Nemonychidae

Nemonychidae
Temporal range: Oxfordian-Present
Doydirhynchus austriacus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Clade: Phytophaga
Superfamily: Curculionoidea
Family: Nemonychidae
Bedel, 1882
Subfamilies
Synonyms

Cimberididae Gozis, 1882[1]
Cimberidae Auctt. (missp.)

Nemonychidae is a small family of weevils, placed within the primitive weevil group because they have straight rather than geniculate (elbowed) antennae. They are often called pine flower weevils. As in the Anthribidae, the labrum appears as a separate segment to the clypeus, and the maxillary palps are long and projecting. Nemonychidae have all ventrites free, while Anthribidae have ventrites 1-4 connate or partially fused. Nemonychidae lack lateral carinae on the pronotum, while these are usually present, though may be short, in Anthribidae.[2]

Nemonychidae are historically divided into three subfamilies: Nemonychinae of the palearctic region with the single genus Nemonyx and an unusual host, the angiosperm Delphinium. Most species of the other two subfamilies are associated with Pinales feeding on the pollen of the male inflorescences. Cimberidinae are found in the Northern hemisphere, while Rhinorhynchinae[3] occur largely in the Southern hemisphere, especially found on Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae. Recent phylogenetic research indicates that the Cimberidinae are sister to all of the remaining Curculionoidea, and it has been proposed to elevate the group to family rank.[4]

Both Nemonychidae adults and larvae feed primarily on pollen.[5] When mature, the larvae will drop to the ground from the male cones or flowers they resided in to pupate in the soil less than five centimeters from the surface.[6]

There exists a fairly extensive fossil record of Nemonychidae reaching from the upper Jurassic to tertiary amber.

  1. ^ ICZN (2005) Opinion 2111 (Case 3093). Nemonychidae Bedel, November 1882 (Insecta, Coleoptera): given precedence over Cimberididae Gozis, March 1882; and Cimberis Gozis, 1881: usage conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 62(2): 101–103.
  2. ^ Anderson, R.S, Oberprieler, R.G., Marvaldi, A.E. 2014. 3.1 Nemonychidae Bedel, 1882. In: Leschen R.A.B. & Beutel, R.G. (Eds) Handbook of Zoology, Coleoptera, Beetles Volume 3: Morphology and Systematics (Phytophaga). DeGruyter, Berlin, pp. 301–398.
  3. ^ Kuschel, G. & Leschen, R. A. (2011). Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Rhinorhynchinae (Coleoptera: Nemonychidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 24(6), 573-615.
  4. ^ Shin S, Clarke DJ, Lemmon AR, Moriarty Lemmon E, Aitken AL, Haddad S, Farrell BD, Marvaldi AE, Oberprieler RG, McKenna DD (2018) Phylogenomic data yield new and robust insights into the phylogeny and evolution of weevils. Mol. Biol. Evol. 35: 823-836. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msx324
  5. ^ McKenna, Duane D.; Sequeira, Andrea S.; Marvaldi, Adriana E.; Farrell, Brian D. (2009-04-13). "Temporal lags and overlap in the diversification of weevils and flowering plants". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (17): 7083–7088. doi:10.1073/pnas.0810618106. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2678426. PMID 19365072.
  6. ^ Kusche, G. (1983). "Past and present of the relict family nemonychidae (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)". GeoJournal. 7 (6). doi:10.1007/bf00218522. ISSN 0343-2521. S2CID 83680109.