Curculionoidea
Author(s): F. Benci, Boll Weevil Research Laboratory
Source: IPM Images
Curculionoidea
This is a large superfamily of plant feeding beetles which includes the weevils, bark beetles and snout beetles. The group contains more than 60,000 species of which many are plant pests. The beetles are typically small (less than 10 mm) and many are characterized by the prolonged head which forms a snout or rostrum with the mouthparts located at the tip of this extension. The larvae are leg-less with a rather short body and live inside roots, stems or other plant parts.
The Curculionoidea includes the "true" weevils with a long proboscis, the ambrosia beetles which carry and feed on plant pathogenic fungi and the bark beetles, many of which are serious pests of conifer and other trees.
For more details see the respective page in Wikipedia.
The following families of Curculionoidea have been entered into the system:
- Anthribidae (1 species)
- Brentidae (6 species)
- Curculionidae ("true" weevils - 112 species)
- Dryophthoridae (19 species)
- Platypodidae (ambrosia beetles - 5 species)
- Scolytidae (bark beetles and ambrosia beetles - 139 species)
