Salagubang

Schultze originally described Pachyrrhynchus speciosus samarensis SCHULTZE 1923 as a separate species. However, Voss, in his 1934 paper, which I haven’t seen yet, made it as a subspecies. These pachyrrhynchine weevils occur in Samar as well as in Mindanao where I have collected these two species in the same area. Could it be possible that these are indeed separate and that Voss was wrong?

Pachyrrhynchus amabilis SCHULTZE 1922 is a beautiful weevil that is found in the higher elevations of Bukidnon in Mindanao Island. It has a deep purple body with the elytra having scale markings forming four patches. In between these patches are bare areas that the resulting pattern is a cross.

Its a rather common species that is sympatric with Pachyrrhynchus chamissoi SCHULTZE 1922, a smaller version with the elytral markings pinkish in color. Like many other Pachyrrhynchus species, it has two mimics: Doliops edithae VIVES 2009 and Paradoliops cabigasi VIVES 2009

Doliops edithae VIVES 2009 is rather rare, just like with the other species members of the genus. With the way it has remarkably copied the patters and color of the model species, one would often confuse this species for the model. Described by my friend, Eduard Vives, it was named after my mother.

Paradoliops cabigasi VIVES 2009 is quite rare and this, probably, is the second species of the genus to be described. What strikes me is that it’s also a mimic of P. amabilis which is rather unusual. The author, wrote in his description that this is a mimic of P. chamissoi but because of its rather big size, I would disagree. This species was named after me.

The Tribe Pachyrrhynchini is one of the spectacular curculionid beetles found in the Philippines where almost all known species are known to occur. With several genera under it, the flightless species members have very hard, solid bodies and probably a deterrent for predators. It might be this characteristic that some species from other families mimic the species of this group for protection.

The genus Pachyrrhynchus GERMAR is the most beautiful of the group with its bright colors and amazing patterns and inhabit the mountainous portions of the different island of the country. It is also the model for a group of very rare lamiine longhorn beetles from a whole lot different family, Cerambycidae, under the genus Doliops. Soft bodied and nonpoisonous, it choses to live close to its model as well as evolved to have elytral markings, size and form almost similar to its model species.

The first time I caught one, I was fooled! I never thought that it was not a Pachyrrhynchus beetle. It was only after a few months that upon close inspection, I realized that it was a Doliops speces. Over time, I learned to discern the differences:

• unfused elytra
• longer antenna
• a more quadrate elytra, and
• form of the head

In this post, I’m showing the model Pachyrrhynchus speciosus WATERHOUSE 1841 and its mimic, Doliops multifasciata SCHULTZE 1922. These two inhabits the higher elevations of Bukidnon in Mindanao island.

More species to be featured in upcoming posts.

The tribe Pachyrrhynchini, especially the Metapocyrtus complex as well as genus Pachyrrhynchus GERMAR 1824 always fascinate me. In fact, I really would like to study this group and, perhaps, write papers/descriptions in the future. My main problem though is that I don’t have access to the type specimens which are mostly in Europe. I’m not really sure how to go about this one but for the past week, I kept myself busy updating this site. I’ve been going through Yap & Gapud’s (2007), Yap’s (2008) papers on the Metapocyrtus as well as the Coleopterorum Catalogus of Dalla Torre and van Emden (1931) and, really, I just feel that this group needed to be updated. Looking at my collection, there are still lots of species that need to be described. For the meantime, I already included the checklist of the Metapocyrtus complex, based on the Yap paper; and the genus Pachyrrhynchus based on the Coleopterorum Catalogus, Schultze’s and Heller’s 1934 papers and input from Paul Siraudeau a few years ago regarding Voss’s paper. New identified pachyrrhynchine beetles are also included: Metapocyrtus (Sclerocyrtus) celestinoi SCHULTZE 1925, Pachyrrhynchus congestus PASCOE 1871 and Pachyrrhynchus inclytus var. modestior BEHRENS 1887.

I received an email from Eduard Vives that the supposed upcoming new species Epipedocera kalingana, collected in Kalinga province in Luzon, is actually E. lunata NEWMAN 1842. This after he verified the actual type specimen as well as the original description. The species has not been indicated as occuring in the Philippines in previous publications and thus is a new range for the species.

The previously labelled E. lunata is a new species which will be described soon in an upcoming paper. These male and female were collected in Mindanao.