Kalcapion semivittatum fortunatum ( Roudier, 1963 )

Morris, Michael G., Sw, London & Dt, Dorset, 2011, The Apionidae (Coleoptera) of the Canary Islands, with particular reference to the contribution of T. Vernon Wollaston, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 51 (1), pp. 157-182 : 173-174

Kalcapion semivittatum fortunatum ( Roudier, 1963)

WOLLASTON (1854) described a species of Apion from Madeira as A. sagittiferum , and regarded specimens taken in the Canaries as conspecific ( WOLLASTON 1864). However, ROU-

DIER (1963) found the Madeiran and Canarian taxa to be distinct, regarding both of them as distinct subspecies of K. semivittatum (Gyllenhal, 1833) .

Kalcapion s. fortunatum is one of the commonest Canarian Apionidae , occurring in abundance in all the western islands both on, and away from, its host, Mercurialis annua . A detailed list of localities is given by GURREA & SANZ (2000).

Wollaston’s main BMNH collection includes 3 males and 5 females, with representatives from all the western islands. His OUMNH series includes 2 males and 6 females specimens from El Hierro, La Palma and Tenerife. Few of these have the femora darkened characteristically for the subspecies, and a female with pale femora from Fuerteventura is included ; it should be referred to K. s. semivittatum . The material in both collections stands under the name Apion sagittiferum Woll.