''Otiorhynchus'' (sometimes misspelled as ''Otiorrhynchus'') is a large

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

s in the family

Curculionidae The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae. Th ...

. Many species of the genus, particularly the black vine weevil (''O. sulcatus'') and the strawberry root weevil (''O. ovatus''), are important pests, both as larvae and as adults. Larvae feed on plant roots. Adults are flightless with fused elytra and feed at night on plant foliage.Warner, R. E. & F. B. Negley. 1976. The genus ''Otiorhynchus'' in America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). ''Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington'' 78 (3): 240-262.Bright, D. E. & P. Bouchard. ''The Insects and Arachnids of Canada'', Part 25: ''Coleoptera. Curculionidae. Entiminae. Weevils of Canada and Alaska''. Vol. 2. Ottawa, NRC Research Press, 2008. . P. 111-131. In many species of the genus at least some races are

polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the biological cell, cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of (Homologous chromosome, homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have Cell nucleus, nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning ...

and

parthenogenetic Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...

, while the rest of the races and species are

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. ''Otiorhynchus'' weevils, particularly '' O. scaber'', have been a popular subject for studies of the evolution of parthenogenesis. The genus is native to the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

region. However, sixteen species were inadvertently introduced to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and have become widespread there. A number of species are

troglobites A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

, cave-dwelling animals that lack eyes.Hlavač, P. (2011)
Endogean and cavernicolous Coleoptera of the Balkans. XI. Revision of the subgenus ''Troglorhynchus'' Reitter of the genus ''Otiorhynchus'' Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).
''Natura Croatica'' 20(1), 189–200.di Marco, C. and G. Osella. (2002)
''Otiorhynchus radjai'' sp. n. from Vis Island (Dalmatia, Croatia), and description of a new subgenus of ''Otiorhynchus'' Germar (Coleoptera, Curculionidae).
''Italian Journal of Zoology'' 69(3), 257–62. There are over 1,500 species in this genus, which is divided into at least 105 subgenera.

Selected species

Otiorhynchus meridionalis ''Otiorhynchus meridionalis'', the lilac root weevil, is a species of broad-nosed weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is found in North America. Lilac root weevils are shiny, brownish-black beetles, about with long snout (rostrum) and ge ...

'' *'' Otiorhynchus morio'' *'' Otiorhynchus ovatus'' *'' Otiorhynchus porcatus'' *'' Otiorhynchus radjai'' *'' Otiorhynchus raucus'' *''

Otiorhynchus rhacusensis ''Otiorhynchus rhacusensis'' is a species in the weevil family (Curculionidae). Subspecies * ''Otiorhynchus rhacusensis rhacusensis'' (Germar, 1822) * ''Otiorhynchus rhacusensis siculus'' Stierlin, 1861 Description ''Otiorhynchus rhacusens ...

'' *'' Otiorhynchus rugifrons'' * ''Otiorhynchus rugosostriatus'' *'' Otiorhynchus scaber'' *'' Otiorhynchus sensitivus'' *'' Otiorhynchus singularis'' *'' Otiorhynchus sulcatus'' *'' Otiorhynchus vehemens''

Selected species

References

Further reading