Caryobruchus gleditsiae is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 in the family Chrysomelidae (formerly Bruchidae). It lives in North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and develops inside the seeds of palm trees

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

. Adults grow to a maximum length of 11 mm (0.433070866141732 in), the size depending on the size of the seed it grew up in. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 Centuria Insectorum

Centuria Insectorum

is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should be credited with its authorship has been the subject of some controversy. It includes descriptions of 102 new insect and crustacean species that had been sent to Linnaeus from...

.

Description

Adult beetles are from 4 millimetre (0.15748031496063 in) to 11 mm (0.433070866141732 in) long, with the body size depending on the size of the seed it grows in as a larva. It is the largest species of Bruchidae in the United States, although other species within the genus can reach 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) long. They adults are black, with short grey hairs and scattered white spots on the elytra

Elytron

An elytron is a modified, hardened forewing of certain insect orders, notably beetles and a few of the true bugs ; in most true bugs, the forewings are instead called hemelytra, as only the basal half is thickened while the apex is membranous...

.

Distribution

Caryobruchus gleditsiae is found in the southeastern United States

Southeastern United States

The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, the
West Indies and the Bahamas. A closely related species, Caryobruchus mariae, is found on Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

Ecology

While most members of the beetle subfamily Bruchinae (sometimes called the "pea and bean weevils") feed on legumes, Caryobruchus and its relatives in the tribe Pachymerini feed on palm trees

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

 and are known as "palm seed weevils".

The female beetle lays a single egg on the outside of a palm seed. Eggs are only laid on a seed if it has had the exocarp and mesocarp removed, probably by rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s, revealing the smooth endocarp (see fruit anatomy

Fruit anatomy

Fruit anatomy is the internal structure of fruit, the mature ovary or ovaries from one or more flowers. In fleshy fruits, the outer and often edible layer is the pericarp, which is the tissue that develops from the ovary wall of the flower and surrounds the seeds. Some edible "vegetables" such as...

). The larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

 that hatches out has sharp, heavy claws, which it uses to bore into the hard palm seed.

Recorded host plants for C. gleditsiae encompass a variety of Sabal

Sabal

Sabal is a genus of New World palms, many of the species being known as palmetto. They are fan palms , with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets; in some of the species, the leaflets are joined for up to half of their length...

species (including S. bermuda, S. causiarum

Sabal causiarum

Sabal causiarum, commonly known as the Puerto Rican hat palm, is a species of palm which is native to Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands...

, S. domingensis

Sabal domingensis

Sabal domingensis, the Hispaniola palmetto is a species of palm which is native to Hispaniola and Cuba.-Description:Sabal domingensis is a fan palm with solitary, very stout stems, which grows up to tall and in diameter. Plants have 20–30 leaves, each with about 90 leaflets...

, S. etonia

Sabal etonia

Sabal etonia, commonly known as the scrub palmetto is a species of palm which is endemic to Florida and southeast Georgia.-Description:...

, S. glabra, S. longipedunculata, S. mexicana

Sabal mexicana

Sabal mexicana is a species of palm tree that is native to North America. Common names include Mexican Palmetto, Texas Palmetto, Texas Sabal Palm, Rio Grande Palmetto, and Palma de Mícharos. The specific epithet, "mexicana", is Latin for "of Mexico." It is closely related to S...

, S. minor, S. palmetto

Sabal palmetto

Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, cabbage palmetto, palmetto palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm . It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas...

, S. parviflora, S. rosei, S. uresana

Sabal uresana

Sabal uresana, commonly known as the Sonoran Palmetto, is a species of palm tree that is native to the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico . The specific epithet, "uresana", refers to Ures, Sonora, a town within its range. It is threatened by habitat loss....

and S. yapa

Sabal yapa

Sabal yapa is a species of palm. It grows in Belize, on the Yucatan Peninsula and in western Cuba, preferring limestone-based calcareous soils. It is often described as a palmetto palm as it has costapalmate fronds, which are like a transition phase between fan palms and feather-leaved palms....

) as well as other palm species, such as Coccothrinax argentata

Coccothrinax argentata

Coccothrinax argentata is a palm which is native to Bahamas, south Florida southeast Mexico and San Andrés Island. It is a small , slow-growing fan palm with leaves that are dark blue-green above and silver-coloured below. Flowers are white and small on light orange branches. The fruits rae...

, Copernicia sp.

Copernicia

Copernicia is a genus of 24 species of palms, native to South America and the Caribbean. They are fan palms , with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets...

, Phoenix sylvestris

Phoenix sylvestris

Phoenix sylvestris also known as Silver Date Palm or Sugar Date Palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to southern Pakistan,most of India and Bangladesh. Growing in plains and scrubland to 1300 m, the fruit from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly...

, Livistona chinensis

Chinese fan palm

Livistona chinensis, the Chinese fan palm or fountain palm, is a species of subtropical palm tree in eastern Asia. It is native to Southern Japan, Taiwan and several Chinese islands in the South China Sea....

, Roystonea sp.

Roystonea

Roystonea is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of Florida, Central and South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus was named for Roy Stone, a U.S. Army engineer...

, Thrinax microcarpa and Washingtonia filifera

Washingtonia filifera

Washingtonia filifera , with the common names California Fan Palm , Desert Fan Palm, Cotton palm, and Arizona Fan Palm. It is a palm native to southwestern North America between an elevation range of , at seeps, desert bajadas, and springs where underground water is continuously available...

.
C. gleditsiae has no known natural enemies.

Taxonomic history

Caryobruchus gleditsiae was first described

Alpha taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...

 by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 work Centuria Insectorum

Centuria Insectorum

is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should be credited with its authorship has been the subject of some controversy. It includes descriptions of 102 new insect and crustacean species that had been sent to Linnaeus from...

, under the name Dermestes gleditsiae. The specific epithet  refers to the plant honey locust

Honey locust

The Honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, is a deciduous tree native to central North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as eastern Massachusetts.-Description:Honey locusts, Gleditsia...

 (Gleditsia triacanthos), which was thought to be the beetle's host plant. The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 has since been lost, and no neotype was designated when the species was re-described by Jan A. Nilsson & Clarence Dan Johnson in 1990.

C. gleditsiae was transferred to its current genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 by John Colburn Bridwell who erected the genus Caryobruchus in 1929, and designated C. gleditsiae as its "genotype" (type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

).