Curculio quercusgriseae (Chittenden)

Balaninus q.-griseae Chittenden 1908a: 22.

Balaninus proprius Casey 1910: 121.

Curculio q.-griseae (Chittenden). Chittenden 1927: 168.

General Features.—Shape ovoid in dorsal view, elongate-ovoid in lateral view ; length 5.0-7.5, width 2.5-3.7; body red to dark reddish-brown; antennae and legs similar to body in color but tending to be lighter ; punctures on prothorax frequently without distinct sides, size fairly uniform, uniformly spaced ; round and deep in elytral stria; on metasternum smaller than on prothorax and shallower ; vestiture varying from moderate to dense, from silvery white to deep golden ; usually with darker fasciae on elytra; dorsum of prothorax usually with an indistinct broad darker stripe longitudinally on each side of an indistinct median light line, laterally bordered by an indistinct light stripe; underside of body uniformly covered with silvery-white scales. Squamules on pro-thorax hairlike, nearly 8 times longer than wide except in lateral stripe, where they are the same length but slightly wider, squamules variable on various areas of elytra, those in darker areas 6-8 times longer than wide, lighter squamules nearly same length but wider ; squamules on ventral and lateral areas variable, most 2-3 times longer than wide and ⅔ as long as those on dorsal surface, becoming longer and more hairlike toward rear of abdomen, especially on 4th and 5th abdominal sterna of male, those on legs hair-like.

Recognition Characters.—Femoral teeth large; silver colored ventrally, golden dorsally, with silver fasciae on elytra; rostrum abruptly inserted, female rostrum ⅗ as long as body.

Head.—Rounded; punctures round, shallow, smaller than on prothorax with sides less distinct, punctuation not extending onto base of female rostrum, extending lightly to antennal insertion on male rostrum; vestiture not extending onto base of female rostrum, ⅓ distance to antennal insertion in male; rostrum abruptly inserted into frons in male and female, slightly or not thickened at base in male, not thickened at base in female, of uniform size throughout; female rostrum usually gently arcuate to near apex, occasionally straight to near apex then strongly arcuate, increasingly arcuate in apical half in gently arcuate rostra, male rostrum arcuate throughout; female rostrum slightly over ⅗ as long as body, male rostrum slightly less than ½ as long as body; antennal insertion 1.25 mm from base in 7 mm specimens; antennal scape in male as long as 4 or 5 funicular segments; funicular segment 1 longer than 2, segments 2-5 successfully shorter, segments 5-7 similar in length, shorter than 4, segments 8 and 9 similar in length, segments 10 and 11 successfully shorter, club oval. Length of mandibles equal to width of apex of rostrum. Eyes nearly circular; female eye gently convex. Interocular pit obsolete in male and in female.

Prothorax.—Slightly wider than long, constricted in apical ⅓ ; midventral surface ⅔ as long as dorsal surface in female, 0.7 as long as dorsal surface in male; dorsal surface arcuate.

Elytra and Scutellum.—Elongate ovate-acuminate, 3/10 wider than prothorax, 0.8 as wide as long. Scutellum small; scutellar pit usually indistinguishable; scutellum densely covered with scales, not raised above elytra at sides of scutellar pit.

Ventral Surface.—Mesosternal intercoxal process slightly prominent; metasternum evenly covered with scales except in small area in distal part of ventral line; abdominal sterna 1 and 2 flattened to slightly concave in male, flattened to slightly convex in female; sternum 2 as long as 5 in female and male, sterna 2 and 5; 3 and 4 subequal in length, sternum 2 longer than 3; sternum 5 concave in middle ⅓ in female, flat to slightly concave in middle ⅓ in male.

Legs.—Femora attaining apex of elytra moderately clavate, teeth large with acute reentrant angles, usually without differentiation into denticles; hind tibia arcuate; prouncus and mesouncus small, metauncus absent in female, prouncus, mesouncus and metauncus moderate in male.

Pygidium.—Extending to apex of elytra, usually not beyond; male densely covered with long hairs extending beyond elytra, female usually with no long hairs.

Aedeagus.—Medium lobe elongate; 3.5 times as long as wide, sides oval to near apex, tip arcuately curved downward, apex coniform in front view, dorsal area membranous.

Types.—Of q.-griseae, holotype, female, Ft. Grant, Ariz. In USNM, Type no. 11555.

Of Proprius, holotype, female, no locality label. In USNM, Type no. 35024.

Distribution.—Central and southern Arizona, south into northcentral Sonora, Mex. Total specimens examined: 409.

Biology.—The species is reported by Chittenden (1908a) as reared from acorns of Quercus grisea and collected on Q. gambeli. It was reared from Q. emoryi, Q. gambeli, and Q. hypoleucoides during my study. Specimens have been collected in the field from Apr. 28 through Sept. 8.