Belongs within: Phytophaga.
Contains: Nanophyinae, Eurhynchinae, Apioninae, Brentini, Eremoxenini, Microtrachelizina, Trachelizina, Cyphagogini, Stereodermini, Ithystenini, Arrhenodini.
The Brentidae are a family of weevils whose larvae burrow into wood, seeds or other plant structures. Brentids are highly variable in body form, including elongate forms such as members of the subfamily Brentinae as well as the more compact Apioninae. Brentids resemble members of the related family Curculionidae in the presence of a single gular suture and having the first and second ventrites fused and longer than the succeeding ventrites. However, they mostly differ from curculionids in lacking elbowed antennae except in members of the subfamily Nanophyinae. Brentids are often strongly sexually dimorphic in rostrum morphology.
Members of the Nanophyinae and Apioninae are distinguished from other weevils by the possession of elongate trochanters, distinctly separating the femora from the coxae (Zimmerman 1994). Cylas, the sweet-potato weevils, have a distinctive habitus with elongate-oval elytra and an elongate constricted collar at the front of the pronotum (Anderson & Kissinger 2002). The Microcerinae are an Afrotropical group of cryptic, ground-dwelling weevils with a short rostrum (Bouchard 2014).
The Brentinae have an elongate habitus with parallel-sided elytra. Members of the Trachelizinae and Cyphagoginae, variously treated as tribes of Brentinae or separate subfamilies, have a ventrally setose rostrum (Anderson & Kissinger 2002).
Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Moderately to very elongate, parallel-sided to anteriorly narrowed beetles, usually subglabrous but occasionally clothed with decumbent or erect hairs. Rostrum usually long and narrow (short and broad in some species); antennae usually straight with short scape, except in Nanophyes where antennae are geniculate with very long scape; antennal club, where present, may be long and distinctly segmented, short and compact and indistinctly segmented, or unsegmented; antennal insertions usually between base and middle of rostrum, but occasionally near apex; labrum not visible; maxillae and labium reduced, with rigid maxillary palps and labial palps reduced and usually concealed on inner surface of labium; gular surfaces fused; prothorax without lateral carinae; pygidium concealed by elytra; first two ventrites solidly fused and much longer than ventrites 3-5 combined. Larvae slender and subcylindrical or short and broad, moderately to strongly curved and very lightly sclerotised. Frontal arms extending to mandibular articulations; labrum with pair of sclerotised rods; mesotergum armed with paired patches of asperities in some Brentinae; abdominal terga with two or four transverse folds; legs, if present, minute and sometimes consisting of dome-like lobes only.
<==Brentidae [Apionidae, Brenthidae, Brenthides, Brentides, Brentoidea, Cycladidae] |--Ithycerus Schönherr 1823A02 [incl. Pachyrhynchus Kirby 1837A02; Ithyceridae, IthycerinaeLE23] | `--I. noveboracensis (Forster 1771)B14 `--+--+--EurhynchinaeLE23 | `--ApioninaeLE23 `--+--+--Cylas Latreille 1802LE23, Z94 (see below for synonymy) | | |--*C. brunneusZ94 [=Brentus brunneusZ94, Attelabus (Cylas) brunneusG20] | | |--C. formicarius (Fabricius 1798)B14 (see below for synonymy) | | |--C. laevicollis [=*Protocylas laevicollis]Z94 | | `--C. puncticollisB14 | `--MicrocerinaeLE23 | |--EpisusB14 | |--GyllenhaliaB14 | `--MicrocerusB14 | |--M. borreiB14 | |--M. latipennis Fåhraeus 1871B14 | |--M. retususB14 | `--M. spinigerB14 `--BrentinaeLE23 | i. s.: Prodector [Pseudocephalini]B14 | BrentiniB14 | BelopheriniZ94 | EutrachelusRD77 [EutracheliniZ94] | Tychaeus [incl. Belorhynchus; Belorhynchides, Belorhynchini, Tychaeini]Z94 | UloceriniZ94 | Taphroderini [Taphroderinae]Z94 | RhyticephaliniZ94 | NemocephaliniZ94 |--EremoxeniniLB20 `--+--+--Trachelizinae (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | i. s. HypomiolispaZ94 | | | RhinopteryxZ94 | | | Diurus furcillatus [=Ceocephalus furcillatus, C. turcillatus (l. c.)]Z94 | | | Opisthenoplus cavus [=Ceocephalus cavus]Z94 | | | Pseudoceocephalus Kleine 1920 [=Rhomalorrhinus De Muizon 1955]Z94 | | | |--*P. depressus (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | `--P. curvirostris [=Ceocephalus curvirostris]Z94 | | | Zemioses fraterculus [=Ceocephalus fraterculus]Z94 | | | Pseudomygaleicus georgei [=Ceocephalus georgei]Z94 | | | Paryphobrenthus latirostris [=Ceocephalus latirostris]Z94 | | | Orphanobrenthus Damoiseau 1962Z94 | | | `--*O. picipes [=Brentus picipes, Ceocephalus picipes, Pseudoceocephalus picipes]Z94 | | | Schizuropterus reichei [=Ceocephalus reichei]Z94 | | | NeoceocephalusZ94 | | | Schizotrachelus Lacordaire 1866Z94 | | | |--*S. brevicaudatusZ94 | | | |--S. consobrinusZ94 | | | `--S. madensZ94 | | | Paratrachelizus Kleine 1921AK02 | | | |--P. dorsalis (Boheman 1840)F54 | | | |--P. filiformis (Sharp 1895)F54 | | | `--P. uncimanus (Boheman 1839)AK02 | | |--CeocephalinaLB20 | | | |--Ceocephalus Schoenherr 1833 (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | | `--*C. appendiculatus Boheman 1833 (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | |--Uropteroides Kleine 1922Z94 | | | | |--*U. douei [=Brentus douei, Uropterus douei]Z94 | | | | `--U. gestroi (Senna 1894) [=Uropterus gestroi]Z94 | | | `--Hormocerus Schoenherr 1823 [incl. Apterorrhinus Senna 1895, Apterorrhynchus (l. c.)]Z94 | | | |--*H. reticulatus (Fabricius 1801) (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | |--H. compressitarsis (Senna 1895) (see below for synonymy)Z94 | | | `--H. fossulatus Blackburn 1896Z94 | | |--MicrotrachelizinaZ94 | | `--TrachelizinaZ94 | `--CyphagoginaeAK02 | |--CyphagoginiZ94 | `--StereoderminiLB20 `--+--IthysteniniLB20 `--ArrhenodiniLB20 Brentidae incertae sedis: Phocylides pascoei Macleay 1886M86 Exopleura monilis (Fabricius 1787) [=Brentus monilis]Z94 XestocoryphusZ94 ChalybdicusZ94 |--C. hahneiZ94 `--C. reverens Kleine 1928Z94 Nesidiobrentus Damoiseau 1964Z94 `--*N. samoanus (Kleine 1944) [=Opisthenoxys samoanus]Z94 Hephebocerus [Ephebocerini, Hephebocerides]Z94 Nemobrentus Sharp 1895Z94 LispotheriumZ94 Rhaphidorrhynchus Schönh. 1840FS90 `--R. nitidicollis Gyll. 1833 [incl. R. cylindricornis, R. lucidulus]FS90 Acratus Lac. 1866FS90 `--A. subfasciatus Boh. 1840FS90 Orychodes andrewsi Gahan 1900JG19 Myrmacicelus Chevrolat 1833 (see below for synonymy)Z94 |--*M. formicarius Chevrolat 1833 (see below for synonymy)Z94 |--M. exsertus Pascoe 1872 [incl. M. pilosicornis Lea 1915]Z94 `--M. puerulus Lea 1898Z94 NanophyinaeLB20 Nanodiscus transversusLB20
Ceocephalus Schoenherr 1833 [incl. Uroptera Latreille 1827 (n. n.), Uropterus Latreille 1828]Z94
*Ceocephalus appendiculatus Boheman 1833 [=Brentus appendiculatus, Uroptera appendiculata; incl. B. caudatus Latreille 1828 nec Lichtenstein 1796 nec Herbst 1797 nec Curculio caudatus Olivier 1807, Uroptera caudata, *Uropterus caudatus]Z94
*Hormocerus reticulatus (Fabricius 1801) [=Brentus reticulatus, Ceocephalus reticulatus; incl. Hormocerus annulipes Schauffuss 1887, C. dehaani Gyllenhal 1833, H. javanicus Perroud 1853, C. scrobicollis Boheman 1845]Z94
Cylas Latreille 1802LB20, Z94 [incl. Cylanus Rafinesque 1815 (n. n.)Z94, Protocylas Pierce 1941AK02; Cylades, Cyladinae, Cyladini, Cylinae]
Cylas formicarius (Fabricius 1798)B14 [=Brentus formicariusZ94, Attelabus formicarius non Linnaeus 1758Z94; incl. Apion brentiforme Megerle msZ94, Otidocephalus elegantulus Summers 1875Z94, Cylas formicarius elegantulusB14, C. turcipennis Boheman 1833Z94]
Hormocerus compressitarsis (Senna 1895) [=*Apterorrhinus compressitarsis; incl. A. albatus Kleine 1922]Z94
Myrmacicelus Chevrolat 1833 [=Myarmecacelus (l. c.), Rhynolaccus Latreille in Guérin-Méneville 1831 (n. n.), Rhinolaccus; Myrmacicelinae]Z94
*Myrmacicelus formicarius Chevrolat 1833 [=Rhynolaccus formicarius, Rhinolaccus formicarius, Myrmacicelus bistriatus Chevrolat 1833; incl. Cylas unicolor d’Urville ms, M. unicolor Dejean ms]Z94
*Pseudoceocephalus depressus [=Brentus depressus, Ceocephalus depressus, *Rhomalorrhinus depressus]Z94
Trachelizinae [Ceocephalidae, Ceocephalides, Ceocephalinae, Ceocephalini, Pseudoceocephalini, Trachelizidae, Trachelizides, Trachelizini]Z94
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A02] Anderson, R. S. 2002. Ithyceridae Schönherr 1823. In: Arnett, R. H., Jr, M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J. H. Frank (eds) American Beetles vol. 2. Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea pp. 720–721. CRC Press.
[AK02] Anderson, R. S., & D. G. Kissinger. 2002. Brentidae 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. 711–719. CRC Press.
[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).
[FS90] Fleutiaux, E., & A. Sallé. 1890. Liste des coléoptères de la Guadeloupe et descriptions d’espèces nouvelles. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: 351–484.
[F54] Franz, E. 1954. Brentidae aus El Salvador (Ins. Col.) Senckenbergiana Biologica 35: 89–90.
[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.
[JG19] James, D. J., P. T. Green, W. F. Humphreys & J. C. Z. Woinarski. 2019. Endemic species of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Records of the Western Australian Museum 34 (2): 55–114.
[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.
[LE23] Li, Y.-D., M. S. Engel, E. Tihelka & C. Cai. 2023. Phylogenomics of weevils revisited: data curation and modelling compositional heterogeneity. Biology Letters 19: 20230307.
[M86] Macleay, W. 1886. The insects of the Fly River, New Guinea, “Coleoptera” (continued). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (1): 183–204.
[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms’ General Textbook of Entomology 10th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.
[Z94] Zimmerman, E. C. 1994. Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) vol. 2. Brentidae, Eurhynchidae, Apionidae and a chapter on immature stages by Brenda May. CSIRO Australia.