Subfamily:
Bruchinae (pea weevils, bean weevils, seed weevils)
Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda
> Insecta
(insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola >
Holometabola > Coleoptera
(beetles)
> Polyphaga > Superfamily: Chrysomeloidea
> Family: Chrysomelidae
Small beetle (2-5mm).
Compact, oval beetles with grooved elytra that do not cover the entire abdomen.
Dull brown, black or mottled. Eggs are laid in seeds and larvae burrow into
them. Characteristic holes remain in the seed after adults emerge.
The seed weevils used to be placed in a separate family
called the Bruchidae but they have now been relegated to a subfamily of the
Chrysomelidae,
a large family of leaf-feeding beetles. Seed weevils feed on seeds
in the larval stage, mainly those of legumes (beans, acacias, etc.). Larvae are parasitised by little parasitic wasps such as species of
Eupelmus.
See also Curculionidae weevils.
Sulcobruchus subsuturalis. Introduced to South
Africa to control the weed Caesalpinia decapetala (Mauritius Thorn).
References
-
Coetzer, W. 2000. Oviposition preference of Sulcobruchus
subsuturalis (Pic) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), an introduced natural enemy of
Caesalpinia
decapetala (Roth) Alston (Caesalpiniaceae) in South Africa. African
Entomology 8: 293-297.
Page by Margie Cochrane
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