Review of the genera of Conoderinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Salvatore S Anzaldo

doi:10.3897/zookeys.683.12080

Abstract

The thirty-nine extant genera of Conoderinae known to occur in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean are reviewed based on external morphology. An identification key is provided along with diagnoses, distributions, species counts, and natural history information, when known, for each genus. Morphological character systems of importance for weevil classification are surveyed, potential relationships among the tribes and genera are discussed, and groups most in need of taxonomic and phylogenetic attention are identified. The following genera are transferred to new tribes: Acoptus LeConte, 1876 from the Lechriopini to the Othippiini (new placement) and the South American genus Hedycera Pascoe, 1870 from the Lechriopini to the Piazurini (new placement). Philides Champion, 1906 and Philinna Champion, 1906 are transferred from the Lechriopini to Conoderinae incertae sedis (new placement) although their placement as conoderines is uncertain. The species Copturomimus cinereus Heller, 1895 is designated as the type species of the genus Copturomimus Heller, 1895.

Highlights

Conoderinae Schoenherr, 1833 are a conspicuous representative of the immensely diverse tropical weevil fauna yet have received scant attention from taxonomists in the last century
Several identification keys for the genera north of Mexico exist, but for identifying the far more diverse Central and South American fauna the only keys to genera are by Rheinheimer (2011) for French Guiana and Heller (1895) for the New World
83 of Champion’s 194 (42.7%) species described in the "Biologia Centrali-Americana" (1906b, 1909, 1910a) that are currently considered to be conoderines are single-specimen descriptions that are reliant on color pattern, often resulting in several similar species agreeing with descriptions

Summary

Introduction

Conoderinae Schoenherr, 1833 (sensu stricto, Alonso-Zarazaga and Lyal 1999; Conoderitae sensu Prena et al 2014) are a conspicuous representative of the immensely diverse tropical weevil fauna yet have received scant attention from taxonomists in the last century. While many of the genera are currently suspect in their tribal placements and many of the presently recognized genera are likely to not represent monophyletic groups, only four changes in the placement of genera are proposed here due to the current lack of phylogenetic evidence, limited observances of relevant type material and unexamined potentially related South American taxa. Those four transfers are justified because they have not been hypothesized. The sequence of this review is as follows: I provide an overview of the diversity, distribution, natural history, and behavior of Conoderinae; a summary of the classificatory history and current morphological circumscription of Conoderinae; a survey of several morphological character systems; an identification key to genera occuring in the focal region; a systematic review section treating each tribe and genus in detail; and suggestions for future studies on the Conoderinae

Materials and methods

Findings

Discussion