Lyperobius huttoni

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Lyperobius huttoni
COLE Curculionidae Lyperobius huttoni.png
Illustration by Des Helmore
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Curculionidae
Subfamily:
Molytinae
Genus:
Lyperobius
Species:
L. huttoni
Binomial name
Lyperobius huttoni
Pascoe, 1876
Synonyms
New Zealand relief map.jpg
Disc Plain red.svg
Karori Stream, Wellington
Disc Plain red.svg
Hunters Hills, South Canterbury
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Range of Lyperobius huttoni in New Zealand

Lyperobius huttoni (known as Hutton's speargrass weevil, or simply speargrass weevil) is a New Zealand weevil found in alpine areas of the South Island and at sea level around the Wellington coast. It feeds only on speargrass ( Aciphylla ). Weevils from the endangered Wellington population have been translocated to predator-free Mana Island.

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Francis Pascoe in 1876. [1] Pascoe based his description on material collected in Tarndale, near Nelson, by Frederick Hutton, and named the species in his honour. [2] Hutton collected it on Aciphylla colensoi. [2] The lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [3]

Description

Lyperobius huttoni photographed by Greg Sherley Lyperobius huttoni.jpg
Lyperobius huttoni photographed by Greg Sherley

This weevil is dark-coloured and about 2 cm long, with a short thick rostrum. [3] [4] Males and females are difficult to distinguish externally; females are slightly larger, and have a larger and more rounded fifth abdominal ventrite. [3] George Hudson, comparing this species with Lyperobius hudsoni , described the species as follows:

(25–26 mm) Larger with relatively shorter and broader rostrum; the elytra have six rows of deep punctiform impressions; general colour is black slightly tinged with reddish, almost without clothing. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Lyperobius huttoni feeding on male flowers Huttoni2019.jpg
Lyperobius huttoni feeding on male flowers
Lyperobius huttoni on speargrass Lyperobius huttoni on common speargrass.jpg
Lyperobius huttoni on speargrass

Lyperobius huttoni lives in subalpine and high country herbfields and tussock grassland in the eastern South Island, from the Black Birch range in Marlborough to the Hunters Hills in South Canterbury. [3] A North Island population around the Wellington south coast was discovered in 1917, where the normally-alpine host species Aciphylla squarrosa can be found growing on exposed coastal cliffs almost to sea level. [6] This species is the only Lyperobius species found on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It is thought that the distribution either side of Cook Strait could be due to migration of weevils during the last glacial period, when sea levels were lower, or by rafting on debris originating in its alpine habitat. [4] A number of insects from this Wellington population have also been translocated to Mana Island. [7]

Behaviour and host species

L. huttoni feeds on the speargrass species Aciphylla squarrosa, A. colensoi, and A. aurea . [3] Adults are active during the day, and are most easily found on foliage on calm, warm, sunny days, feeding on leaves and flower stalks. The weevils leave notches on the leaf edges of their host plant and sometimes eat leaves completely through. [8] Larvae burrow into the soil and feed on the Aciphylla taproot, and can be found in the surrounding dead and decomposing foliage at ground level. Evidence of their presence are dead or dying speargrass plants or deep oval notches on leaf petioles. [9] The weevil spends a year as a larva before constructing a chamber in which it pupates for two weeks. [3] After emerging, the teneral adult weevils can stay in the chamber for eight months before emerging, and live for over two years. [3] [4]

Disease

During research into the captive breeding of L. huttoni it was discovered that the weevil is susceptible to a species of fungus in the genus Beauvaria. This was one of the main causes of mortality in the study. [9]

Conservation

The species is one of the invertebrates "declared to be animals" in the 1980 amendment of the Wildlife Act 1953, and thus legally protected. [10] They are flightless, slow-moving beetles, vulnerable to being eaten by mice and rats, and their host plants are susceptible to browsing by mammals such as sheep, pigs, and goats. [6] One population at Ōwhiro Bay on the Wellington coast was destroyed when their entire habitat was turned into a quarry. [3]

The population of this species found in Marlborough is regarded as stable, but in Canterbury the combined effects of predation by rodents and habitat destruction have caused the population of this species to decline. [11]

The Wellington population once extended from Island Bay to the Karori Stream, but by the 1980s was facing local extinction. [3] Between 2001 and 2004, an attempt was made to breed this species in captivity. High mortality of adult weevils and a failure of the larvae to survive into adulthood meant that the project was unsuccessful in breeding any adults for release. [9] By 2006, the Wellington population was estimated by the Department of Conservation (DOC) to be less than 150 adults. [6] DOC translocated 40 adult L. huttoni from the Wellington south coast to nearby Mana Island over the summer of 2006–2007. [7] A survey in 2015 revealed abundant signs of feeding, and one weevil was seen 400 m from the release site. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curculionidae</span> Family of beetles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mana Island (New Zealand)</span>

Mana Island is the smaller of two islands that lie off the southwest coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The name of the Island is an abbreviation of the Maori name Te Mana o Kupe, which means "The Mana of Kupe".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptorhynchinae</span> Subfamily of beetles

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.

<i>Aciphylla colensoi</i> Species of flowering plant

Aciphylla colensoi is a species of Aciphylla, commonly known as giant speargrass, Spaniard, or its Māori-language name taramea. Individual plants may be up to 90 cm (35 in) in diameter and half as high, and consist of sharp spines, all pointing out from the centre. Yellow flowers may also be present, located on long, strong stems. A. colensoi can be found in both main islands of New Zealand, typically in altitudes from 900 to 1,500 m.

<i>Hadramphus tuberculatus</i> Species of beetle

Hadramphus tuberculatus is a rare weevil endemic to Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. It was thought to be extinct in 1922 but was rediscovered in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hutton's shearwater</span> Species of bird

Hutton's shearwater or the kaikōura tītī, is a medium-sized ocean-going seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its range is Australian and New Zealand waters, but it breeds only in mainland New Zealand. Its conservation status is Endangered, because there are just two remaining breeding colonies, located in the Seaward Kaikōura Range. Six other shearwater colonies have been wiped out by introduced pigs. Hutton's shearwater is the only seabird in the world that is known to breed in alpine areas. Conservation measures for the bird include community initiatives to rescue birds that crash-land at night on streets in Kaikōura, and the establishment of a protected area on the Kaikōura Peninsula including a predator-proof fence, man-made burrows, and translocating fledglings from the remaining colonies.

<i>Xylotoles costatus</i> Species of beetle

Xylotoles costatus, the Pitt Island longhorn beetle, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands. Once thought to be extinct, it is now known to survive on South East Island/Rangatira; being therefore an example of a so-called "Lazarus taxon".

<i>Hadramphus</i> Genus of beetles

Hadramphus, commonly known as knobbled weevils, is a genus of flightless molytine weevils from the family Curculionidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and consists of four species.

<i>Anagotus stephenensis</i> Species of beetle

Anagotus stephenensis, commonly known as the ngaio weevil, is a large flightless weevil that is only found on Stephens Island in New Zealand. The ngaio weevil was discovered in 1916 by A.C. O'Connor on Stephens Island. Thomas Broun described it in 1921 as Phaeophanus oconnori after its collector. The weevils were observed at the time to be 'feeding on tall fescue and the leaves of trees'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flax weevil</span> Species of weevil endemic to New Zealand

Anagotus fairburni or flax weevil is a large flightless weevil. It feeds on leaves of New Zealand flax species where it produces a characteristic feeding notch. It is found on islands and in alpine areas of New Zealand.

<i>Ichneutica nullifera</i> Species of moth

Ichneutica nullifera is a moth of the family Noctuidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the Tongariro National Park, along the Wellington coast and throughout the South Island. The adults are large and the forewing of adults can vary in colour from pale fawn to dark grey. The larvae are coloured a bright yellow-brown with a paler underside. The larval host species are in the genus Aciphylla and as a result the adult moths are often found in habitat dominated by species in this genus. Adults are on the wing from November to early April and are sometimes attracted to light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbott's weevil</span> Species of beetle

Turbott's weevil is a weevil that is endemic to New Zealand. It has been found on the Hen and Chicken Islands, the Poor Knights Islands and the Three Kings Islands.

<i>Amychus granulatus</i> Species of beetle

Amychus granulatus, commonly known as the Cook Strait click beetle, is a large flightless click beetle in the family Elateridae.

<i>Hadramphus spinipennis</i> Species of beetle

Hadramphus spinipennis, commonly called the coxella weevil, is a large, nocturnal, flightless weevil only found on Mangere and Rangatira Islands in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

<i>Lyperobius</i> Genus of beetles

Lyperobius is a weevil genus in the subfamily Molytinae. Most Lyperobius species live in sub-alpine and alpine grassland, feeding on members of the family Apiaceae. Adults are active by day and feed on flowers, seeds, leaves and stems of the host plant. Larvae are found in the thick roots, rhizomes and soil surrounding the root system. All members of this genus are endemic to New Zealand. With the exception of L. huttoni and L. nesidiotes, all species are only found on the South Island.

<i>Lyperobius hudsoni</i> Species of beetle

Lyperobius hudsoni is a flightless weevil found in alpine areas of Central Otago and Otago Lakes in the South Island of New Zealand.

<i>Lyperobius clarkei</i> Species of beetle

Lyperobius clarkei is a flightless weevil found in alpine areas of Buller and Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand.

Creophilus rekohuensis is a beetle of the Staphylinidae family, subfamily Staphylininae. This species occurs only on some small predator-free islands in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, where it lives in seabird burrows. Its name derives from Rekohu, the Moriori name for Chatham Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Introduction of species to Mana Island</span> New Zealand ecological restoration programme

The New Zealand Department of Conservation has introduced a number of animal and plant species to Mana Island, near Porirua, New Zealand, as part of an ecological restoration programme since taking over conservation management of the island in 1987. Some were reintroductions of species wiped out during years of agricultural use or the subsequent explosion in the number of house mice on the island. A pest control programme eliminated the mice by 1990 and many species have been introduced since. Notable successes include the spotted skink, Duvaucel's gecko and the flax weevil, which are now regarded as well established, and the yellow-crowned parakeet, which has been described as abundant and widespread. Attempts have been made to introduce several seabird species in what the Department of Conservation describes as "the world's most complex seabird translocation project"; results have been mixed.

<i>Brachyolus</i> Genus of beetle

Brachyolus is a genus of broad-nosed weevil in the family Curculionidae.

References

  1. ↑ "Lyperobius huttoni Pascoe, 1876". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  2. 1 2 Pascoe, Francis P (1876). "Descriptions of new genera and species of New-Zealand coleoptera.—Part II". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 17 (4): 48–60. doi:10.1080/00222937608681895.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Craw, Robin C. (1999). "Molytini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae)" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 39: 1–68. ISBN   0-478-09325-X.
  4. 1 2 3 Bull, R.M. (1967). A study of the large New Zealand weevil, Lyperobius huttoni Pascoe 1876. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Molytinae) (Master of Science Thesis). Victoria University, Wellington. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  5. ↑ Hudson, George Vernon (1934). New Zealand beetles and their larvae: an elementary introduction to the study of our native Coleoptera. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborne. p. 133. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Miskelly, Colin (20 November 2015). "Speargrass weevils thriving on Mana Island". Te Papa blog. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  7. 1 2 Department of Conservation (31 March 2006). "Weevil rescue underway". Scoop. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Fountain, Emily D.; Wiseman, Benjamin H.; Cruickshank, Robert H.; Paterson, Adrian M. (28 February 2013). "The ecology and conservation of Hadramphus tuberculatus (Pascoe 1877) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae)". Journal of Insect Conservation. 17 (4): 737–745. doi:10.1007/s10841-013-9557-9. S2CID   18904197 . Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 Pawson, Stephen; Emberson, Rowan M.; Scott, R. Roderic (2004). "Captive Breeding of Wellington Speargrass Weevil". Wildlife Management Report. Lincoln University Soil, Plant & Ecological Sciences Division. 33: 1–8. hdl:10182/685.
  10. ↑ "Schedule 7: Terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates declared to be animals". New Zealand Legislation. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Pawson, Stephen M.; Emberson, Rowan. M. (2000). "The conservation status of invertebrates in Canterbury". Conservation Advisory Science Notes. Department of Conservation: 33. hdl:10182/1658. ISSN   1171-9834.
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