Gyllenhaleus Weise 1903: 62

Synonomys

Gyllenhalius Weise (misspelling).

Cryptonychus (Cryptonychinus) Spaeth 1933a: 5.

Type Species

Cryptonychus bipunctatus Baly.

Diagnosis

Gyllenhaleus can be distinguished by the following combination of characters:

• lateral margin of pronotumpronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  and elytra without long, stiff spines
• head with frontal horn between antennae, labrumlabrum:
  triangular, joined to the clypeus and the oral orifice
  glabrous
• antennomere 1 long, narrow, without spine-like process
• pronotum pronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  with seta in each angle
• elytra with 8 rows of punctures basally plus scutellar row, 10 rows apically

Description

Body elongate; subparallel; subdepressed; color reddish-brown with black markings; total length 9.5 to 16.0 mm.

Head: vertexvertex:
occupies the area behind and between the eyes
punctate, depression at base of frontal horn; frontal horn wide, longer than antennomere 1; labrumlabrum:
triangular, joined to the clypeus and the oral orifice
without tufts of setae, distinctly punctate, with longitudinal carina medially; eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
large, convex.

Antenna: filiform; reaches to humerus; with 11-antennomeres; antennomere 1 long, 2x longer than wide, more than 2x length of 2; 2 transverse; 3 obconic, ¾ length of 1; 4 to 6 subequal in length, cylindrical; 7 to 10 transverse, subequal in length; 11 longer than 10, rounded at apex.

Pronotum: lateral margin sinuate, rounding to anterior angle, not margined; anterior angle with small tooth, with seta; anterior margin curved; posterior angle acute, with seta; posterior margin bisinuate; surface irregularly punctate; transverse basal impression present.

Scutellum: cordate.

Elytron: lateral margin straight, smooth; exterior apical angle rounded; apical margin rounded; sutural angle with small tooth; humerus rounded, not produced; with 8 rows of punctures at base with long scutellar row, 10 rows apically; non-costate.

Leg: short; robust; punctate.

Distribution

Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Uganda.

World Fauna

Described species: 3 (Staines 2012). Key: none.

Hosts

Costus (Costaceae); Amomum, Aframomum (Zingiberaceae)

References

Spaeth, F. 1933a. Studien über die Gattung Cryptonychus (Col. Chrys. Hisp.). Folia Zoologica et Hydrobiologica 5:1‑13.

Staines, C. L. 2012. Tribe Cryptonychini. Catalog of the hispines of the world (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). http://entomology.si.edu/Collections_Coleoptera.html

Weise, J. 1903. Coccinelliden und Hispiden aus Kamerun. Archiv för Zoologi 1:55-63.