Usingerius Zimmerman 1942, new genus
Creators: name: Zimmerman, Elwood C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1942
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Usingerius

description: Genus USINGERIUS, new genus <i>Head</i> subglobular, interocular area only about one half as broad as base of rostrum; eyes anterior, their fore margins at base of rostrum, large, coarsely faceted, strongly convex, separated beneath by breadth of rostrum. <i>Rostrnm</i> slender and elongate, longer than prothorax in both sexes; antennae inserted just beyond middle in female, and within apical third in male; scrobes lateral, extending to eyes; mandibles dentate and decussate. <i>Antennae</i> with scape very slender, filiform, rather abruptly but not strongly clavate at the apex, reaching to eyes in both sexes, obviously longer than funicle; funicle only 6-segmented, only first segment distinctly elongated; club 4-segmented, not strongly compacted. <i>Srntellum</i> well developed, pubescent. <i>Elytra</i> broadly ovate, distinctly broader at subrectangular humeri than base of prothorax; ten striate, tentl1 stria complete; without posterior calli; each elytron individually rounded at apex. <i>Wings</i> functional. <i>Legs</i> rather stout; femora stout, strongly but not abruptly clavate, each armed with a large tooth at distal third, hind pair reaching to or slightly beyond hind margin of fourth ventrite; tibiae slightly compressed, slightly sinuous in outline, with a fine dorsal carina, without a distinct apical mucro, but witha TODO minute vestige of one on hind tibiae of male; tarsi with segment 2about as long as1, trapezoidal, 3 about as long as 2, about twice as broad as long, deeply bilobed,4 TODO projecting for about half its length beyond apex of 3, claws deeply and strongly cleft. <i>Sternum</i> with prosternum plain before globose coxae, distance between fore margin and coxae about equal to that between fore and mid coxae, fore coxae practically contiguous, cavities extremely narrowly separated, almost confluent; mesosternum with intercoxal process sloping strongly ventro-caudad, narrowing posteriorly, roughly subtriangular, its apex about half as broad as a coxa; side pieces distinct; metasternum between mid and hind coxae about as long as breadth of a mesocoxa, episternum broad, suture distinct. <i>Venter</i> with intercoxal process strongly convex, about as broad as length of a coxa at trochanter; coxae reaching to metepisterna only; ventrites 1 and 2 fused, but suture not obliterated; five ventrites subequal in length along a line behind trochanters. Genotype: <i>Usingerius marnlatus,</i> new species. This is a rather aberrant genus because of its lack of distinct apical mucrones on the tibiae. It has, in part, this character together with the 6-segmented funicle in common with <i>Amblycnemus,</i> but the genera are not allied. These two characters in combination with the cleft claws, strongly toothed femora, structure of the head, rostrum and venter will adequately distinguish the genus. The head, rostrum, and antennae recall <i>Nanophyes;</i> but on that genus, in addition to other differences, the claws are connate and not cleft and the tibiae are mucronate; it belongs to a different subfamily. I dedicate this genus to my friend Dr. R. L. Usinger in recognition of his researches in Guam.
description: Published as part of <i>Zimmerman, Elwood C., 1942, Curculionidae of Guam, pp. 73-146 in Insects of Guam I, Honolulu, Hawaii :Bernice P. Bishop Museum</i> on page 94, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5159964