Attelabidae

Byctiscus betulae, copyright James K. Lindsey.

Belongs within: Phytophaga.
Contains: Attelabinae, Auletobiina.

The Attelabidae are a group of weevils whose larvae develop in rolled leaves or developing shoots. Members of the subfamily Rhynchitinae have a more or less elongate body, a usually narrow and elongate rostrum, flat mandibles that are toothed on the inner and outer margins, and appendiculate tarsal claws (Hamilton 2002). The apices of the elytra are often independently rounded but are contiguous in Auletini. The Apoderinae are leaf rollers with a constriction in the back of the head to form a distinct ‘neck’.

The thief weevil Pterocolus ovatus of southern North America lays its eggs in leaf rolls constructed by other attelabids; the developing larva feeds on the egg of the original constructor before eating the rolled leaf (Bouchard 2014). Pterocolinae are small, robust attelabids with distinct lateral carinae on the prothorax, with the propleura strongly excavated beneath the carinae (Hamilton 2002).

Characters (from Hamilton 2002): Maxillary palps three- or four-segmented (if three-segmented, elytral punctuation confused); tergite 8 concealed in both sexes; elytra separately and broadly rounded at apices, more or less exposing pygidium (tergites 6 and 7); body setose, without broad scales; cuticle often metallic or otherwise brightly coloured; elytra often with scutellary striole; abdominal ventrites decreasing in length, first three or four fused; pygidium visible in both sexes; male genitalia consisting of free pedon and tectum and large tegmen; intersegmental membrane between sternites 8 and 9 partly or entirely sclerotised.

<==Attelabidae
    |  i. s.: PterocolinaeB14
    |           |--ApterocolusB14
    |           `--Pterocolus Say 1831H02
    |                `--P. ovatus (Fabricius 1801)B14
    |         Caenorhinus germanicusRD77
    |         Hybolabus [Hybolabinae]H02
    |--+--AttelabinaeGC-P14
    |  `--ApoderinaeGC-P14
    |       |--Paracycnotrachelus longicollis (Fabricius 1801) [=Attelabus longicollis]Z93
    |       `--Apoderus Olivier 1807 [Apoderini]H02
    |            |--*A. coryli (Linnaeus 1758) [=Attelabus coryli]H02
    |            |--A. javanicusB88
    |            |--A. jekeliMPJ18
    |            |--A. longicollisB35
    |            |--A. ludyiB14
    |            `--A. tranquebaricusB14
    `--Rhynchitinae [Rhynchitidae]GC-P14
         |  i. s.: LasiorhynchitesHF03
         |           |--L. praeustus (Boheman 1845)HF03
         |           `--L. syriacus Desbrochers 1868HF03
         |         Neocoenorrhinus pauxillus (Germar 1824) [=Coenorrhinus pauxillus]HF03
         |         HemilypusB14
         |         AcritorrhynchitesB14
         |         EssodiusB14
         |         BaissorhynchusLB91
         |--Byctiscus [Byctiscini]B14
         |    |--B. betulaeB14
         |    |--B. populiGC-P14
         |    `--B. rugosus (Gebler 1830)B14
         |--AuletiniL01
         |    |--AuletobiinaL01
         |    |--PseudauletinaL01
         |    |    |--Pseudauletes Voss 1922L01
         |    |    |    `--*P. rufiventris (Jekel 1860) [=Rhynchites rufiventris]L01
         |    |    `--Minurus Waterhouse 1842L01
         |    |         `--*M. testaceus Waterhouse 1842L01
         |    `--Auletes Schoenherr 1826 [Auletina]L01
         |         |--*A. tubicen Schoenherr 1826 [=Rhynchites tubicen; incl. A. meridionalis Jacquelin de Val 1854]L01
         |         |--A. calceatus Pascoe 1874M86
         |         |--A. filirostris Pascoe 1874M86
         |         |--A. melanocephalus Erichs. 1842M86
         |         |--A. nigritarsis Pascoe 1874M86
         |         |--A. turbidus Pascoe 1874M86
         |         `--A. wagenblasti Uyttenboogart 1935 [incl. A. wagenblasti f. aenea Voss 1939]L01
         `--Rhynchitini [Rhynchitina]H02
              |  i. s.: Haplorhynchites Voss 1938H02
              |           `--H. aeneusH02
              |         Involvulus Schrank 1798 [incl. Euvolvulus Reitter 1916]H02
              |           `--I. hirtus [=Rhynchites hirtus]H02
              |         Temnocerus Thunberg 1815 [incl. Pselaphorhynchites Schilsky 1903]H02
              |           |--T. aeratusH02
              |           |--T. nasoH02
              |           `--T. perplexusH02
              |--Eugnamptus Schoenherr 1839LB20, H02
              |    |--E. angustatusH02
              |    `--E. nigriventris (Schaeffer 1905)B14
              `--+--Deporaus Samouelle 1819LB20, H02 [incl. Platyrhynchus Thunberg 1815H02; Deporaini]
                 |    |--D. betulaeGC-P14
                 |    |--D. glastinusH02
                 |    |--D. megacephalusC01
                 |    |--D. notatus [=Arodepus notatus]B88
                 |    `--D. podager (Desbrochers des Loges 1889) [=Rhynchites (Deporaus) podager]DL89
                 `--+--Merhynchites Sharp 1889LB20, H02
                    |    |--M. bicolorH02
                    |    `--M. wickhamiH02
                    `--Rhynchites Schneider 1791LB20, H02
                         |--R. alliariaeR13
                         |--R. auratus (Scopoli 1763)B14
                         |--R. bacchus (Linnaeus 1758)B14, L58 [=Attelabus bacchusL02, Curculio bacchusG20]
                         |--R. betulaeR13
                         |--R. betuletiR13
                         |--R. caeruleocephalusR26
                         |--R. conicusR13
                         |--R. cupreusR13
                         |--R. giganteusB14
                         |--R. herosB14
                         |--R. pauxillusC01
                         |--R. populiR13
                         |--R. punctatusR26
                         `--R. velatusH02

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d’Urville. Faune entomologique de l’océan Pacifique, avec l’illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).

[C01] Csiki, E. 1901. Bogarak [Coleopteren]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 75–120. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[DL89] Desbrochers des Loges, J. 1889. Diagnoses de nouvelles espèces des genres Apion et Rhynchites. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: xxxiii–xxxv.

[GC-P14] Gillett, C. P. D. T., A. Crampton-Platt, M. J. T. N. Timmermans, B. H. Jordal, B. C. Emerson & A. P. Vogler. 2014. Bulk de novo mitogenome assembly from pooled total DNA elucidates the phylogeny of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea). Molecular Biology and Evolution 31 (8): 2223–2237.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[HF03] Halperin, J., & J. Fremuth. 2003. Contribution to the knowledge of Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) and their host plants in Israel. Zoology in the Middle East 29: 93–100.

[H02] Hamilton, R. W. 2002. Attelabidae Billberg 1820. In: Arnett, R. H., Jr, M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J. H. Frank (eds) American Beetles vol. 2. Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea pp. 703–710. CRC Press.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[LB91] Lawrence, J. F., & E. B. Britton. 1991. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 543–683. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[L01] Legalov, A. A. 2001. Revision der holarktischen Auletini (Coleoptera: Attelabidae). Russian Entomological Journal 10 (1): 33–66.

[LB20] Letsch, H., M. Balke, E. F. A. Toussaint & A. Riedel. 2020. Historical biogeography of the hyperdiverse hidden snout weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Cryptorhynchinae). Systematic Entomology 45: 312–326.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[M86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (3): 585–686.

[MPJ18] Mugu, S., D. Pistone & B. H. Jordal. 2018. New molecular markers resolve the phylogenetic position of the enigmatic wood-boring weevils Platypodinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny 76 (1): 45–58.

[R13] Reuter, O. M. 1913. Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte. R. Friedländer & Sohn: Berlin.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms’ General Textbook of Entomology 10th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.

[Z93] Zimmerman, E. C. 1993. Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) vol. 3. Nanophyidae, Rhynchophoridae, Erirhinidae, Curculionidae: Amycterinae, literature consulted. CSIRO Australia.

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