''Larinus'' is a genus of true weevils, comprising about 180 species, mostly in the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

region with some species introduced to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

appears to have a significant diversity of the group, with more than 50 species recorded in the eastern part of the country. Several of these beetles are used as agents of

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or ot ...

against

noxious weeds A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or lives ...

. They feed on

flower heads A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

, destroying the developing seeds of the weeds.

Description

In simple terms, ''Larinus'' are black weevils with stocky bodies. They are rounded and slightly oblate dorsoventrally. They are covered in sparse hairs. According to a more detailed description, ''Larinus'' are stocky in shape unlike the related genus '' Lixus''. The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

is almost always shorter than the

pronotum 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 e ...

or as long as the pronotum. There are antennal furrows on the rostrum and these do not extend forward to the tip. The eyes are flat or slightly bulging. The pronotum is always transverse and strongly narrowed towards the front. On the sides of the pronotum are light gray or yellowish hairs. The

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

are short, usually about 1.5 times as long as their total width. The apices of the elytra are rounded together. In fresh specimens, the elytra are mottled with irregular patches of pale hairs. The legs are short and robust.

Ecology

Larvae of ''Larinus'' live in

of plants in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. They consume ovarioles, achenes and receptacle tissue. They also pupate in flower heads. Adults feed on leaves, stems, flowers, buds, peduncles and possibly pollen of their host plants.

Species

These species belong to the genus ''Larinus'': * '' Larinus araxicola'' Gultekin, 2006 * '' Larinus bombycinus'' Lucas, H., 1847^g * '' Larinus brevis'' * '' Larinus bronni'' Heyden, C. von & Heyden, L. von., 1866^g * '' Larinus byrrhinus'' (Sparrman, A., 1785)^g * '' Larinus cardopatii'' Lucas, H., 1847^g * '' Larinus carlinae'' Olivier, 1807^g * '' Larinus carthami'' Olivier, 1807^g * '' Larinus centaurea'' Oliver, 1807 * '' Larinus centaurii'' Olivier, 1807^g * '' Larinus cuniculus'' Olivier, 1807^g * '' Larinus curtus'' Hochhuth, 1851^b (yellow star thistle flower weevil) * ''

Larinus cylindrus ''Larinus'' is a genus of Curculionidae, true weevils, comprising about 180 species, mostly in the Palaearctic region with some species introduced to North America. Turkey appears to have a significant diversity of the group, with more than 50 ...

'' Hoffmann, 1963^g * '' Larinus cynarae'' (Fabricius, J.C., 1787)^g * '' Larinus filiformis'' Petri * '' Larinus flavescens'' * '' Larinus gigas'' * '' Larinus gravidus'' Olivier, 1807^g * '' Larinus grisescens'' Gyllenhal * '' Larinus hierolosymae'' Desbrochers, 1896^g * '' Larinus iaceae'' (Fabricius, J.C., 1775)^g * '' Larinus jaceae'' (Fabricius, 1775)^g * ''

Larinus latus ''Larinus latus'' is a species of true weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against ''Onopordum ''Onopordum'', or cottonthistle, is a genus of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to ...

'' (Herbst, J.F.W., 1783)^g * '' Larinus longirostris'' Foerster, B., 1891^g * ''

Larinus minutus ''Larinus minutus'' is a species of true weevil known as the lesser knapweed flower weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against noxious knapweeds, especially diffuse knapweed (''Centaurea diffusa'') and spotted knapweed. ...

'' Gyllenhal, 1835^b (seedhead weevil) * '' Larinus nanus'' Lucas, H., 1847^g * '' Larinus numidicus'' Desbrochers, 1892^g * '' Larinus obtusus'' Sturm, 1826^b (knapweed seedhead weevil) * '' Larinus ochreatus'' Schoenherr, 1835^g * ''

Larinus onopordi ''Larinus onopordi'', also known as the globe thistle capitulum weevil, is a species of true weevil in the genus ''Larinus''. Range This species is found in regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Ecology ''Larinus onopordi'' is univoltine ...

'' (Fabricius, J.C., 1787)^g * '' Larinus orientalis'' Capiomont, 1874 * '' Larinus planus'' (Fabricius, 1792)^{i g b} (Canada thistle bud weevil, 2016 synonym of L. carlinae) * '' Larinus pollinis'' (Laicharting, J.N.E. von, 1781)^g * '' Larinus scolymi'' Germar, 1824^g * '' Larinus senilis'' Fabricius, 1801^g * '' Larinus serratulae'' Capiomont, 1874^g * '' Larinus sibiricus'' * '' Larinus sturnus'' Schaller, 1783^g * '' Larinus turbinatus'' Gyllenhal, 1835^b * '' Larinus ursus'' Germar, 1824^g * '' Larinus vulpes'' Olivier, 1807^g Data sources: i = ITIS, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4042608 Lixinae Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Biological pest control Curculionidae genera