Taeniapion delicatulum ( Wollaston, 1857 )

Morris, Michael G., Sw, London & Dt, Dorset, 2011, The Apionidae (Coleoptera) of the Canary Islands, with particular reference to the contribution of T. Vernon Wollaston, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 51 (1), pp. 157-182 : 175

Taeniapion delicatulum ( Wollaston, 1857)

( Fig. 9 )

At a late stage in the preparation of this paper it became apparent that the Madeiran and Canarian populations of T. delicatulum might not be conspecific. However, as WOLLASTON (1864) considered them to be so, this issue is not addressed here. Taeniapion delicatulum is very clearly distinct from T. atlanticum , but is rather closer to (though also distinct from) the European T. rufescens (Gyllenhal, 1833) , a similarity which was not remarked by Wollaston, but was noted by BRITO & OROMÍ (1986). The occurrence of its hosts, Canarian species of Urtica in particular being far less common than the ubiquitous U. dioica in Britain and western Europe generally, limits the distribution of T. delicatulum . However, the weevil is abundant where it occurs, recent experience being at odds with Wollaston’s assessment of the species being ‘apparently nowhere common’. It is distributed throughout the western islands. BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) included them all except Gran Canaria, while MACHADO & OROMÍ (2000) omitted Gomera (from which island it was recorded by ‘the Messrs. Crotch’ ( WOLLASTON 1865)). Besides records from Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro, I have taken the weevil in Gran Canaria (S. Bartolome, March 1994; Las Lagunetas, and Las Corrales, both in January 2004) and La Gomera (Chorros de Epina, December 1995; Las Hayas, January 2003). The hosts I have recorded are Parietaria sp. and, particularly, Urtica morifolia . WOLLASTON (1864) gave no host, but (1865) mentioned Parietaria on the authority of the Crotch brothers, who stated that it was peculiar to that plant on Gomera (which it certainly is not). BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) assumed Wollaston’s Parietaria to be P. debilis . Like many other Apionidae , T. delicatulum is frequently found on vegetation other than its foodplants.

UYTTENBOOGAART (1935) described Apion diverserostratum as a new species, but later ( UYTTENBOOGAART 1937) conceded (though somewhat ambiguously) that his material fell within the range of variation of A. delicatulum . This has been accepted by subsequent workers, for example LINDBERG & LINDBERG (1958), BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) and MACHADO & OROMÍ (2000), as well as the current author.

Wollaston’s BMNH specimens include 4 males and 4 females, from El Hierro, La Palma and Tenerife, and in his OUMNH collection the species is represented by 2 males and 7 females from the same three islands.

Figures

Figs. 9–12. Habitus of the Apionidae of Canary Islands. 9 – Taeniapion delicatulum (Wollaston, 1857), author’s Coll.; 10 – Hemitrichapion gomerense Stüben & Behne, 2010, author’s Coll; 11 – Holotrichapion rotundipenne (Wollaston, 1854), author’s Coll.; 12 – Catapion pubescens (Kirby, 1811), holotype of Apion ceuthorhynchoides Wollaston, 1864, Wollaston Coll. (BMNH).