''Larinus filiformis'' is a species of

true weevil True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...

found in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. The weevil's main host plant in its native range is yellow starthistle '' Centaurea solstitialis''. For this reason, there is interest in determining whether ''L. filiformis'' would be a good candidate for classical biological control of the noxious weed. In the field, this weevil has only been reported on yellow starthistle.

Life history

''L. filiformis'' is univoltine in Turkey. Females lay eggs on the flowerheads, and larvae undergo development inside the flower heads. Adults emerge in spring when the temperature reaches about . It is most common at an elevation of in Turkey.

Parasitism

''L. filiformis'' is parasitized by: '' Bracon urinator'' (F.), '' Bracon tshitsherini'' Kok. (Braconidae), '' Exeristes roborator'' Fab. (Ichneumonidae), ''

Aprostocetus ''Aprostocetus'' is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. The genus was erected by John O. Westwood in 1833. This very large group (about 800 described species) of parasitoid wasps has a global distribution. Species Widespr ...

'' sp. (

Eulophidae The Eulophidae are a large family of hymenopteran insects, with over 4,300 described species in some 300 genera. The family includes the genus ''Elasmus'', which used to be treated as a separate family, "Elasmidae", and is now treated as a subf ...

), and unidentified species of

Eurytomidae The Eurytomidae are a family within the superfamily Chalcidoidea. Unlike most chalcidoids, the larvae of many are phytophagous (feeding in stems, seeds, or galls), while others are more typical parasitoids, though even then the hosts are usually ...

and Ormyridae.

References

Lixinae {{Curculionidae-stub