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Title: Five new species of the Stethobaris LeConte complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Baridinae) associated with Amaryllidaceae

Author
item Prena, Jens
item O'BRIEN, C. - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2011
Publication Date: 6/22/2011
Citation: Prena, J., O'Brien, C. 2011. Five new species of the Stethobaris LeConte complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Baridinae) associated with Amaryllidaceae. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 113(2):163-184.

Interpretive Summary: Weevils are a hyperdiverse group of phytophagous insects. Numerous species are known to cause tremendous losses in agriculture. This paper deals with a complex that has been intercepted numerous times with imported amaryllis plants. The study was originally conceived to describe a species that became established in the southeastern United States in the late 1980s; however, it revealed a long-standing and systematic influx of exotic pest species with ornamental plants. Five out of six species treated in this paper are only known from interceptions made in plant quarantine, but not from their natural habitats. The provided information not only will be valuable for plant growers and action agencies such as APHIS, but also for the planning of further research and preventive actions to protect U.S. agriculture.

Technical Abstract: Five weevil species reared or collected from Amaryllidaceae in the New World are compared with morphologically similar weevils, mostly found on orchids. Based on preliminary analyses of external and some internal characters, they are referred to Stethobaris LeConte and described as S. cerpheroides Prena and O’Brien new species, S. hybris Prena and O’Brien new species, S. nemesis Prena and O’Brien new species, S. sprekeliae Prena and O’Brien new species and S. ultima Prena and O’Brien new species. Central Mexico is their likely origin, but nearly all available specimens have been found elsewhere associated with plants traded among growers. Stethobaris nemesis is adventive in the southeastern United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) and Barbados, Lesser Antilles. Cerpheres rufescens Champion is transferred to Stethobaris (new combination). Cerpheres glabrescens Champion and Ovanius conicollis Casey are recorded newly for Colombia, South America.