Phrissotrichum tubuliferum ( Wollaston, 1864 )

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 : 166

Phrissotrichum tubuliferum ( Wollaston, 1864)

( Fig. 2 )

WOLLASTON (1864) originally assigned this species to P. tubiferum (Gyllenhal, 1833) , having only four examples to study, but proposed the name tubuliferum if the two species were found to be distinct. This has been accepted by subsequent workers.

Phrissotrichum tubuliferum is generally a very common species which I have found on all the western islands. BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) cited only a record of Wollaston’s from Gran Canaria, where it was particularly abundant and widespread (Tasarte, Tocodoman, Embalse del Mulato, Fataga and Artenara) in March 1994 and February 1997. BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) tabulated a number of differences (besides the much smaller size) between the endemic Canarian weevil and P. tubiferum (Gyllenhal, 1833) . GURREA & SANZ (2000) included it as a Canarian endemic. However, P. tubuliferum appears to be associated only with Cistus monspeliensis , a common Mediterranean plant species, and not to occur on the endemic Canarian C. symphytifolius , perhaps suggesting a relatively recent and allopatric origin.

Only 2 males and 1 female are in Wollaston’s BMNH collection. They stand under the name Apion tubiferum (not tubuliferum ) and all are colour-coded for Gran Canaria. There is just a single male in the OUMNH collection, also from Gran Canaria. These are presumably the four specimens mentioned by WOLLASTON (1864).

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Habitus of the Apionidae of Canary Islands. 1 – Perapion fallax (Wollaston, 1864), syntype, Wollaston Coll. (BMNH); 2 – Phrissotrichum tubuliferum (Wollaston, 1864), syntype, Wollaston Coll. (BMNH); 3 – Aspidapion acerifoliae Suppantschitsch, 1996, author’s Coll.; 4 – Aspidapion radiolus chalybeipenne (Wollaston, 1854), Wollaston Coll. (BMNH).