Rhinusa comosa ( Rosenschoeld, 1838 )

Caldara, Roberto, Casalini, Roberto & Baviera, Cosimo, 2012, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on the Rhinusa tetra (Fabricius) species complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Zootaxa 3329, pp. 31-40 : 37

Rhinusa comosa ( Rosenschoeld, 1838)

Remarks. R. comosa is clearly distinct from the previous three taxa by the shape of the rostrum ( Figs. 3-4 and 8-9 ) and the aedeagus ( Fig. 15 ). In dorsal view, the male rostrum is parallel-sided up to the apex and the sculpture, although equally distinctly striate-punctate, lacks a wide and deep longitudinal median sulcus ( Fig. 3 vs. Fig. 1 ). The penis is parallel-sided to the apex and more elongate and narrow than in the other three taxa ( Fig. 15 vs. Fig. 14 ).

Biological notes. In Italy this species was collected on V. pulverulentum L. in Liguria (northern Italy) and Latium (central Italy), whereas in Sicily it was collected on V. thapsus and V. m a c r u r u m, sometimes together with R. tetra or R. verbasci . We have no exact biological data for the specimens collected in the Balkans and Turkey, where about 230 species of Verbascum occur, a noteworthy 200 of them being endemic ( Huber-Morath 1978).

Distribution. Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Uzbekhistan.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 15. Rostrum in dorsal and lateral view of 1, Rhinusa tetra male, Rocca di Cave, Italy; 2, R. tetra female, Rocca di Cave, Italy; 3, R. comosa male, Pisoniano, Italy; 4, R. comosa female, Sandanski, Bulgaria; 5, R. moroderi female, Salamis, Cyprus; 6, R tetra male; 7, R tetra female; 8, R. comosa male; 9, R. comosa female; 10, R. moroderi female; 11 and 12, R. verbasci female, Golluk-Nallihan, Turkey; 13, R. verbasci female, Tessaglia, Greece. Aedeagus in dorsal view of 14, R. tetra; 15, R. comosa.