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Introduction
Entiminae are the largest subfamily of weevils found in North America, with 124 genera placed
in 23 tribes according to Anderson (2002). Their most recognizable feature, aside from their
shortened rostrum— a trait that gives them their common name "broad-nosed weevils"— is
the deciduous mandibular process. However, the process typically breaks off shortly after
the adults emerge, leaving a distinct scar on each mandible. It is important to note that not all
members of Entiminae found in Arizona have mandibular process scars. In particular, members
of genera
Dirotognathus Horn and
Sitona Germar and lack such a scar, and
Ophryastes Say and
Trichalophus LeConte tend to have rather elongate rostra.
The purpose of this project is to provide an interactive and illustrated key that allows the
identification of Entimine weevils reported for the state of Arizona. The taxa were acquired
primarily through a recent donation from the Charles W. O'Brien Collection (CWOB). The
characters, in turn, were extracted from Anderson's (2002) key. Genus and species names were
used in accordance with O'Brien & Wibmer (1982). The key includes images representing
both (1) the dorsal and lateral habitus of representative species for each genus, and (2) detail
photographs of relevant diagnostic features.
The was produced using the
mx software platform. Support by Matt Yoder is kindly acknowledged.
References Cited
Anderson, R.S. 2002. Family 131. Curculionidae; pp 722—815. In: Arnett, J.R.H., Thomas, M.C.,
Skelley, P.E., Frank, J.H., Eds. American Beetles, Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea to Curculionoidea,
Volume 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
O'Brien, C.W., Wibmer, G.J. 1982. Annotated checklist of the weevils (Curculionidae sensu
lato) of North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea).
Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 34: 1—382.
Cite this project
Daniel, Dustin H. & Nico M. Franz. 2012. An interactive key to the genera of entimine weevils of Arizona (Curculionidae: Entiminae). Accessed on Fri Apr 19 22:50:25 -0500 2024.
