Laemosaccus Schönherr, 1823, 1826

Hespenheide, Henry A., 2019, A Review of the Genus Laemosaccus Schönherr, 1826 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Mesoptiliinae) from Baja California and America North of Mexico: Diversity and Mimicry, The Coleopterists Bulletin 73 (4), pp. 905-939 : 906

Laemosaccus Schönherr, 1823

Type Species. Rhynchaenus plagiatus (Fabricius) ( Schönherr 1823: c.1136).

In the last revision of the genus Laemosaccus from North America, Champion (1903) treated two species that occur in the USA and 13 other species that occur in Mexico and Central America . Wibmer and O’ Brien (1986) list nearly 30 additional species from South America , and I have seen many other undescribed species from Mexico and Central America . After study of personal collections and a survey of specimens in collections, American Laemosaccus north of Mexico appear to represent 12 species, 10 of which are undescribed. These can be classified into two groups that do not appear to be closely related: the L. nephele group, containing most species, which are typically black with larger or smaller orange or red humeral or posthumeral elytral spots and whose woody hosts are usually oaks or mesquite and other legumes; and the L. texanus group with two all-black species whose hosts are in perennial Malvaceae , including Gossypium L. The latter group appears to be richer in Mexico and Central America and extends into South America . Additional groups of Laemosaccus occur in Mexico and Central and South America , and the morphological diversity among these may warrant the recognition of additional genera. Although few species have been reared, larvae of most species are probably borers in woody branches of relatively small diameter (e.g., L. nephele ) or in the stems of perennial herbs (e.g., L. texanus ).