Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics

Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics

A new weevil species with vestigial eyes of the subgenus Troglonamertanus Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Otiorhynchus Germar) from the West Abkhazia

Articles in Press

Document Type : Full-length Research Article

Author
Genrik E. Davidian
All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection (FSBSI VIZR), Podbelskogo, 3, St. Petersburg—Pushkin 196608, Russia
10.48311/jibs.12.04.1479
Abstract
A new species of the subgenus Troglonamertanus Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 with vestigial eyes is described. Otiorhynchus khasiki sp. nov. is clearly distinguished from Troglonamertanus species by its strongly thickened antennal scape and double body pubescence, consisting of hairs and scales. It is most like O. victori Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 and O. gusarovi Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 in having the preapical part of the fore tibiae widest in the middle and emarginate on the outer margin and having gonocoxites with subglobular styli. The new species differs from O. glebi Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 and O. vargovitchi Davidian, 2007 (both belonging to the subgenus Namertanus Reitter, 1912, which has vestigial eyes) by the dense yellowish pubescence on the basal half of the rostrum, by the sloping elytral apical declivity, by having the lamella of the spiculum ventrale truncated apically and by a small spermatheca. The beetle was collected by sifting forest litter on the right bank of the Bzyb River, slightly above its confluence with the Gega River in Western Abkhazia. Photographs of the habitus of O. inaliparum (Rost, 1893) and the holotypes of O. golovatchi Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 and O. gusarovi are provided for the first time.

Graphical Abstract

A new weevil species with vestigial eyes of the subgenus Troglonamertanus Davidian & Savitsky, 2006 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Otiorhynchus Germar) from the West Abkhazia
Keywords
Mesophilous
Microphthalmic species
New species
Soil-dwelling
West Caucasus
Subjects
Alonso-Zarazaga, M.A., Barrios, H., Borovec R., Bouchard, P., Caldara, R., Colonnelli, E., Gültekin, L., Hlaváč, P., Korotyaev, B., Lyal, C.H.C., Machado, A., Meregalli, M., Pierotti, H., Ren, L., Sánchez-Ruiz, M., Sforzi, A., Silfverberg, H., Skuhrovec, J., Trýzna, M., Velázquez de Castro, A.J. & Yunakov, N.N. (2023) Cooperative Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera Curculionoidea. 2nd edition. Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, Zaragoza. 780 p.
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Davidian, G.E. (2007) A new troglobiont species of the weevil genus Otiorhynchus Germ., 1822 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from the West Caucasus. Caucasian Entomological Bulletin, 3 (2), 193–195. [in Russian]
https://doi.org/10.23885/1814-3326-2007-3-2-193-195
Davidian, G.E. (2023) The first record of males of Otiorhynchus pseudomias Hochhuth, 1847 and O. victori Davidian et Savitsky, 2006 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Caucasian Entomological Bulletin, 19 (1), 45–48. [in Russian]   https://doi.org/10.23885/181433262023191-4548              
Davidian, G.E. & Savitsky, V.Yu. (2006) Review of the weevil subgenera Namertanus Reitter and Troglonamertanus subgen. n., genus Otiorhynchus Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), from the Caucasus. Proceedings of the Russian Entomological Society, 77, 48–84. [in Russian]
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Morrone, J.J. & Hlaváč, P. (2017) Checklist of the micro- and anophthalmic soil-dwelling weevils of the world (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Zootaxa, 4239 (1), 1–102. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4239.1.1
Osella, G. & Zuppa, A.M. (1998) Coleoptera Curculionoidea. In: Juberthie, C. & Decu, V. (eds) Encyclopaedia Biospeleologica. Société de Biospéologie, Moulis-Bucharest. Tome II, 1123–1130.
Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 November 2026

  • Receive Date 29 September 2026
  • Revise Date 01 November 2026
  • Accept Date 02 November 2026
  • Publish Date 06 November 2026