New Zealand bulbous weevil
| New Zealand bulbous weevil | ||||||||||||
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New Zealand tuberous weevil ( Hadramphus tuberculatus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hadramphus tuberculatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Pascoe , 1877) |
The bulbous New Zealand Weevil ( hadramphus tuberculatus , Syn. : Karocolens tuberculatus ) is an extremely rare beetle from the family of weevils (Curculionidae) of the Canterbury Plains on the South Island of New Zealand endemic is. It was considered extinct between 1922 and 2004.
description
The New Zealand tuberous weevil is a flightless beetle with tuberous bulges on its back. It reaches a length between 11.7 and 16.3 millimeters and a width between 6.5 and 8.3 millimeters. The body is dark brown with gray-brown scales. It feeds on parts of plants of the genus Aciphylla .
status
This weevil was apparently still common in the Canterbury Plains in the 1870s . The reasons for its disappearance were presumably the removal of its host plants by farmers and the arrival of rats in the region, which ate the beetles. It was last seen in 1922, until a specimen was rediscovered by an entomologist at the Canterbury Museum in late 2004 at Burke's Pass near Lake Tekapo . It is currently listed in the New Zealand Red List in the Critically Endangered category. In the IUCN Red List , the status was changed from “extinct” to “critically endangered” in 2014.
literature
- Laura M. Young et al. (2008): Back from extinction: rediscovery of the Canterbury knobbled weevil Hadramphus tuberculatus (Pascoe 1877) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), with a review of its historical distribution doi : 10.1080 / 03014220809510129
Web links
- Hadramphus tuberculatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2014 Posted by: Chinn, W., 2014. Accessed June 14, 2014.
- Description and illustration (en .; PDF file)
- Illustration of a museum specimen (page 5, plate 3, image no.6; PDF file; 2.64 MB)
- Past distribution of large weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the South Island, New Zealand, based on Holocene fossil remains (en .; PDF file; 384 kB)
- Discovery brings weevil back from the brink (en.)
- 'Extinct' bug found alive and well in high-country reserve (en.)