Entiminae
The Entiminae are a large subfamily in the weevil family Curculionidae, containing most of the short-nosed weevils, including such genera as Entimus, Otiorhynchus, Phyllobius, Sitona, and Pachyrrhynchus. In comparison with their stunning diversity, only a few of these weevils are notorious pests of major economic importance. Entimines are commonly encountered in the field, including urban environments, and abundant in entomological collections.
Entiminae | |
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Central European Entiminae, with some anatomical details | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
Family: | Curculionidae |
Subfamily: | Entiminae Schoenherr, 1826 |
Diversity | |
55 tribes |
![Dorsal views of the head of Compsus auricephalus (Eustylini) and Apodrosus quisqueyanus (Polydrusini) showing their deciduous processes. In Compsus auricephalus the deciduous processes are large and sickle-shaped, whereas in Apodrosus quisqueyanus these are very small.](../I/Deciduous-process.png.webp)
![Frontal view of the head of Compsus auricephalus indicating the mandibular scar.](../I/Head_of_Compsus_auricephalus_indicating_mandibular_scar.png.webp)
Diversity
There are over 12,000 described species in the Entiminae subfamily worldwide, distributed in over 1,370 genera,[1] which total nearly 14,000 by more recent counts.[2] Most tribes are represented in only one biogeographic region of the world. The current classification within the subfamily has been recognized as artificial rather than reflecting natural groups.[1]
General morphology
Besides the shape of their broad and short rostrum, most entimines are easily recognized by the presence of a mandibular scar that appears when a deciduous process falls off the mandible, shortly after the emergence of the adult from the pupal stage.[3]
Ecology
In general, entimines tend to feed on a broad range of plants (polyphagous), but there are instances of oligophagy. In general, the larvae feed externally on roots in the soil and adults feed on foliage.[1][3] They also show preference for habitat or substrate rather than plant specificity.[1]
Entimine weevils are primarily associated with angiosperms, but there are also species recorded from gymnosperms. They feed on monocotyledoneous and a broad range of dicotyledoneous plants, including members of the families Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Rutaceae, Solanaceae, and many more.[1]
The most commonly seen/known species are usually those associated with vegetation, where there is a trend to find more abundance and less diversity in cultivated areas, whereas forested or less disturbed areas tend to have more diversity and less abundance; there is a lot of diversity represented in the soil and on leaf litter, which is often overlooked.[4]
The most effective method for collecting entimines from vegetation would be using a beating sheet or by manual collecting; for soil entimines the best method would be leaf litter sifting.
Biology
Entimines may lay eggs loosely on the substrate, or in clusters glued onto the vegetation[5] and do not use their rostrum to prepare their oviposition site.[1] Over 50 species of entimines have been reported as parthenogenetic.[1]
The integument of entimines can be black, reddish, orange and even metallic in coloration. Many species of Entiminae are covered by scales arranged in a broad variety of patterns. Those scales bear three dimensional photonic crystals[6] within their lumen, which makes the scales iridescent.[1]
Many species are flightless, which usually can be seen externally: the elytral shoulders (outer anterior corners of the elytra) are reduced to absent in apterous and brachypterous forms and well-developed in species with well-developed wings.
![Three drawings: first one on the left, shoulders absent (outer corner of elytra straight); center, shoulders weakly developed (outer corner of elytra slightly curved); right, shoulders well-developed (outer corners of elytra prominent)](../I/Elytral_shoulders.png.webp)
Tribes
The current tribal classification of Entiminae follows Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal[7] for the most part, with a few updates by Bouchard et al.[8] The latest tribal addition is the Namaini Borovec & Meregalli.[9] Currently, there are 55 tribes recognized in the subfamily.
A key to identify tribes is presented by Legalov.[10]
- Agraphini
- Alophini
- Anomophthalmini
- Anypotactini
- Blosyrini
- Brachyderini
- Celeuthetini
- Cneorhinini
- Cratopodini
- Cylydrorhinini
- Cyphicerini
- Ectemnorhinini
- Elytrurini
- Embrithini
- Entimini
- Episomini
- Eudiagogini
- Eupholini
- Eustylini
- Geonemini
- Holcorhinini
- Hormorini
- Laparocerini
- Leptostethini
- Lordopini
- Mesostylini
- Myorhinini
- Nastini
- Namaini
- Naupactini
- Nothognathini
- Omiini
- Oosomini
- Ophryastini
- Ophtalmorrhynchini
- Otiorhynchini
- Ottistirini
- Pachyrhynchini
- Peritelini
- Phyllobiini
- Polycatini
- Polydrusini
- Premnotrypini
- Pristorhynchini
- Prypnini
- Psallidiini
- Rhyncogonini
- Sciaphilini
- Sitonini
- Tanymecini
- Tanyrhynchini
- Thecesternini
- Trachyphloeini
- Tropiphorini
- Typhlorhinini
References
- Marvaldi, A. E.; Lanteri, A. A.; del Río, M. G.; Oberprieler, R. G. (2014). "Entiminae Schoenherr, 1823.". In Leschen, R. and R. G. Beutel. (ed.). Handbook of Zoology, Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera, Volume 3: Morphology and Systematics (Phytophaga). Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 503–522.
- Yunakov, N. (2021). "3i taxonomic databases, Curculionidae, subfamily Entiminae | COL". www.catalogueoflife.org. doi:10.48580/d4sl-3f8. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- Anderson, R. S.; Howden, A. T. (2002). "131 Curculionidae Latreille, 1802, XII Entiminae Schoenherr, 1823". In Arnett, R.H.; M.C. Thomas; P.E. Skelley; J.H. Frank (eds.). American Beetles. Vol. II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 722–815.
- Girón, Jennifer C. (2020-12-30). "Status of knowledge of the broad-nosed weevils of Colombia (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae)". Neotropical Biology and Conservation. 15 (4): 583–674. doi:10.3897/neotropical.15.e59713. ISSN 2236-3777.
- Howden, A. T. (1995). "Structures related to oviposition in Curculionoidea". Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington. 14: 53–102.
- Seago, Ainsley E; Brady, Parrish; Vigneron, Jean-Pol; Schultz, Tom D (2009-04-06). "Gold bugs and beyond: a review of iridescence and structural colour mechanisms in beetles (Coleoptera)". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 6 (suppl_2): S165–S184. doi:10.1098/rsif.2008.0354.focus. PMC 2586663. PMID 18957361.
- Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A.; Lyal, C. H. C. (1999). A world catalogue of families and genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) excluding Scolytidae and Platypodidae (PDF). Barcelona, Spain: Entomopraxis. pp. 315 pp – via International Weevil Community.
- Bouchard, Patrice; Bousquet, Yves; Davies, Anthony; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Lawrence, John; Lyal, Christopher; Newton, Alfred; Reid, Chris; Schmitt, Michael; Slipinski, Adam (2011-04-04). "Family-Group Names In Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys (88): 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053.
- Meregalli, Massimo; Borovec, Roman; Cervella, Piero; Santovito, Alfredo; Toševski, Ivo; Ottati, Sara; Nakládal, Oto (2021-09-01). "The Namaini, a new weevil tribe with six new genera from South Africa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 193 (1): 95–123. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa142. ISSN 0024-4082.
- Legalov, A. A. (2020). "Annotated key to weevils of the world: Part 5 - Subfamily Entiminae (Curculionidae)" (PDF). Ukrainian Journal of Ecology. 10 (2): 332–346.
Further reading
- Donald E. Bright, Patrice Bouchard. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Part 25: Coleoptera. Curculionidae. Entiminae. Weevils of Canada and Alaska. Vol. 2. Ottawa, NRC Research Press, 2008. ISBN 0-660-19400-7.