Revision of the Arizona Rhyssomatus Schoenherr 1837 (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cleogonini)

The diverse weevil genus Rhyssomatus Schoenherr, 1837 (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cleoginini) is currently composed of 175 species throughout the New World (O’Brien et. al 1982; Wibmer et. al 1986). The majority of species are generalist feeders and the group contains many notorious agricultural pests, such as Rhyssomatus nigerimus Fahraeus 1837 and R. subtillis Fiedler 1937 that cause thousands of dollars’ worth of crop damage in South America, Central America, and West Indies (Cazado, 2016; Lopez-Guillen, et. al). Although most notable as a crop pest in the literature, the species Rhyssomatus maginatus Fahraeus has also proven to be a great success in an Integrated Pest Management (IPM), controlling the invasive leguminous tree Sesbenia punicea (Cav.) Benth., in South Africa. (Hoffman & Moran 1991; 1992; 1998; 1999). The last century has seen revisions of the Neotropical species with Central American species revised in 1904 by Champion and the South American taxa treated by Fiedler in the subsequent years of 1937 and 1942 (O’Brien & Wibmer, 1982; Wibmer & O’Brien, 1986). However, North American fauna have not been treated since Casey in 1895 and revision is needed as climate change and global trade have more than likely expanded the distributional range of previously lower latitude Rhyssomatus species northwards.