Weevil News	http://www.curci.de/Inhalt.html	No. 23	3 pp.	10th January 2005	ISSN 1615-3472
Gültekin, L. (2005): Biological and distributional notes on Lachnaeus horridus  Reitter, 1890 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Lixinae) - Weevil News: http://www.curci.de/Inhalt.html, No. 23: 3 pp., CURCULIO-Institute: Mönchengladbach. (ISSN 1615-3472).

Biological and distributional notes on Lachnaeus horridus
 Reitter, 1890 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Lixinae)
by
Levent Gültekin

Abstract
Biology and host plants of Lachnaeus horridus Reitter, distributed from Transcaucasus to Middle East, are studied in northeastern Turkey. The main host of this weevil is Inula oculis-christi L., and it produces one generation per year in NE-Anatolia. Females lay eggs in flowerheads, where the larvae are feeding and pupating afterwards. Teneral adults emerge several days after pupating. Bracon illyricus Marsh., Cyrtoptyx robustus Masi, Pteromalus sp. aff. vibulenus (Wlk.) and Pteromalus sp. have been reared from larval and pupal stages.
The genus Lachnaeus Schoenherr and the species Lachnaeus horridus Reitter are new records for the Turkish fauna.

Key Words
Lachnaeus horridus, biology, host plant, parasitoids, Curculionidae, Lixinae, new records, Turkey.

Özet

Transkafkasya ve Orta Asya’da yayılış gösteren Lachnaeus horridus Reitter’un biyolojisi ve konukçusu Kuzeydoğu Türkiye’de çalışılmıştır. Inula oculis-christi L. bu türün esas konukçusudur ve Kuzeydoğu Anadolu’da yılda bir nesil vermektedir. Dişi, yumurtalarını çiçek topuzu içerisine bırakmakta, larvalar çiçek organları ile beslenmekte ve burada pupa olmaktadır. Yeni nesil erginler birkaç gün burada bekledikten sonra çiçek topuzundan dışarı çıkmaktadırlar. L. horridus’un larva ve pupa dönemlerinden Bracon illyricus Marsh., Cyrtoptyx robustus Masi, Pteromalus sp. aff. vibulenus (Wlk.) ve Pteromalus sp. parazitoidleri elde edilmiştir.
Hem Lachnaeus Schoenherr cinsi hem de Lachnaeus horridus Reitter türü, Türkiye faunası için yeni kayıttır.

Introduction
The genus Lachnaeus Schoenherr, 1826 has five species distributed from Egypt to steppe zones of Europe and Asia, Caucasus and India. Development takes place in the heads of in particular Inula L. (Asteraceae-Inuleae) (Csiki 1934: 91; Ter-Minassian 1967: 70).
For Lachnaeus horridus Reitter, 1890, poor biological information is available. No data on its biology, host plants and parasitoids are published. In northeastern Anatolia this species can be found fairly common on Inula oculis-christi Linnaeus, 1758 at 12 km NE of Köse, 1650 m (Gümüşhane Province). Preliminary results on the biology of L. horridus are presented in this paper, and distributional data are summarized.

Material and Methods
This study was carried out in NE-Anatolia in 2003. Biological observations were performed 12 km NE of Köse, Gümüşhane Province at an altitude of 1650 m. Observations were conducted in the field, some flowerheads were harvested from original habitat of L. horridus and cultured in plastic rearing bags in late summer. Some flowerheads were dissected under microscope for observation of immature stages in the laboratory.

Results
Biological notes. Lachnaeus horridus is associated with its host plant Inula oculis-christi L. [Fig. W23.1] in the first week of June (6.VI.2003). Generally, adults placed themselves among the tip of leaves where they produced round holes. On this date, most of adults already started mating [Fig. W23.2]. Very rarely eggs were laid in flowerheads; they were placed under bracts of flowerheads solitarily and covered by a secretion. This secretion hardened and turned black [Fig. W23.3]. There can be found 5-6 eggs in one flowerhead, and if there were more than five eggs, it resulted in an abnormal shape [Fig. W23.3]. After hatching, young larvae started feeding in the flower. There were 1-3 larvae in one flowerhead, [Fig. W23.4] that continued feeding and growing until last week of July (30.VII.2003) in laboratory. When larvae reached the last stage, feeding tracks could be observed in all flowerparts and passed to pupal stage at this place in the first week of August (1.VIII.2003). New generation of adults continued emerging from flowerheads from last week of August to second week of September (14.IX.2003). Thus L. horridus produced one generation per year in northeastern Anatolia.
Infestation ratio was very high as my investigation showed that more than 70 % of flowerheads had eggs, larvae, pupae or teneral adults.

Parasitiods. Cyrtoptyx robustus Masi, Pteromalus sp. aff. vibulenus (Wlk.) and Pteromalus sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) were reared from larval or pupal stage of L. horridus.

Habitats and host plants. In the course of 2003 expedition, host plant, Inula oculis-christi [Fig. W23.5], and habitat of L. horridus were found for the first time in NE-Anatolia, Gümüşhane Prov. 12 km NE of Köse. The plant grew in the vicinity of a very small stream between two field margins. In spite of searching in several similar habitats of our study area, no further populations of L. horridus could be detected.

Distribution. NE Turkey: Bingöl, Erzurum, Gümüşhane; Armenia (Erivan), Transcaspien (Csiki, 1934: 91); Armenia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan (Ter-Minassian, 1967: 71).
The genus Lachnaeus Schoenherr and the species Lachnaeus horridus Reitter are new records for the Turkish fauna.

Examined material. Bingöl Prov.: Solhan Distr., 23 VI 2000 (M. Kesdek), 1 M; Erzurum Prov.: Pasinler Distr., Örentaş Vill., 14 VI 2001 (G. Tozlu), 1 M; Ilıca Distr., Atlıkonak Vill., 1800 m, 11 VI 2000 (Ö. Çalmaşur), 1 F; Tortum Distr., Karagöbek Vill., 1950 m, 14 VI 1998 (G. Tozlu) 1 F; Gümüşhane Prov.: 12 km NE of Köse, 1650 m, 5 IX 2003 (L. Gültekin), 15 M, 13 F (reared); 6 VI 2003 (L. Gültekin), 6 M, 7 F.

Acknowledgements
I am sincerely grateful to Professor H. Zengin (Atatürk University; Erzurum) for identification of plant, Dr. B. A. Korotyaev (Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) and Dr. E. Colonnelli (Rome, Italy) for contribution and consultation at joint expedition during summer 2003 in Turkey. I would like to thank to Dr. K. Dzhanokmen for identification of chalcid wasps (Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) and Dr. Peter Sprick (Hannover, Germany) for linguistic revision. The study was supported by the Collaborative Linkage Grant No. 978845 of the NATO Life Science and Technology Programme.

References
Csiki, E., (1934): Curculionidae: subfam. Cleoninae. – 152 p. in Coleopterorum catalogus. W. Junk, S. Schenkling, Berlin, 134.
Ter-Minassian, M. E., (1967): Weevils of the Subfamily Cleoninae in the Fauna of the USSR. Tribe Lixini. Keys to the USSR fauna published by the Zoological Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 95. Nauka Publishers, Leningrad Branch, Leningrad, 1967. 166 pp.

Author
Levent Gültekin
Atatürk University, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, 25240,
Erzurum-TURKEY.
e-mail: lgul@atauni.edu.tr
(Levent Gültekin is a member of the CURCULIO-Institute: "www.curci.de")