Baezia litoralis Alonso Zarazaga & García, 1999

García, Rafael, López, Heriberto & Oromí, Pedro, 2007, Additional data to the genus Baezia with description of a new species from a cave on El Hierro, Canary Islands (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Molytinae), Zootaxa 1631, pp. 47-55 : 53-54

Baezia litoralis Alonso Zarazaga & García, 1999

Studied material. Tenerife. Bajamar, La Laguna (4-20 m a.s.l., 28RBS673587): 4ɗ (paratypes), 9-II-1986, R. García leg.; 1ɗ (holotype), 17-II-1986, R. García leg.; 1ɗ and 2Ψ (paratypes), 30-XII-1986, R. García leg.; 3ɗ (paratypes), 2-II-1987, R. García leg.; 4Ψ and 2ɗ, 12-II-2006, H. López leg.

Biology and ecology. All specimens known so far have been found under big stones partially dug in the soil, on the coastal cliffs of a single locality at the north of Tenerife. The environment is highly influenced by marine spray, with halophilous vegetation mainly dominated by Crithmum maritimum L., Astydamia latifolia (L. f.) Baill., Frankenia sp., Sonchus sp., Opuntia dillenii (Ker. Gawl.) Haw. and Tamarix canariensis Willd. The soil is a vertisol of montmorillonitic clay, very different to that in places of La Palma and El Hierro where Baezia species have ben found in lava tubes ( Alonso-Zarazaga and García 1999). These clays become highly cracked in dry periods, being a peculiar microhabitat where small endogean insects are living, like Baezia litoralis and the ground beetle Parazuphium damascenum canariense Machado, 1992 . During the heavy rains this soil becomes muddy and the cracks get flooded, compelling this fauna to migrate to the surface. This is the best opportunity to find Baezia litoralis as it probably leaves the flooded surroundings of the roots to shelter in stones with abundant alveoles free of water.

No relations have been established between the collected specimens of Baezia litoralis and the roots of any particular plant, but very probable it is also a rhizophagous species.