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| Zimmiodes australis Hsiao & Oberprieler, 2024 |
Abstract
Cycas is the second-largest genus of cycads in Australia and the sole cycad genus in Papua New Guinea. In contrast to the other Australian cycads, which are mainly pollinated by weevils of the Tranes group of Molytinae, the Australian Cycas species are pollinated by tiny weevils belonging to the subfamily Cossoninae but representing an unnamed genus. This study evaluates the taxonomic status of these weevils by combining morphological examination with molecular phylogenetic analyses and species delineation based on mitochondrial DNA. The results reveal that the Cycas-pollinating weevils in Australia comprise only one species, here described as Zimmiodes australis gen. et sp. nov., with another species in Papua New Guinea, described as Zimmiodes papuanus sp. nov. The phylogenetic analyses and morphological comparison reveal that Zimmiodes belongs in the tribe Pentarthrini of Cossoninae and that the related Tychiodes group includes not only Tychiodes Wollaston, Tychiosoma Wollaston and Nanoplaxes Heller but also Tyrpetes Heller and is also assignable to Pentarthrini. The conspecificity of Zimmiodes weevils from all Australian Cycas species sampled suggests the likely taxonomic oversplitting of the Australian Cycas species and thus provides new insights into the taxonomy of the Australian cycads.
Australasia, cycad pollinators, cycad weevils, new taxa, species delimitation, taxonomy
Superfamily Curculionoidea Latreille, 1802
Family Curculionidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamily Cossoninae Schoenherr, 1825
Zimmiodes gen. nov.
Derivation of name: The genus name is dedicated to the late Dr Elwood Curtin Zimmerman (1912–2004), former weevil taxonomist at the ANIC, who is renowned for his invaluable works on Australian weevils; the gender of the name is masculine.
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Habitus of Zimmiodes, dorsal view. A, Zimmiodes australis, male, holotype. B, Z. australis, female, paratype. C, Zimmiodes papuanus, male, holotype. D, Z. papuanus, female, paratype. Scale bars: 1.00 mm. Habitus of Zimmiodes, lateral view. A, Zimmiodes australis, male, holotype. B, Z. australis, female, paratype. C, Zimmiodes papuanus, male, holotype. D, Z. papuanus, female, paratype. Scale bars: 1.00 mm. |
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| Zimmiodes australis and host plants in the field. A, Cycas media banksii in northern Queensland. B, weevils aggregating among sporophylls of male cone of Cycas media banksii. C, ditto, male cone of Cycas maconochiei. D, weevil, enlarged. E, weevil preparing to fly, showing well-developed hindwings. F, larva tunnelling and feeding in microsporophyll of Cycas maconochiei. G, pupa in pupation chamber in microsporophyll of Cycas maconochiei. |
Zimmiodes australis gen. et sp. nov.
Zimmiodes papuanus sp. nov.
Yun Hsiao and Rolf G. Oberprieler. 2024. An Integrative Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Approach reveals A New Genus of Australasian Cycas-pollinating Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cossoninae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 202(2); zlad190. DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad190
