The pygmaeus-group of Euops Schoenherr (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea, Attelabidae), weevils associated with Nothofagus in New Guinea

Abstract

A new species group of Euops Schoenherr from the highlands of New Guinea is described and referred to as the ‘pygmaeus-group’. It is comprised of 14 species which, except for E. singularis VOSS, are described as new: E. anggiensis sp. n., E. bicolor sp. n., E. convexus sp. n., E. fraterculus sp. n., E. ibelensis sp. n., E. kurulu sp. n., E. nothofagi sp. n., E. parvus sp. n., E. paraconvexus sp. n., E. platyrostris sp. n., E. porulosus sp. n., E. pygmaeus sp. n., and E. sedlaceki sp. n.. Most of the species are of relatively small body size. They form a monophyletic group characterized by the synapomorphic loss of the ventral suture between the galea and palpifer of the maxilla. Two other groups are recognized, the eucalypti-group and the quadrifasciculatus-group. They are believed to be closely related to the pygmaeus-group and all three species groups together are referred to as the ‘pygmaeus-complex’. A cladistic analysis of the pygmaeus-group is performed. All species with host records are reported to feed on the fresh leaf flush of Nothofagus. This is the first record of a group of leaf-chewing arthropods restricted to the subgenus Brassospora of Nothofagus.