Acronymolpus Bertiae
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Acronymolpus'' is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
leaf beetle The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...
s in the subfamily
Eumolpinae The Eumolpinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of leaf beetles, including more than 500 genera and 7000 species. They are oval, and convex in form, and measure up to 10 mm in size. ...
. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. There are two species placed in the genus, both of which are
sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
; the females are large and reddish, and the males are small and black. A member of the tribe
Eumolpini Eumolpini is a tribe of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is the largest tribe in the subfamily, with approximately 170 genera found worldwide. Members of the tribe almost always have a longitudinal median groove on the pygidium, which ...
, ''Acronymolpus'' is distinguished from other members of the tribe in New Caledonia by its enlarged metacoxae (coxae of the hind legs), which occupy most of the first abdominal
ventrite The sternum (: sterna) is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the sub ...
and nearly reach its posterior margin.


Taxonomy

''Acronymolpus'' was first proposed by Dr. G. Allan Samuelson of the
Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...
, who published a description of the genus in the online journal ''
ZooKeys ''ZooKeys'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering zoological taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. It was established in 2008 and the founding editor-in-chief was Terry Erwin (Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian ...
'' in 2015. The genus name is a combination of the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
prefix (meaning "pointed, first, high"), "''nyma''" (given as meaning "name") and the prefix "''-molpus''" (from ''Eumolpus'', the type genus of the subfamily Eumolpinae), and has a masculine
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
. The genus originally contained four new species, all described by the same author. These four species were later found to be the female and male forms of two previously described species placed in '' Stethotes''. These two ''Stethotes'' species were then transferred to ''Acronymolpus'' in 2017, taking priority over the original four species placed in the genus.


Description

The body is bulky and
fusiform Fusiform (from Latin ''fusus'' ‘spindle’) means having a spindle (textiles), spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon (geometry), lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a ...
, nearly having a diamond shape in the females. The females are larger (3.0–3.3 mm), broader, more convex and reddish, while the males are smaller (2.4–2.6 mm), more slender, less convex and black. The
elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...
are strongly narrowed from the basal region to the preapex. The antennae are slender and elongate, reaching their apex at 1/3 or more of the length of the elytra. The
pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...
is convex with the front-side area strongly descended, appearing narrowed when viewed from above. The scutellum is small and triangular, with a smooth surface. The punctures on the elytra are arranged in regular stripes, but the central rows are confused and obliterated at the basal half before being organised into straight rows at the apex. A groove is present on the
pygidium The pygidium (: pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is compos ...
. The
prosternum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...
is subquadrate and flattened. The hypomeron is more or less smooth and lacks punctures. The
metasternum The metathorax is the posterior of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the third pair of legs. Its principal sclerites ( exoskeletal plates) are the metanotum (dorsal), the metasternum (ventral), and the metapleuron (lateral) ...
is broadly and gently convex, and more or less smooth. The first abdominal ventrite is almost trisected by the enlarged metacoxae. The remaining ventrites are narrowed posteriorly, collectively forming a subtriangular outline. In the legs, the femora are subclavate, and the tibiae are slender, being nearly equal in length to the femora. The apex of the metatibia is entire, lacking an emargination. The metacoxae are enlarged. The tarsal claws are
appendiculate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...
.


Species

The genus ''Acronymolpus'' includes two species: * '' Acronymolpus bertiae'' (Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007) (Synonyms: ''A. meteorus'' Samuelson, 2015; ''A. turbo'' Samuelson, 2015) – Central Chain, Massif de la Boghen * '' Acronymolpus jourdani'' (Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2013) (Synonyms: ''A. gressitti'' Samuelson, 2015; ''A. joliveti'' Samuelson, 2015) – Massif du Panié


References

Eumolpinae Chrysomelidae genera Insects of New Caledonia Beetles of Oceania Endemic fauna of New Caledonia {{Eumolpinae-stub