Page 25 - Volume 4, Issue 2, July 2011

© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Buchelos & Evergetis 54
sp. plants possess only their lower leaf ro-
settes and the basal part of the previous
year’s stem, living weevil adults were found
in the openings of exit holes at the base of
the dead stems, indicating that the insect
had survived the severe winter conditions
at 1850 m. altitude. In summer of 2008, sev-
eral individuals of the weevil were collected
and identified in the Laboratory of Entomol-
ogy of AUA.
All biological material was collected in
the NW side of the Mountain Parnassos –
Greece at the location “Kokinorachi” (lati-
tude 38 34´ N., longitude 22 28´ E., altitude
1850 m), in the clearings of an Abies cephal-
lonica forest with limestone substrate, in
consequent years from 2004 to 2008.
Plant material presented a distinct and
unique combination of characters attrib-
uted to genus Opopanax W.D.J. Koch. (3, 7,
16, 17). These are the excessive presence
of stellate hairs in the stem and the leaves,
the large 2-pinnate basal leaves with ovate
leaf-lobes, the yellow petals and the strong-
ly compressed obovate fruit (17). Opopa-
nax W.D.J. Koch consists of stout perenni-
al herbs, including 3 species worldwide (13).
The species which occur in Greece include
O. hispidus (Friv.) Griseb. and O. chironium (L.)
Koch (17) but the presence of the later above
1.500 m is dubious (16).
The herbarium identification was based
on the four most prominent identification
keys of these species (3, 7, 16, 17). The orig-
inal key character is related to the size and
the border of the fruit, which in the exam-
ined herbarium was 6-7 mm with a narrow
and thickened border, concluding to O. chi-
ronium (7, 17). Later key characters advocat-
ing this identification are the rays’ number,
which in the herbarium was counted up to
23 (3) and the leaf lobes length which was
measured up to 14 cm (16, 17). A deviation
from the described key characters was ob-
served in relation with the thickened bor-
der’s width, which was measured from 1 to
2 mm, when in O. chironium is described less
than 1 mm, and in O. hispidus between 2-3
(3, 16). This deviation can be explained by
the geographical (16) or territorial (3) spe-
cialization of the related keys, the first one
referring to the mountain flora of Greece
and the second to Turkey and East Aegean.
Another inquiring character, observed in
the specimen and was never described be-
fore, relates to the presence of reticulate,
ribbed and brightly yellow coloured veins
both in basal and cauline leaves. This sec-
ondary character, absent in the population
of O. chironium from Peloponnesus and the
island of Rhodes, which was not infected
by the insect, could be considered as a re-
sponse to the insect’s presence. However,
this hypothesis needs further experimental
confirmation.
The identification of the insect to the
species was made by the first author (spe-
cialist on Curculionidae) based on classi-
cal monographs (9, 14, 15). The genus Lix-
us is characterized by a cylindrical rostrum
and elytra rather narrow and oblong end-
ing in two separate points. The body surface
seems to be covered with yellow or reddish
‘dust’ (efflorescence) while its basic colour
is black with dense and thin punctuation
and the abdominal pubescence is yellowish
with bi- or trifide setae. Lixus (Eulixus) umbel-
latarum belongs to Rhynchophora Coleop-
tera, the subfamily Cleoninae and the tribe
Lixini, with the following taxonomic history:
Lixus (Eulixus) umbellatarum Fabricius, 1787
primary genus: Curculio, subgenus Eulixus
Reitter, 1916 = Promecaspis Hoffmann, 1958.
species: pardalis Boheman, 1835 – submacu-
latus Boheman, 1842 – brevicaudatus Lucas,
1848 –brevicaudis Küster, 1849. Species’ char-
acteristics include: Body length 8-14 mm. Ef-
florescence of pronotum, greenish-yellow.
Rostrum of female slender, cylindrical, con-
vex, shinny, longer than the prothorax. Ros-
trum of male less convex, opaque, densely
punctuated. Antennae short, fairly slender
with the first two segments of the flagellum
equal, the 3rd to 6th being of the same diame-
ter and the 7 th larger. Antennal club ellipsoid
and sharp- pointed. Antennae (except the
club) and tarsi, ferruginous. Eyes oval and
convex. Prothorax conical, more slender in
the male. Elytra, at their base, slightly larger
than prothorax. Tarsi short (Hoffmann, Por-