Orchidophilus ran Morimoto

Prena, Jens, 2008, A synopsis of the orchid weevil genus Orchidophilus Buchanan (Curculionidae, Baridinae), with taxonomic rectifications and description of one new species, Zootaxa 1783, pp. 18-30 : 27-28

Orchidophilus ran Morimoto

Orchidophilus ran Morimoto, 1994: 236 . Holotype male (Kyushu Univ.). Paratypes 54 (4 examined). Hong (2000), Hong et al. (2000).

Distribution. Adventive but not established in Japan, South Korea and the United States. Native range unknown (possibly Philippines and/or Taiwan).

Plant associations. Orchidaceae , Epidendroideae : Cymbidium sp., Dendrobium sp., D. nobile , Phalaenopsis sp.

Records. Japan: several interceptions since 1958, origin Philippines and Taiwan ( Morimoto 1994; BMNH, 4). South Korea: Goyang (6), Seonghwan (10), greenhouse (Hong 2000, Hong et al. 2000). United States: San Francisco, CA, 1973, interception, origin Taiwan (USNM, 1).

Notes. Orchidophilus ran has been intercepted in Japan ( Morimoto 1994), Korea (Hong 2000) and the United States. The species is notably similar to O. peregrinator and O. epidendri , and females of these species seem to be indistinguishable. The USNM collection holds a small series of another morph of this complex, which may or may not deserve separate specific rank. Further investigations should rely on representative material and collections from natural habitats. The regionally confined intercepts in southeastern Asia, often with origin Taiwan, suggest that these specimens may have originated from just one or a few wholesale dealers or may actually be native to Taiwan.