Melanopsacus grenieri (C. Brisout, 1867 )

Colonnelli, Enzo & Osella, Giuseppe, 2009, New data on some Curculionoidea (Coleoptera: Anthribidae, Apionidae, Curculionidae) from Sardinia *, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 421-426 : 422-423

Melanopsacus grenieri (C. Brisout, 1867)

Material examined. Sardinia: Medio Campidano prov., Villacidro, Rio Cannisoni , 401 m, UTM 32S 468459 4362806, 19–24. V .2006, P. Cornacchia, M. Bardiani, D. Birtele & D. Whitmore leg., UV light trap, 5 ex ( CCO, CNBFVR). Tuscany: Arezzo, downtown, Via Curtatone , 16.IV.2001, G. Nardi leg., on a parked car, 1 ex ( CGN) . Latium: Latina prov. , San Felice Circeo, Peretto, 190 m, UTM 33 T 335435 4567895, 1 – 15. VI .2005 , Cecchetti & A. Noal leg., Malaise trap, 1 ex ( CNBFVR); Viterbo prov., Acquapendente, Monterufeno , from oak with Hypoxylon , 25.III.1995 (larvae and pupae), 20.IV.1995 (adults), A. Vannini leg., 4 ex ( CGN). Sicily: Palermo prov., Bosco della Ficuzza, Pulpito del Re , 865 m, UTM 33 S 358963 4194405, 20. V .2004, G. Nardi leg., sweep net, 1 ex ( CNBFVR) .

Notes. This species was first indicated for Italy by Abbazzi et al. (1999, as Araecerodes grenieri ) based on a specimen reared from tiny branches of Quercus suber collected in northern Latium, central Italy. Pedroni (2004) recorded a pair of specimens from Lombardy, northern Italy, moving the species to Melanopsacus Jordan on the base of a personal communication by the Czech specialist Miloś Trýzna; this new combination was also formally made in the same year by Rheinheimer (2004), both authors not agreeing with the synonymy of Melanopsacus with Araeocerodes Blackburn proposed by Zimmerman (1994), followed instead by Alonso-Zarazaga (2004).

Five specimens of M. grenieri were collected in Sardinia by UV light trap near Quercus ilex and Q. suber trees along a stream, and this is the first record for the island. A single specimen was hand-collected in Sicily in a clearing of a Q. suber forest, being a new record for this region, whereas the Tuscan record may be occasional, the single specimen having been collected on a car.

Other localities are in Latium, where one specimen from the Latina province was collected by a Malaise trap placed in a Q. ilex forest with isolated Q. suber trees (San Felice Circeo, Circeo National Park) (cf. Mason et al. 2006), whereas those from the Viterbo province were already recorded as Tropideres sp. by Vannini et al. (1996). As stated by these authors, these specimens were reared from dead wood of Q. cerris with mature stroma of Hypoxylon mediterraneum (Pyrenomycetes, Sphaeriales, Xylariaceae ), the beetles probably being vectors of the fungus. Also other species of Anthribidae are known to feed on Hypoxylon and other pyrenomycete fungi ( Valentine 1999).

These new records indicate that M. grenieri is probably more widespread in Italy. It is reported from Spain, southern France, Corsica, Slovakia, Algeria ( Hoffmann 1945, as Choragus grenieri ; Strejček 1993, as Melanopsacus grenieri ; Rheinheimer 2004), Bulgaria and Finland ( Alonso-Zarazaga 2004, as Araeocerodes grenieri ).

As for its biology, the few data given by the above authors and the new records indicate that the species lives on Quercus spp. Most probably adults are night flyers and their association with pyrenomycete fungi, often ignored by most entomologists, can explain why Melanopsacus grenieri is so infrequently collected.