Towards a revision of the genus Apodrosus Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)

The genus Apodrosus Marshall, was described in 1922 and presently includes two species - A. wolcotti from Puerto Rico and A. argentatus from Puerto Rico and several additional islands of the Greater Antilles, including the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Apodrosus is closely related to Polydrusus Schoenherr and is placed in the tribe Polydrusini. The main generic attributes are: small size (5-7 mm); connate tarsal claws; a long, deep median furrow on the head; and a large, glabrous, smooth triangular area corresponding to the epistome of the rostrum. Field work in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean island has produced as many as six new species to be described in a revision that will also include a phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of the genus. Preliminary results indicate that the phanerognathous mouthparts represent a key generic trait, whereas the elytral sculptures, scale patterns, separation of elytral striae IX and X, the presence of pronounced apodemes on the ventral surface, and the configuration of the genital structures will help delimit the new species.