Rhynchortalia insueta Crotch 1874 Gordon 1987
Creators: name: Poorani, J.
name: Ślipiński, Adam
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Coccinellidae
Rhynchortalia
Rhynchortalia insueta

description: 9. Rhynchortalia insueta Crotch   
(Figs. 11, 27, 68–72)  
 Rhynchortalia insueta Crotch, 1874: 278 (Type locality: Mysol, Waigiou; Lectotype female; UCCC).–Gordon, 1987: 33 (lectotype designation).   
 R. insulta: Korschefsky, 1931: 109; 1932: 625 (misspelt).   
 Diagnosis: Externally it is somewhat similar to R. riedeli sp. n., but smaller in size and the body outline is narrower with the elytra posteriorly more distinctly narrowed. The hypomeral shelf in the lectotype female of R. insueta approximates the anterior margin of the pronotum but not further anteriorly, while in R. riedeli the shelf clearly extends beyond the anterior margin. This species may also be distinguished by the smaller size and male genitalia (Figs. 68-72), particularly the penis with a long, narrowed apex.   
 Description: Length: 3.0 mm; width: 2.0 mm. Body (Fig. 11) oval, elytra narrowed towards apices in apical 1/3; dorsum moderately convex with dense silvery white pubescence. Head and pronotum bright yellow to yellowish brown, scutellum dark brown, elytra brilliant iridescent violet with testaceous apices. Antennae, mouthparts, prosternum, legs and abdomen yellow to yellowish brown, meso– and metaventrites dark brown, mesocoxae, trochanters and femora often infuscate to brown, metacoxae dark brown to black, trochanters and femora often darker brown; ventrite 1 of abdomen medially infuscate, postcoxal lines dark brown.   
Head with shallow, fine and dense punctures separated by 1–2 diameters, interspaces weakly reticulate, gradually smoother or obsolete towards clypeal margin; eye with inner margin lenticulate or obtusely divergent below antennal insertion, weakly divergent posteriorly. Pronotum with fine, shallowly impressed punctures separated by 1–2 diameters, interspaces smooth and shiny. Elytra with distinct dual punctures, large punctures diffuse and widely spaced on disc, 2x as large as finer ones, finer punctures separated by 2–3 diameters on interstices, interspaces shiny; lateral sides with several distinctly coarser, denser and deeply impressed, crater–like punctures, lateral margins of elytra appear to be distinctly rough and pitted. Pronotal hypomeral shelf somewhat triangular, posterior margin extending to procoxal cavities, anterior margin barely or not projecting beyond anterior corner of pronotum. Mesoventrite with anterior margin barely emarginate. Abdominal postcoxal lines shallow, complete. Posterior margin of ventrite 5 in male (Fig. 27) shallowly emarginate, ventrite 6 with narrow but deep U–shaped notch, appearing two–pronged, heavily fringed with dense pubescence. Male genitalia (Figs. 68–72) with parameres much longer and broader than penis guide, penis guide less than 2/3 length of parameres, elongate and progressively narrowed to a conical apex in ventral view (Fig. 69); penis (Fig. 70, 71) apically long and narrowed.  
 Specimens Examined: Lectotype female: Type insueta Mysol / Lectotype Rhynchortalia insueta Crotch 1874 Gordon 1987 (UCCC); Others: Papua New Guinea: New Guinea: NE: Baiyer Riv. Sanct., 1190m, 4– 6.VIII. 1982 / G.A. Samuelson, 1 male (BPBM); Mt. Lamington, NE Papua, 1300 to 1500 ft., C.T. McNamara, 1 male, 1 female (SAM); Daradae, nr. Javarere, Musgrove R., 100m? x.2.1958, 1 male / J.L. Gressitt (BPBM); with same data except Sept. 4.1959 / T.C. Maa, 1 male (BPBM); New Guinea: Neth., Vogelkop: Fak Fak, S. coast of Bomberai, 10–100m, VI.11.59, 1 female / J.L. Gressitt (BPBM).   
 Distribution: New Guinea.   
 Notes: This is the type species of the genus and is also the smallest. The male genitalia exhibit some intraspecific variation, i.e. the penis apex in some specimens being more elongate (Figs. 70, 72). The species name has been misspelled as ‘ insulta ’ in Korschefsky’s (1931) catalogue and the index (Korschefsky, 1932: 625).
description: Published as part of Poorani, J. & Ślipiński, Adam, 2010, A review of Rhynchortalia Crotch (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Ortaliinae), pp. 25-43 in Zootaxa 2423 (1) on pages 38-41, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2423.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/5309131