Broconius Desbrochers, 1904

Gültekin, Levent, 2010, Taxonomic remarks on some genera of Lixini Schoenherr, 1823 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Zootaxa 2411, pp. 1-21 : 2-3

Broconius Desbrochers, 1904

Broconius Desbrochers, 1904: 92

Type species: Lixus rectirostris Desbrochers, 1904 (= Broconius helenae Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999: 189 syn. n.) = Phillixus Petri, 1904: 186 type species: Lixus biskrensis Capiomont, 1875

Current status: Broconius Desbrochers, 1904 is a junior synonym of Lixus Fabricius, 1801 .

Remarks. Fabricius (1801) described the genus Lixus as follows: “ Lixi. corpus elongatum, cylindricum, immarginatus, tardum; capite paruo, inferto, antice porrecto in rostrum rectum, cylindricum, crassiusculum, utrinque fulco oblique exaratum ad receptionem articuli fecundi antennarum; oculis paruis, oblongis, lateralibus, ad basm rostri; antennis thorace brevioribus: articulo fecunde longissimo, ultimis clauatis: claua acuta; thorace brevi, rotundato, antice parum angustate; elytris rigidis, includentibus, longiusculis, cursoriis; tarsis quadriarticulatis; colore obscure, faepius polline adsperse. ”. This genus is mainly characterized by an elongate and cylindrical body, and narrow elytra.

Desbrochers (1904) described a new subgenus Broconius as follows: “ Ces insectes brevirostres forment un petit groupe très homogène devant donner lieu à l’établissement sinon d’un Genre à part, au moins à celui du sous-Genre: Broconius . Caractérisé par un rostre court, differant de forme suivant les sexes, un front plus ou moins impressionné contre celui-ci, des Elytres chargees, le plus couvent, de chaque côte, versle milieu de la base d'une callosite plus ou moins saillante, exactement cylindriques, et de même la geur à la base que le l'Prothorax, nullement atténuees postérieurement mais s'arrondissant pour se terminer en arc au sommet.” This subgenus was placed under the genus Lixus and characterized small body size, short rostrum, slightly impressed frons, and cylindrical elytra with a rounded apex. However, “small body size” and “short rostrum” are not considered to be significant for differentiation at the generic rank, thus, a new synonymy has been established here with Lixus Fabricius, 1801 = Broconius Desbrochers, 1904 syn. n.

The name Broconius was originally attributed as a subgenus by Desbrochers (1904; 92) but in the same paper on 102, Desbrochers listed nine species [1. Salicornia Fst. , 2. rectirostris Db. , 3. tibiellus Db., 4. professus Fst. , 5. Kraatzi Cap. , 6. biskrensis Cap. , 7. rubripes Db., 8. s ubfarinosus, 9. subulatus Faust ] within Broconius . Petri (1904) described a new subgenus Phillixus under the genus Lixus , attributed five small body sized (3.0– 5.5 mm) species [ L. biscrensis Cap. , “misspelling, correct is biskrensis ”, L. subulatus Faust , L. professus Faust (i. l.?), L. Kraatzi Cap.] to the subgenus. Broconius was placed under the subgenus Phillixus as a synonym by Csiki (1934) who listed seven species ( Lixus biskrensis Capiomont, 1875 , L. confinis Petri, 1904 , L. kraatzi Capiomont, 1875 , L. lecontei Faust, 1883 , L. professus Faust, 1883 , L. rectirostris Desbrochers, 1904 , L. subulatus Faust, 1891 ) under this subgenus. The status of Broconius was revised and it was raised to genus rank by Alonso-Zarazaga and Lyal (1999) designating Lixus rectirostris Desbrochers as the type species. In the same catalogue, Phillixus was listed as a junior synonm with Lixus biskrensis Capiomont as the type species.