Anthobaris Hustache, 1938

Prena, Jens, 2022, Review of Anthobaris Hustache and description of a new species from Costa Rica (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Baridinae), Zootaxa 5213 (3), pp. 294-300 : 295

Anthobaris Hustache

Anthobaris: Hustache (1938: 46) [nomen nudum]

Anthobaris Hustache, 1951: 54

Type species: Anthobaris rugosicollis Hustache, 1951 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. The genus includes 4–7 mm long, subcylindrical species with comparatively long, slender rostrum, conical pygidium, and two types of spines on the tibial apex. While most baridines have a single spine that extends ventrally from the inner flange, the spine is more medially or even dorsally extended in Anthobaris and a few other genera. This modification is almost always accompanied by an acute extension of the now “vacant” ventrodistal angle of the tibia. In Anthobaris , this additional spine is triangular and comparable to that of Dolichobaris opaciceps Champion, 1909 , a similarly slender but much smaller species. This is the primitive condition of the premucro of Kuschel (1952), who introduced the term for species with the spine located more proximal (i.e., preapical) and no longer forming the somatic ventrodistal apex of the tibia. Examples for species with long apical premucrones are Stenobaris avicenniae Linell, 1897 , female Microrhinus Chevrolat, 1881 , and female Labiaticola Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999 . Some other baridines with a long, tapered pygidium such as in Anthobaris occur in Madarini but have stridulatory systems with plectra on tergite VII, which are absent in Anthobaris and Baridini in general.

Natural history. I collected two female A. rugosicollis from an unidentified species of Smallanthus Mackenzie (Compositae) . Vitali et al. (2015) recognized 23 species in this genus, with a range that agrees well with the presently known distribution of Anthobaris . The tubers of one species, the “yacón”, are of major interest as sugar substitute and food while several others have local relevance. Even so, these weevils never received attention in the economic literature. They may not be confined to this one plant genus or the observed association might have been incidental.

Notes. The name must not be confused with Anthinobaris Morimoto & Yoshihara, 1996 . The Ancient Greek root word ἄνθος (flower) is used as a noun in one case and as an adjective in the other.