BEETLES (COLEOPTERA) OF PERU: A SURVEY OF THE FAMILIES. CURCULIONIDAE: PLATYPODINAE

I summarize literature records and recent identifications of pinhole borers (Platypodinae) of Peru. Most specimens were from two sources: the Caroline Chaboo Beetles of Peru project (collected 2010-2011) and trapped material collected by R. Leschen (in 1993). This study more than doubles the reported species diversity. Examination of 706 mostly male specimens and a literature review yielded a total of 54 identified and 46 unnamed species distributed among 10 of the 11 Neotropical Platypodinae genera. Of the named species, 34 are new to Peru, and 5 species are new to South America: Costaroplatus clunis (Wood), Euplatypus cribricollis (Blandford), Megaplatypus artecarinatus (Schedl), Megaplatypus exaratus (Chapuis), and Neotrachyostus quadrilobus (Blandford). The genera Tesserocranulus Schedl, Costaroplatus Nunberg, Neotrachyostus Browne, Platyphysus Wood, and Teloplatypus Wood are reported for the first time from Peru. Many species found in Peruvian forests remain to be identified or described, as 46 species could not be named at this time; many of these probably are new to science and almost all are new to Peru. Platypus subaequalispinosus Schedl and one morphospecies could not be placed in current genera. Country records are given for all identified species. I find that Platypodinae are unusually widely distributed for tropical insects. Of 54 identified species, 11 species now known from Peru are found in Mexico, 23 have been collected from both Central and South America, 29 are known to occur in forests of the Guyana Shield, and eight are recorded as far south as Argentina. Given these wide distributions, it seems probable that further intensive sampling in Peru, especially at higher altitudes and in different forest types, would turn up all genera and many if not most of the platypodine species occurring in South America.