Optatus Pascoe
Creators: name: Prena, Jens
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Optatus

description: Key to the known species of Optatus and Macroptatus
1 Procoxae nearly contiguous (Figs. 8–9); prosternal canal at least frontally with lateral ridges; elytron without transverse color pattern; interstria 9 carinate throughout; body length <10 mm; Optatus .......................................... 2
- Prosternal process separating procoxae by about 1/4 their own width (Figs. 10–11); prosternal canal without lateral ridges; elytron with transverse pattern (fascia or spots); interstria 9 carinate in basal half; body length> 10 mm; Macroptatus ..... 5
2 Pronotum with interstices forming fine vermiculate ridges; prosternal canal anteriorly as wide as procoxa; mesosternal interspace of metaventrite not protruding beyond mesocoxa; male rostrum without dorsomedian carina; vestiture generally evenly distributed.......................................................................................... 3
- Pronotum with interstices wide and irregular; prosternal canal not nearly as wide as procoxa; mesosternal interspace of metaventrite often protruding slightly beyond apex of mesocoxa; male rostrum with dorsomedian carina; vestiture unevenly distributed, either arranged in fascicles or with glabrous portions.................................................... 4
3 Pronotum and ventrites with vermilion vestiture; body slightly stouter, with elytral apices more narrowly rounded; México south of Transmexican Volcanic Belt to Guatemala ................................................. O. palmaris
- Pronotum and ventrites with vermilion vestiture reduced or absent; body slightly more elongate, with elytral apices more broadly rounded; Guatemala [plus 1 unconfirmed record from Costa Rica in MfNB]...................... O. inornatus
4 Body stout, elytra across humeri almost as wide as long; dorsal vestiture sparse except on distal third; interstria 9 distinctly carinate; Panamá ........................................................................... O. stockwelli
- Body more elongate, elytra distinctly longer than wide; dorsal vestiture fasciate but evenly distributed; interstriae 7–10 partially carinate or at least convex; central México to Costa Rica .......................................... O. fasciculosus
5 Vestiture black with vermilion elytral fascia, metaventrite anteriorly protruding well below mesocoxa; rostrum with ventrolateral margin coarsely corrugated; pronotum with notosternal suture obliterated in anterior 2/3; Costa Rica .... M. championi
- Vestiture khaki with transversely arranged dark spots; metaventrite anteriorly not protruding below mesocoxa; rostrum with ventrolateral margin moderately corrugated; pronotum with notosternal suture obliterated in anterior 1/2; México east of Isthmus of Tehuantepec, El Salvador ............................................................... M. deppens
description: Published as part of Prena, Jens, 2023, Two new species of Optatus Pascoe and Macroptatus Heller (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Baridinae), with a reappraisal of generic characters, pp. 377-386 in Zootaxa 5244 (4) on page 385, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5244.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/7663616