Discovery Of A New Species Of Smicronyx Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Smicronyx obrieni Anderson, Korotyaev, and Lingafelter, a new species associated with ragweed [Ambrosia grayi (A. Nelson) Shinners], was discovered in Krasnodar (Russia) and Texas (United States), and is described. The second author received eight specimens of weevils (Fig. 1) from O.V. Kovalev (Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia) that were collected in a rice field in Krasnodar Territory of the North Caucasus (Slavyansk District) in 1975.

The weevils were identified as Smicronyx, however the species was unlike any known from the Palearctic Region. Since the territory where these weevils were collected is extensively agricultural with several experimental plots, the second author thought that this species could have been introduced from the United States where Smicronyx is represented by at least 70 species (Anderson 1962; O’Brien & Anderson 1996). Since acquiring these specimens, we have seen no additional material collected in Krasnodar Territory or other areas of the Caucasus.

In 1998, these beetles were sent to the senior author for identification. The material was determined as an undescribed species of Smicronyx from Texas developing on Ambrosia. In 1999, an expedition to Krasnodar Territory was made, however Ambrosia was nearly absent from the area where the series was collected, and no Smicronyx were collected since.

This suggests that this species probably did not establish in Russia. We describe the adult of this new species of Smicronyx. 1 Deceased 27 December 2005