Pachyrhinus (Pachyrhinus) lethierryi lethierryi (Desbrochers des Loges, 1875)

Kovalenko, Yakov N., Akulov, Evgeniy N. & Yunakov, Nikolai, 2018, The easternmost discovery of the Mediterranean weevil Pachyrhinuslethierryi (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae): Is a further invasion possible?, ZooKeys 799, pp. 89-93 : 90-91

Pachyrhinus (Pachyrhinus) lethierryi lethierryi (Desbrochers des Loges, 1875) Figures 1-3

Material examined.

1 f, Crimea, Yalta, Mt Dorsan, 44.5030N; 34.1601E, beating from Thuja occidentalis , N. Yunakov leg., 01.ix.2013 (ZMUN); 1 m, Crimea, Sevastopol, Uchkuyevka, 44.6408N; 33.5367E, E.N. Akulov leg., 1-7.vi.2017 (RPQC).

Recent records indicate that P. lethierryi is continuing its expansion to eastward. The northernmost record to date is from Magdeburg, Germany, in 2013. In 2018, it was first recorded in Asia Minor at Urla, İzmir, Turkey ( UkrBIN 2018). All specimens were found in urban areas with numerous Cupressus , Thuja , and Juniperus trees in neighbouring properties. These plants are known as the principal hosts for P. lethierryi ( Hoffmann 1950; Alziar 1977; Germann et al. 2005; Plant et al. 2006) and are considered to be the main vectors for the further spread of P. lethierryi ( Heijerman 2008). Recent records from Crimea are obviously in line with a general trend of this species’ dispersal northward and eastward with commercial ornamental plants. However, we have no proof that P. lethierryi has established a viable population in Crimea. Thus, it may be preliminarily characterized as a "Robinson Crusoe species", that is, one that was accidentally introduced without further naturalization. A remarkable feature of adventive populations of P. lethierryi , along with some invasive Otiorhynchus species, is that no specimens are known from natural habitats.

In Asia Minor and Crimea, P. lethierryi can be easily confused with some species of the genera Dichorrhinus Desbrochers des Loges, 1875 and Rhinoscythropus Desbrochers des Loges, 1895. The following key is given to distinguish P. lethierryi from similar species: