Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Ebony Broad-nosed Weevil

Platyomus flexicaulis (Schaeffer 1905)

Family Curculionidae, Subfamily Entiminae, Tribe Naupactini

Unit tray of Platyomus flexicaulis (Schaeffer) specimens curated in the TAMUIC

Range: All specimens from Cameron County, Texas (primarily in the Brownsville area) with the following exceptions:

Mexico, (no further locality data), VI-22-1935, L. R. Dorland, possibly on mesquite
Mexico, Tamaulipas, 14 mi. W Manuel, VII-11-1973, Gaumer & Clark, taken on Mimosa monancistra

Adult Activity: June through August

Host: Texas Ebony - Ebenopsis ebano (Berl.) Barneby & Grimes

Synonym: Pithecellobium flexicaule (Benth.) J.M. Coult.

Similar Species: There are two U.S. species of Platyomus, both of which occur in Texas.

Platyomus flexicaulis (Schaeffer)
Platyomus pallidulus Emden 1936

Taxonomy: Original combination:

Pseudocyphus flexicaulis Schaeffer 1905

Etymology: Platyomus flexicaulis (Schaeffer 1905)

plat, -y (G). Broad, flat
omas, =um (L). A paunch
flex, -i (L). Bend; pliant
caul, -i, =is (L). A stem, stalk

Biography: Charles Frederick August Schaeffer (1860-1934)

Burke, H.R. 2004. Notable Weevil Specialists of the Past. Curculio, 49: 5-7.

"His favorite collecting site in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was the Esperanza Ranch located a few miles east of Brownsville, TX. Many species of Coleoptera, as well as members of other orders, have the Esperanza Ranch site as their type locality. Unfortunately, this entomologically important site of original dense shrubs and woods along the Resaca de la Palma has succumbed to urbanization and exists no more as a viable biological entity."

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL. xiv + 861 pp.

Bellamy, C.L. 1991. Notes on the G. B. Vogt Collection, Part I: South Texas (Coleoptera & Hemiptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 93(3): 733-736.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. v + 134 pp.

Burke, H.R. 2004. Notable Weevil Specialists of the Past. Curculio, 49: 5-7.

Carlow T.A. 1997. A faunal survey and zoogeographic analysis of the Curculionidae (Coleoptera) (excluding Anthribidae, Platypodinae, and Scolytinae) of the lower Rio Grande valley of Texas. Unpublished thesis, Texas A&M University, College Station. xi + 274.

Emden, F.I. van. 1936. Die Anordnung der Brachyderinae-Gattungen im Coleopterorum Catalogous. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung, 97: 66–99, 211–239.

Schaeffer, C.F.A. 1905. Some additional new genera and species of Coleoptera found within the limit of the United States. Brooklyn Museum of Science Bulletin, 1(7): 141-179.

Schoenherr, C.J. 1840. Genera et Species Curculionidum, cum synonymia hujus familiae, 5(2): 942.