''Pissodes'' is a genus of

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

s described by

Ernst Friedrich Germar Ernst Friedrich Germar (3 November 1786 – 8 July 1853) was a German professor and director of the Mineralogy, Mineralogical Museum at Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. As well as being a mineralogist he was interested in entomology and particularly ...

in 1817. These insects live on

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

. They are widely distributed in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

, their distribution mirroring that of plants in the

Pinaceae The Pinaceae (), or pine family, are conifer trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as Cedrus, cedars, firs, Tsuga, hemlocks, Pinyon_pine, piñons, larches, pines and spruces. The family is incl ...

, the pine family, which includes most of their host trees.Lu, X., Zhang, R., & Langor, D. W. (2007)
Two new species of ''Pissodes'' (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from China, with notes on Palearctic species.
''The Canadian Entomologist'' 139(2), 179-88. A few ''Pissodes'' species are considered to be

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

, such as ''

Pissodes strobi ''Pissodes strobi'', known as the white pine weevil or Engelmann spruce weevil, is the primary weevil attacking and destroying white pines. It was described in 1817 by William Dandridge Peck, professor of natural history and botany at Harvard ...

'', '' P. nemorensis'', and '' P. terminalis'', because they do significant damage to trees. There are at least 140 described species in ''Pissodes''.Lu, X. and RunZhi, Z. (2007)
Species, distribution and host plants of genus ''Pissodes'' (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its potential invasive threat.
''Scientia Silvae Sinicae'' 43(9), 38-43.

References

External links

* Molytinae Insect vectors of plant pathogens Curculionidae genera Taxa named by Ernst Friedrich Germar {{Molytinae-stub

See also

References

External links