0079. The Indo-Australian weevil genus <I>Platytenes</I> Pascoe, 1870 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cryptorhynchinae)

Abstract

The formerly monotypic weevil genus Platytenes Pascoe (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cryptorhynchinae: Cryptorhynchini: Cryptorhynchina) as treated here, includes two commonly encountered and broadly distributed species in the eastern Indo-Australian region. Label data indicate that both species are associated with semi- cultivated betel palm (Areca catechu L., Arecaceae) and human mediated dispersal is suggested to have influenced their present-day distribution. Herein, we provide a diagnosis for Platytenes and redescribe its type species, P. varius Pascoe. We also describe P. occultus Setliff and Larson, a new species from the Solomon Islands. New host and locality records are provided, including the first records of the genus occurring on Ambon Island, the Bismarck Archipelago, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and many previously unreported localities on New Guinea. A full bibliography, key to species, and distribution map for the genus are also provided.