The faunal study Lixinae Schonherr 1823 and Curculioninae Latreille 1802 subfamilies with three new records of Snout beetle (Col: Curculionidae) for Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Rasool Rahati ¹
• Jamasb Nozari ¹
• Keramatolah Rezayii Shabankare ²

¹ Department of Plant Protection, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

² Department of Food Science, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Keywords

• Curculionidae
• Snout beetle
• New record
• Iran
• Rangelands

Extended Abstract

Introduction

Snout beetles or weevils belong to the family Curculionidae and include 4000 genera and more than 50000 known species in the world. Small beetles are known for their long snouts in front of their head. Glural suture is an exclusive character of this beetle’s group. This highly diverse family is considered the largest family in Coleoptera. The high diversity of species is related to their highly diverse feed source. Most weevils are herbivores with a wide host range and feed on different parts of a host plant. They cause high damage annually in agriculture, forest, and rangeland regions and some species cause high damage because of their role in dispersing pathogens. Some of the Scolytinae subfamily spread pathogens among the host plants such as Ophiostoma sp. Which causes Dutch elm disease. some snout beetles play a critical role in medical plants which produce beneficial materials in shrubs such as Echinops sp. Due to the economic importance of this group of beetle,more investigation is necessary. The current study focus on the investigation and identification of snout beetle in two subfamilies including Lixinae and Curculioninane in different parts of rangelands of Iran.

Material and Methods

This study would survey important species that are critical in medical production materials too. During 2018 -2022 sampling was done by direct observation and using pitfall traps in three different provinces such as Isfahan, Kerman, and Azerbaijan. Adult beetles which were collected by net and traps moved to a vial of 1.5 ml and transferred to the laboratory for morphological identification. Specimens were sorted and identified by published morphological key identification and confirmed by Boris Korotyaev a relevant expert (Russian Academy of Science). In some sampling staff, specimens were not matured and for confirming identification, therefore, were maintained in verified conditions such as 2 ± 52 temperature and 50-60% moisture until the time adult’s emergence.

Results and Discussion

The results of this study showed a total of 240 specimens collected which identified 22 species belonging to 14 genera and 2 subfamilies were identified. The identification results confirmed that the species Cionus leonhardi (Wingelmüller, 1914) was collected on Verbascum lychnitis in Isfahan province. Cleopus solani (Fabricius, 1792) and Anthonomus humeralis (Panzer1795) were collected from East Azerbaijan province on Carthamus sp. and are new records for the fauna of Iran. These three species have never been recorded from Iran's fauna before. The identified specimens were labeled and preserved in the Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran.

Conclusion

According to the results of this study and the importance of snout beetles in agriculture, medical science, and biodiversity conservation, protection of this group of beetles is essential, However, few studies were done in Iran on snout beetle biodiversity and conservation, therefore, we need more study on different aspects of this family in the future which would attract scientist attention.