Perapion fallax ( Wollaston, 1864 )

Morris, Michael G., Sw, London & Dt, Dorset, 2011, The Apionidae (Coleoptera) of the Canary Islands, with particular reference to the contribution of T. Vernon Wollaston, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 51 (1), pp. 157-182 : 165-166

Perapion fallax ( Wollaston, 1864)

( Fig. 1 )

WOLLASTON (1864) described this species under the name fallax . The replacement name supplied by WARNER (1958) ( neofallax ) is unjustified. Wollaston commented on the species’ similarity to the common European P. violaceum (Kirby, 1808) , and BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) tabulated the differences between the two species. Like P. violaceum , P. fallax feeds as a larva in the stems of Rumex (Rumex) spp. (‘docks’). BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) recorded it from R. lunaria (Tree Sorrel) , but I have found it on that very common Canarian plant only in Gran Canaria (in January 2004 at two sites) and in Lanzarote (in January 2005, also at two sites); it is possible that R. lunaria is only palatable as a host of the adults when its foliage is fresh and tender. Perapion neofallax occurred in some numbers on R. conglomeratus in Tenerife (March 2001) and La Palma (February 1998) and in both islands it also occurred on Emex spinosa . Larvae were found in stems of the latter plant in the Orotava Valley in March 1993. Perapion fallax has been recorded from all the islands; MACHADO & OROMÍ (2000) omitted it from La Gomera, but BRITO & OROMÍ (1986) included the record of a single example taken there by Lindberg. It is not restricted to the Canary Islands but has been found in North Africa and southern Spain (M. A. Alonso-Zarazaga, pers. comm.).

Wollaston’s BMNH collection contains 4 male and 4 female specimens, from La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. The example labelled ‘Type’ is a male and colourcoded for Lanzarote. 5 males and 4 females are in the OUMNH collection, from El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife, Lanzarote and possibly Gran Canaria.

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Habitus of the Apionidae of Canary Islands. 1 – Perapion fallax (Wollaston, 1864), syntype, Wollaston Coll. (BMNH); 2 – Phrissotrichum tubuliferum (Wollaston, 1864), syntype, Wollaston Coll. (BMNH); 3 – Aspidapion acerifoliae Suppantschitsch, 1996, author’s Coll.; 4 – Aspidapion radiolus chalybeipenne (Wollaston, 1854), Wollaston Coll. (BMNH).