Abstract
The mature larvae and pupae of Lixus (Ortholixus) bituberculatus Smreczyński, 1968 and Lixus (Dilixellus) neglectus Fremuth, 1983 (Curculionidae: Lixinae: Lixini) are described and compared with known larvae of 21 other Lixus and 2 Hypolixus taxa. The mature larva and pupa of Lixus bituberculatus are the first immature stages described representing the subgenus Ortholixus. The larva of Lixus neglectus, in the subgenus Dilixellus, is distinguished from the known larvae of four species in this subgenus by having more pigmented sclerites on the larval body. All descriptions of mature larvae from the tribe Lixini, as do all known species from the tribe Cleonini, fit the diagnosis of the mature larva of the Lixinae subfamily. Furthermore, new biological information of these species in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania is provided. For Lixus bituberculatus, a chicory, Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae), is identified as a host plant, and Lixus neglectus is found on dock Rumex thyrsiflorus Fingerh. (Polygonaceae). Both species are probably monophagous or oligophagous. Adults of Lixus bituberculatus often inhabit host plants growing in active, dry and sunny pastures with sparse patches without vegetation, being mostly active during the night in April/May and then again in September, when the highest activity levels are observed. Adults of Lixus neglectus inhabit dry grasslands on sandy soils with host plants, being active during the day from May to September, with the highest level of activity in May/June and September. The larvae of both species are borers in the stem and root of the host plant, and they pupate in root or root neck. Adults leave the pupation cells at the end of summer and do not hibernate in the host plants. Finally, Romania is a new geographic record for Lixus bituberculatus.
Highlights
The genus Lixus Fabricius, 1801, belongs to the tribe Lixini Schoenherr, 1823 in the subfamily Lixinae Schoenherr, 1823, and approximately 500 species have been described globally (Ter-Minasian 1967)
Larvae of 21 Lixus and two Hypolixus species have been described (Scherf 1964; Lee and Morimoto 1988; May 1994; Nikulina 2001, 2007; Zotov 2009a, b; Nikulina and Gültekin 2011; Gosik and Wanat 2014; Skuhrovec and Volovnik 2015), but a detailed description of the pupae is known for only 8 Lixus species (Scherf 1964; May 1994; Zotov 2009a, b; Gosik and Wanat 2014; Skuhrovec and Volovnik 2015)
The larvae of L. bituberculatus and L. neglectus possess all of these characters, with only a few exceptions that partly result from differences in terminology
Summary
The genus Lixus Fabricius, 1801, belongs to the tribe Lixini Schoenherr, 1823 in the subfamily Lixinae Schoenherr, 1823 (family Curculionidae Latreille, 1802), and approximately 500 species have been described globally (Ter-Minasian 1967). 170 Lixus species in 12 subgenera are found in the Palaearctic region; only Eutulomatus Desbrochers des Loges, 1893 and Parileomus Voss, 1939 do not occur in Europe (Gültekin and Fremuth 2013) The biology of these species is partially known but has primarily only been studied recently (e.g., Nikulina 1989; Volovnik 1994, 2007; Gültekin 2007; Gosik and Wanat 2014; Skuhrovec and Volovnik 2015). Lixus bituberculatus Smreczyński, 1968 belongs to the subgenus Ortholixus Reitter, 1916, which includes 18 species in the Palaearctic region (Gültekin and Fremuth 2013) This species is among the rarest of the genus Lixus, only distributed in Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria (Gültekin and Fremuth 2013; Stejskal and Trnka 2014). We describe the immature stages of both species and provide details of their life history based on field observations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania
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