Abstract
There are four species of Gymnetron in China recorded to date including Gymnetron miyoshii Miyoshi, 1922, Gymnetron villosipenne Roelofs, 1875, Gymnetron auliense Reitter, 1907 and Gymnetron vittipenne Marseul, 1876, of which the last two are new country records. The pre-imaginal stages including eggs, mature larvae and pupae of Gymnetron miyoshii, Gymnetron auliense and Gymnetron vittipenne are described and illustrated. In addition, their diagnostic characters (larvae and pupae) are discussed and differentiated, and notes on some of their biological parameters are provided. Potential ecological impacts between Gymnetron weevils and their host Veronica spp. also are provided.
Highlights
Gymnetron Schoenherr, 1825 belongs to the tribe Mecinini Gistel, 1848 in the subfamily Curculioninae Latreille, 1802 (Alonso-Zarazaga et al 1999, Caldara 2001)
The aim of the present study is to describe for the first time all developmental stages of three species of Gymnetron living in China in order to provide further characters for the identification of these taxa
As msns and mtns are different among the three weevils species examined, these can be added as special diagnostic characters in Gymnetron; in order to differentiate from alar setae and apical setae of the pupa, as and asp are used, respectively
Summary
Gymnetron Schoenherr, 1825 belongs to the tribe Mecinini Gistel, 1848 in the subfamily Curculioninae Latreille, 1802 (Alonso-Zarazaga et al 1999, Caldara 2001) These weevils are small, distinguished from other Mecinini by the following features taken together: prosternum without median sulcus; elytral margin covering a large portion of the pygidium; elytral striae 3 and 8 joined at apex (Caldara 2008). This genus is widely distributed in the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions (Alonso-Zarazaga et al 1999, Caldara 2001, 2003, 2008); distribution in China of G. miyoshii Miyoshi, 1922 and G. villosipenne Roelofs, 1875 is recorded by Caldara (2008). The immatures of some species of Gymnetron have been studied previously, but without detailed descriptions (van Emden 1938, Scherf 1964, Anderson 1973, May 1993).
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