Orchidophilus aterrimus (Waterhouse)

Prena, Jens, 2008, A synopsis of the orchid weevil genus Orchidophilus Buchanan (Curculionidae, Baridinae), with taxonomic rectifications and description of one new species, Zootaxa 1783, pp. 18-30 : 21-23

Orchidophilus aterrimus (Waterhouse)

Baridius aterrimus Waterhouse, 1874: 226 . Lectotype male, here designated, labelled “ Type ”, yellow square, “Singa-/ pore”, handwritten [not by Waterhouse] “ Baridius / aterrimus / C. Waterhouse/ (Type.)” (BMNH). Paralectotypes: 3 males, 2 females, one pair on one card, all with round label “Singa-/ pore”, one with handwritten notes by Waterhouse “Froggatt to whom/ specimen was sent/ says this is Baris / orchivora Blkb. / 7.11.0 4. C.W.” and by Champion “wrongly/ identified/ by Froggatt” (BMNH).

Acythopeus aterrimus . Lea (1906), Champion (1913, 1916), Barber (1917), Schlechter (1927), Swezey (1934), Heller (1940).

Orchidophilus aterrimus . Buchanan (1935), Fullaway (1938), Hustache (1938), Swezey (1945), Pritchard (1959), Voss (1961), O’Brien & Wibmer (1982), Mau (1983), Zimmerman (1992), May (1994), Morimoto (1994), Pakaluk (1994), Hirao et al. (2001).

Distribution. Native to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and possibly Thailand; introduced and established in American Samoa, parts of Australia, Hawaii and possibly the Cook Islands, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea; unknown if established in the Netherlands Antilles; adventive but not established in Canada, Germany, Japan, the United States and possibly in Brazil, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Plant associations. Orchidaceae , Cypripedioideae : Cypripedium curtisii , C. lawrenceanum , Paphiopedilum sp. – Orchidaceae , Epidendroideae : Acanthephippium mantinianum , Aerides crassifolium , Angraecum sp., Arachnis sp., Aranthera sp., Bulbophyllum leopardianum , B. mandibulare , Catasetum splendens [Neotropical!], Cattleya sp., Coelogyne asperata , C. pandurata , C. xyrekes , Cymbidium sp., Dendrobium chameleon , D. canaliculatum , D. compactum , D. crassinode , D. crystallinum , D. findleyanum , D. guerreroi , D.

phalaenopsis, D. pierardii , D. spectabile , D. superbum , D. taurinum , D. victoria-reginae, Epidendrum sp., Grammatophyllum multiflorum , G. speciosum , Liparis condylobulbon , Myrmecophila tibicinis , Oncidium sphacelatum , Phalaenopsis amabilis , P. rimestadiana , P. sanderiana , P. schilleriana , Renanthera alba , Rhynchostylis retusa , Saccolabium sp., Spathoglottis intermedia , Stauropsis lissochiloides , Trichoglottis brachiata , Vanda luzonica, Va nd a x Miss Joaquim. – Bromeliaceae . Guzmania sp. [USDA interception from Netherlands Antilles; plant association probably accidental].

Records. American Samoa: Tutuila Island, Malaeimi, 2002 (USNM, 1, Schmaedick 2002). Australia: Adelaide, botanical garden, 1904 (SAM, 1); Cairns, 1949, 1965 (ANIC); Townsville, 1948 (ANIC); Darwin, 1982, interception, origin Singapore (ANIC); Gove Peninsula, 1982, ex orchids from Queensland (ANIC); Howard Springs, 1987, ex orchid (ANIC); Adelaide, 1987, interception, origin Singapore (ANIC); Port Adelaide, 1988, interception, origin Singapore (ANIC). Canada: Montreal, 1968, ex orchid from Hawaii (CMNC, 1); Halifax, 1984 ( Majka et al. 2007). Germany: Munich, 2002, botanical garden (A. Riedel, pers. comm.). Indonesia: Batavia [Jakarta], 1933 (BMNH, 1); Java (BMNH, 1). Japan: interceptions since 1958 ( Morimoto 1994). Malaysia: Tohore [Tohor?], 1929 (BMNH, 2); Penang, 1913, 1916 (BMNH, 2); Kuching, 1964 (BMNH, 2). New Caledonia: Noumea, 1976, ex orchid (ANIC). Philippines: Manila, 1914 (USNM, 2), prior 1942 (SNSD, 3); Santo Tomas, Batangas, 1997 (BMNH, 6). Singapore: 1895 (1), 1896 (1), 1902 (16), 1909 (2), 1922 (10), without date (10) (BMNH, 40). “ Straits Settlements ”: 1897 (BMNH, 1). Thailand: Bangkok, 1938 (BMNH, 3). United States: Bound Brook, NJ, greenhouse (AMNH, 1); New York, 1996, interception, origin Indonesia (USNM, 1); Washington, DC, greenhouse, 1906, origin Philippines (USNM, 3), ditto, 1926, origin Singapore (USNM, 1), 1936, interception, origin Philippines (USNM, 1); San Francisco, CA, 1915, 1938 (2), interceptions, origin Philippines (USNM, 3); 1936 (4), 2007, origin Singapore (USNM, 5); Miami, FL, 2005, interception, origin Netherlands Antilles (USNM, 1); Hawaii, since 1910, interceptions and in nursery, origin Straits Settlements and Philippines (USNM, 53).

Notes. This is the most frequently intercepted and noxious species of Orchidophilus , but has been lumped variously with O. epidendri . Apart from rather sporadic occurrences in numerous major cities, O. aterrimus now has extended its range in the Indo-Pacific region from secondary dispersal with traded orchid cultivars. The number of interceptions has been scanty in Europe and North America for decades but increased recently in other regions that have not been confronted with this problem before. More recent developments are Neotropical records and associations with New World orchids. To accomplish stability in this difficult complex of orchid weevils, I here designate a male specimen as lectotype of O. aterrimus , with the data given above.

Orchidophilus eburifer (Pascoe) , comb. n.

Baris eburifera Pascoe, 1887: 359 . Holotype male, labelled “Holo-/ type ”, “ India ?”, “ Baris / eburifera / typus Pascoe”, “Pascoe Coll./ B.M. 1893-60.”, “ Baris / eburifera Pasc. ” (BMNH). Hustache (1938), Morimoto (1994).

Acythopeus gilvonotatus Barber, 1917: 17 . Holotype female, labelled “Washington/ Nov. 16, 0 6 DC”, “Executive/ Greenhouses”, “on orchids/ from Philip-/ pine Islands”, “ Acythopeus / gilvonotatus / Barber/ Type no. 21067 USNM” (USNM). Paratypes: 2 males, labelled “on Orchids frm./ Philippin. Islds./ Nov. 16, 1906 ”, “in Executive/ Greenhouse/ Wash. DC.”, “ Paratype / No. 21067/ U.S. N.M.”, “ɗ”, “ Baris / eburifera / Pascoe/ det. R. T. Thompson 1973/ comp. with type ” (USNM); “on greenhouse/ Phalaenopsis ”, “Bergen Co/ NJ”, “rec[eive]d. 1916 from H. B. Weiss Coll.”, “ Paratype / No. 21067/ U.S. N.M.”, “WEISS”, “ɗ” (USNM). syn. n.

Orchidophilus gilvonotatus . Buchanan (1935), Hustache (1938), Swezey (1945), Pritchard (1959), Voss (1961), O’Brien & Wibmer (1982), Morimoto (1994), Hirao et al. (2001).

Distribution. Native to the Philippines; adventive but not established in Great Britain and the United States (including Hawaii).

Plant associations. Orchidaceae , Epidendroideae : Aerides lawrenceae , Phalaenopsis amabilis , P. s c h i l l e - riana, P. stuartiana , Vanda teres (ex stalks).

Records. Great Britain: England, greenhouse (BMNH, 1), specimens with undocumented origin, ex Vanda sp. (BMNH, 6). Philippines: Hirao et al. (2001). United States: Bergen Co., NJ, 1916, greenhouse (USNM, 1 PT), Bound Brook, NJ, greenhouse (AMNH, 1); Washington, DC, 1906, greenhouse (USNM, HT + 1 PT), 1923, interceptions, origin Philippines (USNM, 3); Hawaii, 1916, greenhouse (BPBM, 1), 1930, 1932, interceptions, origin Philippines (USNM, 2), 1933, interception (BPBM, 1). “ Dutch East Indies ”: (BMNH, 1).

Notes. Pascoe (1887) and Barber (1917) provided detailed descriptions and referred explicitly to orchids as the larval host. Nevertheless, the identity of Baris eburifera as an Orchidophilus and its synonymy with O. gilvonotatus went unnoticed until 1973, when Richard Thompson, London, compared type material of the two species and indicated the synonymy on his label. Orchidophilus eburifer has been dispersed occasionally with traded orchids but so far has not become established inside or outside greenhouses.