Larinus pollinis explained

Larinus pollinis is a species of weevil belonging to the family Curculionidae and the subfamily Lixinae.

Distribution

This species is present in most of Europe (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine), in the East Palearctic realm, in North Africa, in the Oriental realm and in the Near East. ^[1] These weevils occur in grasslands.

Description

Larinus pollinis can reach a body length of about .^[2] These weevils have an ovate, black, sub-opaque body, with a with many patches of gray setae, that appear yellowish by a yellowish secretion and adhering pollen. The rostrum is shorter than the thorax, with only a carina at the base.^[3]

Mature pupae show more than 40 setae on their pronotum.^[4]

Biology

The adults can be encountered from May through August.^[5] This oligophagous species mainly feeds on Arctium tomentosum, Onopordon acanthium, Carlina vulgaris, etc.^{[6] [7]}

Notes and References

1. https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/30383f2a-5dce-4914-b289-ac5689ded5ce Fauna Europaea
2. https://ukrbin.com/show_image.php?imageid=140415 Ukrainian Biodiversity Information Network
3. Levent Gültekin & Miguel Angel Alonso-Zarazaga A review of the Palaearctic species of Larinus Dejean (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in C. J. Schoenherr collection: nomenclature and lectotype designations June 2015 Journal of Insect Biodiversity 3(9):1-26 - DOI:10.12976/jib/2015.3.9
4. Gosik, Rafał, Skuhrovec, Jiří (2011): Descriptions of mature larvae and pupae of the genus Larinus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Lixinae). Zootaxa 3019: 1-25, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278666
5. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/994854-Larinus-pollinis iNatutalist
6. https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id12932/ Biolob
7. https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/coleoptera/polyphaga/cucujiformia/curculionoidea/curculionidae/lixinae/lixini/larinus/larinus-pollinis/ Plant parasites in Europe