Rhinusa mauritii (Desbrochers des Loges, 1898)

Caldara, Roberto & Toševski, Ivo, 2019, Rhinusa Stephens: a taxonomic revision of the species belonging to the R. linariae R. herbarum, R. melas, and R. mauritii groups (Coleoptera Curculionidae), Zootaxa 4679 (2), pp. 318-340 : 334

Rhinusa mauritii group

Remarks and comparative notes. This group is monobasic since it is composed only by R. mauritii , which is very distinctive because it is the only species in the Mecinini with a dorsal vestiture completely composed of broad and adpressed scales. Moreover, it possesses asymmetrical claws as in a few species of Mecinus and in many species of Cionus Clairville, 1798 . Due to the shape of the internal sac of the aedeagus, which is short and initiates just in front of the basal third of the penis, leaving the apical two thirds completely empty, this group was placed near the R. vestita and R. neta groups by Caldara et al. (2010). Preliminary molecular data seem to support this placement ( Hernández-Vera et al. 2013).