Stator subaeneus (Schaeffer), 1907

Napoles, Romero, de, Aracely, Cruz & Kingsolver, John M., 2009, Seed beetles (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) associated with Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., with description of a new species of Acanthoscelides Schilsky, Insecta Mundi 2009 (93), pp. 1-11 : 9

Stator subaeneus (Schaeffer), 1907

This species is in the same oviposition guild as S. mexicanus . However, we have found more specimens of S. subaeneus in the field than S. mexicanus . A simple explanation for this is that it has more host plants.

Host plants. OLD RECORDS: Acacia collinsii Saff. , Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., and Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd.

Distribution.OLD RECORDS: Honduras, Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatán), USA.

General discussion

The country with the maximum number of bruchids associated with Acacia cornigera is Mexico, where there are ten species in three genera. There are few papers listing bruchids associated with any particular wild plant that includes keys and illustrations to those bruchids. For example, Kingsolver (1985) stated that in eleven species of Parkia he found eight species of bruchids representing two genera. Another very complete work is Johnson (1983c) who studied the seed beetles associated with 32 species of Prosopis . He found that the most complex plant-beetle relationship involved P. juliflora , with eight bruchid species in six genera, and P. nigra with eight bruchids in three genera. However, we know today that there are many more species of bruchids associated with these plants. Of course, the plant-insect relationship is limited by time, space, parasitoids, and other competitors. In other words it is difficult to find a host with all the associated bruchids at the same time and place. Usually we found no more than five species of bruchids in one host at the same time.