The genus is tentatively subdivided in two species groups, as named above, based on the characters used in the first couplet of the dichotomic key.
Derivatio nominis:
The genus name is the Latin transliteration of the Greek adjective κυµατoειδής (fem.), meaning corrugated, i.e. surface bent into alternate folds and ridges, in reference to the regular striae on the elytra of these animals, an infrequent trait in
Eumolpini
, and particularly the New Caledonian
Eumolpini
.
Distribution:
All known species of
Kumatoeides
gen. nov.
have ranges in Grande Terre within the broad terrestrial ecoregion defined as
New Caledonia
rain forests in
Olson
et al.
(2001)
. No species is known for the time being from the
New Caledonia
dry forests ecoregion or from the
Loyalty Islands
.