Observations on the morphology and distribution of Parameira setosa Seidlitz, 1868, and P. gebleri Faust, 1893 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)

Abstract

This study presents data on the morphology and distribution of Parameira setosa Seidlitz, 1868, and P. gebleri Faust, 1893. The former species is documented in the northern rim of the Podolian Upland in Rivne Province of Ukraine, significantly expanding its range westward into the Central European Mixed Forest zone. Species distribution modeling (MaxEnt), based on climatic variables, suggests that P. gebleri might have survived the Last Glacial Maximum in several refugia from the Podolian Upland to Transbaikalia, south of its current range in Siberia. The absence of a well-defined external morphological hiatus may be attributed to the co-occurrence and hybridization of P. setosa and P. gebleri in the early- to mid-Holocene in East Europe. There is a suggested analogy in weevil composition between the Podolian Upland and the West Siberian Plain.