The Attelabidae is a widespread family 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. They are among the primitive weevils, because of their straight
antennae, which are inserted near the base of the rostrum. The
prothorax
The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...
is much narrower than the base of the
elytra on the abdomen. Attelabidae and the related family
Rhynchitidae are known commonly as the leaf-rolling weevils.
[Legalov, A. A. (2004)]
New data of the leaf-rolling weevils (Coleoptera: Rhynchitidae, Attelabidae) of the world fauna with description of 35 new taxons.
''Baltic Journal of Coleopterology'' 4(1) 63-88. Rhynchitidae may be treated as subfamily Rhynchitinae of the Attelabidae.
Some members of this family have long necks and may be called
giraffe weevils, particularly ''
Trachelophorus giraffa''. A few species are minor
agricultural pests
A pest is any organism harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment fo ...
. The larvae of Rhynchitinae feed in flower buds, fruits, and terminal shoots, or are
leaf miner
A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which ...
s. The subfamily Attelabinae are the true leaf rollers. The female cuts slits into leaves to deposit her eggs, and rolls that part of the leaf in which the larvae will feed.
Taxonomy
Selected genera
*''
Apoderus''
*''
Attelabus''
*''
Cycnotrachelus''
*''
Eleuscelus''
[
*'' Euops''
*'' Paralleuscelus''][
*'' Pareleuscelus''][
*'' Pheleuscelus''][
*'' Rhodocyrtus''
*'' Rhynchites''
*'' Sawadaeuops''][
*'' Suniops''][Legalov, A. A. and N. Liu. (2005)]
New leaf-rolling weevils (Coleoptera: Rhynchitidae, Attelabidae) from China.
''Baltic Journal of Coleopterology'' 5(2) 99-132.
*'' Trachelophorus''
Tree
The phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
position of the family within the Curculionoidea based on 18S ribosomal DNA
The ribosomal DNA (rDNA) consists of a group of ribosomal RNA encoding genes and related regulatory elements, and is widespread in similar configuration in all domains of life. The ribosomal DNA encodes the non-coding ribosomal RNA, integral struc ...
and morphological data can be illustrated in a tree:
References
External links
Bugguide
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
Beetle families
{{Attelabidae-stub