Long-nosed hollyhock shrews
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Long-nosed hollyhock shrew ( Rhopalapion longirostre ) mating |
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| Rhopalapion longirostre | ||||||||||||
| ( Olivier , 1807) |
The long-nosed hollyhock shrew ( Rhopalapion longirostre ) is a species of beetle from the Brentidae family, subfamily Apioninae , which belongs to the weevils in the broader sense. The species has spread from the Mediterranean to Central Europe. Although it mainly feeds on hollyhocks , it has also been found on cotton plants.
features
The beetles become approx. 2 to 4 mm long without the trunk-like head extension. The body is black, but with dense light gray hairs, so that the beetles appear gray on cursory inspection. Next to the label , the hair is somewhat compressed. The legs are colored yellow-brown. The antenna lobe is made up of three loosely joined links and is unusually long, as long as the six previous antennae links.
The long trunk gives it its name (longiróstris, e, lat. From "lóngus" for "long" and "róstrum" for "trunk"). There is a conspicuous sexual dimorphism in the length of the trunk: while the trunk of the male reaches about half the length of the wing covers, the trunk of the female is almost body length.
distribution
The beetle is originally distributed in southern Central Europe and in central and eastern southern Europe as well as in the Middle East and North Africa, but with the increasing popularity of the hollyhock ( Alcea rosea ) as an ornamental plant , it has expanded its range significantly in recent decades. The long-nosed hollyhock shrew can now be found in large parts of Europe, but also in North America.
Way of life
The food of the beetles are the leaves of certain mallow family , while the larvae of the located ovary of mallows feed. Only large-fruited mallow species come into question as forage plants, so that the beetles in Central Europe occur almost exclusively on hollyhocks grown as garden plants. In other parts of the world, however, the infestation of cotton has also been observed.
To lay eggs in June and July, the females use their proboscis to drill ducts into the buds of the host plant and lay eggs in these. The larvae eat their way through the bud to the ovary, on which they feed. Such a fruit is eaten by each larva within four to six weeks. Before pupation, the larva eats a loophole in the host plant's seed capsule, which has been developed by then, and which is closed with a white secretion. The fully developed beetle leaves the seed capsule through this hole, which would then no longer be able to open the capsule. The beetles, which then hibernate, hatch from September.
Combat
The adult beetles drop from the plant in case of danger. If you carefully bend the plant over a sufficiently large bowl and then tap the stem vigorously, the infestation can be effectively reduced.
literature
- Heinz joy , Karl Wilhelm Harde , Gustav Adolf Lohse (ed.): The beetles of Central Europe . tape 10 : Bruchidae – Curculionidae 1 . Goecke & Evers , Krefeld 1981, ISBN 3-87263-029-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rhopalapion longirostre in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 22, 2011
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the University of Stuttgart
- ↑ P. Sprick, H. Winkelmann, L. Behne: Rhopalapion longirostre - Notes on the biology and current distribution in Germany. In: Weevil News 8, 2002, 9 pages. ( Online ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. , Accessed on July 8, 2013)
