Gonipterus gibberus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
Family: | Curculionidae |
Subfamily: | Curculioninae |
Genus: | Gonipterus |
Species: | G. gibberus |
Binomial name | |
Gonipterus gibberus Boisduval, 1835 | |
Synonyms | |
Dacnirotatus bruchiMarelli |
Gonipterus gibberus is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is commonly known as the eucalyptus snout beetle, the eucalyptus weevil or the gum tree weevil. It feeds and breeds on Eucalyptus trees and is endemic to Australia. [1]
This weevil is greyish-brown with a light coloured transverse band. It is about thirteen millimetres long and not readily distinguishable from the closely related weevils, Gonipterus platensis , Gonipterus pulverulentus , and Gonipterus scutellatus , all of which share the same common names, as they have historically been confused with one another. [1]
Eucalyptus trees are the only hosts for the gum tree weevil. [1]
The gum tree weevil is endemic to Australia where Eucalyptus trees are native. Related species in the genus Gonipterus are invasive pests of eucalyptus in China, Africa, South America, North America, and Europe, and were historically misidentified as G. scutellatus until researchers examined the DNA of the pest species in 2012 and determined that none of the pests were genuine G. scutellatus. [1] The populations in South America, which were initially identified as G. scutellatus, and later identified in 1996 as being G. gibberus, are actually G. pulverulentus . [1]
This particular gum tree weevil is of little economic significance in Australia where it has natural enemies, and it does not occur in any other countries. Because of the confusion between this species and related species, all of the published literature on South American populations of G. gibberus prior to 2012, and much of the subsequent literature, mistakenly attributes properties such as life cycle, host preferences, and other ecological parameters to this species, when in fact they refer to G. pulverulentus. [1]
Eucalyptus regnans, known variously as mountain ash, swamp gum, or stringy gum, is a species of medium-sized to very tall forest tree that is native to the Australia states of Tasmania and Victoria. It is a straight-trunked tree with smooth grey bark, but with a stocking of rough brown bark at the base, glossy green, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers, and cup-shaped or conical fruit. It is the tallest of all flowering plants; the tallest measured living specimen, named Centurion, stands 100 metres tall in Tasmania.
The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae.
Eucalyptus camaldulensis, commonly known as the river red gum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is a tree with smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and hemispherical fruit with the valves extending beyond the rim. A familiar and iconic tree, it is seen along many watercourses across inland Australia, providing shade in the extreme temperatures of central Australia.
Belidae is a family of weevils, called belids or primitive weevils because they have straight antennae, unlike the "true weevils" or Curculionidae which have geniculate (elbowed) antennae. They are sometimes known as "cycad weevils", but this properly refers to a few species from the genera Parallocorynus and Rhopalotria.
Eucalyptus saligna, commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, nine or eleven, white flowers and cylindrical to conical or cup-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus gomphocephala, known as tuart, is a species of tree, one of the six forest giants of Southwest Australia. Tuart forest was common on the Swan coastal plain, until the valuable trees were felled for export and displaced by the urban development around Perth, Western Australia. The wood is dense, hard, water resistant and resists splintering, and found many uses when it was available. Remnants of tuart forest occur in state reserves and parks, the tree has occasionally been introduced to other regions of Australia and overseas. Remaining trees are vulnerable to phytophthora dieback, an often fatal disorder, including a previously unknown species discovered during analysis of dead specimens.
Cryptorhynchinae is a large subfamily of weevils (Curculionidae), with some 6000 species. They are found in most zoogeographic regions although they are most diverse in the Neotropics, Australia and Oceania.
Gonipterini is a tribe of weevils in the subfamily Curculioninae.
The palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is one of two species of snout beetle known as the red palm weevil, Asian palm weevil or sago palm weevil. The adult beetles are relatively large, ranging between 2 and 4 centimetres long, and are usually a rusty red colour—but many colour variants exist and have often been classified as different species. Weevil larvae can excavate holes in the trunks of palm trees up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, thereby weakening and eventually killing the host plant. As a result, the weevil is considered a major pest in palm plantations, including the coconut palm, date palm and oil palm.
Scottsdale Reserve is a 1,328-hectare (3,280-acre) nature reserve on the Murrumbidgee River in south-central New South Wales, Australia. It is 79 kilometres (49 mi) south of Canberra, and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Bredbo. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), which purchased it in 2006. The purchase was supportive of projects aiming to connect existing fragmented remnant habitat such as K2C. Since the 1870s up until 2006, the land was used for agriculture – primarily sheep grazing with some minor cropping. A significant component of the Reserve has been cleared of native vegetation.
Leptocybe invasa, the blue gum chalcid wasp or eucalyptus gall wasp, is a chalcid wasp which is the only species in the monotypic genus Leptocybe in the subfamily Tetrastichinae, of the family Eulophidae. It is a gall wasp which causes the formation of galls on a number of species of Eucalyptus, it was described in 2004 after galls were found in river red gums in the Mediterranean and Middle East and has since been found to be a widespread species where its host trees are planted. It is indigenous to Australia.
Austroplatypus incompertus is a species of ambrosia beetle belonging to the true weevil family, native to Australia, with a verified distribution in New South Wales and Victoria. It forms colonies in the heartwood of Eucalyptus trees and is the first beetle to be recognized as a eusocial insect. Austroplatypus incompertus is considered eusocial because groups contain a single fertilized female that is protected and taken care of by a small number of unfertilized females that also do much of the work. The species likely passed on cultivated fungi to other weevils.
Oxyops vitiosa is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. Common names include the melaleuca leaf weevil and the melaleuca snout beetle. It feeds on the leaves and shoots of the broad-leaved paper bark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia, which is endemic to Australia where it grows on seasonally inundated plains and swampland, and was introduced into Florida in order to help drain flooded portions of the Everglades.
Gonipterus scutellatus is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is commonly known as the eucalyptus snout beetle, the eucalyptus weevil or the gum tree weevil. It feeds and breeds on Eucalyptus trees and is endemic to Australia.
Gonipterus is a genus of weevils in the family Curculionidae. There are approximately 20 described species in the genus, most of which are native to Australia. They are all plant feeders and many are specific to a single host species. Gonipterus platensis, Gonipterus pulverulentus, and an undescribed species infest a number of species of Eucalyptus and have spread to other parts of the world where these trees have been planted.
The palm weevil Rhynchophorus vulneratus is one of two species of snout beetle known as the red palm weevil, Asian palm weevil, or Sago palm weevil. The adult beetles are relatively large, ranging between 2 and 4 centimetres long, and vary from a rusty red colour to almost entirely black; many colour variants exist and have led to considerable confusion with other species. Weevil larvae of these species can excavate holes in the trunk of a palm tree up to 1 metre long, thereby weakening and eventually killing the host plant. As a result, these weevils are considered major pests in palm plantations, including the coconut palm, date palm and oil palm.
Rhynchophorus, or common name palm weevils, is a genus of beetles in the weevil family, Curculionidae. Palm weevils are major pests of various trees in the family Arecaceae throughout the tropics including: coconut, Areca catechu, species of the genus Phoenix, and Metroxylon sagu. Two species are invasive pests outside their native ranges, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Rhynchophorus palmarum.
Anaphes nitens is a species of fairyfly, a chalcid wasp in the family Mymaridae. Native to Australia, it is an egg parasitoid of the gum tree snout beetle, a pest of Eucalyptus trees, and has been used in biological pest control of that species.
Gonipterus platensis is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is commonly known as the eucalyptus snout beetle, the eucalyptus weevil or the gum tree weevil. It feeds and breeds on Eucalyptus trees and is endemic to Australia, though it is also found in New Zealand, North America, Hawaii, and western Europe.
Gonipterus pulverulentus is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is commonly known as the eucalyptus snout beetle, the eucalyptus weevil or the gum tree weevil. It feeds and breeds on Eucalyptus trees and is endemic to Australia, though it is also found in South America.