In February 2024, descriptions of two new weevil species from the Philippines were published in ZooKeys.
๐๐ช๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ฉ๐ช๐จ ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ญ๐
Distribution/habitat: Zambales, Luzon Island (holotype discovered in 1947)
Endemic: Yes
Distinctive traits: With a body length of 13.5 mm (close to the average size of a fingernail), ๐. ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐น๐ช differs from the only other known species in the genus, ๐. ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ญ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด, in a number of ways, including a longer, thinner snout; a pronounced groove between the head and snout that gives it a discontinuous outline; a matte black exoskeleton (versus ๐. ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ญ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ดโs brown outer covering); and longer forewings.
Conservation status: Unspecified; known only by the type specimen
Described by: Analyn Cabras, Milton Medina, and Perry Buenavente
Etymology: The species is named after Robert Bradford Fox (1918โ1985), who collected the type material in Zambales. Fox was a pioneering anthropologist whose discoveries profoundly advanced our knowledge of pre-Hispanic Philippine history. Fox also discovered the remains of the โTabon Manโ in Palawan, which, for a time, were regarded as the oldest human fossils in the country (until the age of ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด a.k.a. โCallao Manโ was determined via extensive testing).
๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ฉ๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐
Distribution/habitat: Palapag, Bontoc, Mountain Province (specimens discovered in 1985)
Endemic: Yes
Distinctive traits: With a body length of 8 to 8.2 mm (less than half the size of a 25-centavo coin), ๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ช is distinguishable from the only other known ๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐บ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ด species, ๐. ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ, due to its corrugated, coarsely punctured thorax covering and forewings; tiny, almost hairlike white scales on some punctures; lance-shaped pale blue/pale turquoise scales on some parts of its body; and dark brown exoskeleton. Females have longer, wider wings; a narrower, flatter thorax covering; forelegs with flat middle segments; and a flatter abdominal segment.
Conservation status: Unspecified; known only from the type locality
Described by: Analyn Cabras, Milton Medina, and Perry Buenavente
Etymology: Named after National Scientist Angel Chua Alcala (1929โ2023), a pioneering marine scientist and herpetologist who, among other noteworthy accomplishments, identified over 50 species of reptiles and amphibians, authored over 160 journal publications, and significantly contributed to reef conservation in the Philippines. Additionally, the researchers credit Alcala as a source of inspiration for their work in Philippine biodiversity research and conservation.
Significance
After sitting undescribed for decades, the work done on identifying ๐. ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐น๐ช and ๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ช sheds much-needed light on two of the many unique and unidentified specimens in the Zoological Collections of the Philippine National Museum. Prior to the description of ๐. ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐น๐ช and ๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ช, their respective genera (๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐บ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ด and ๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐บ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ด) each had only one species to represent them; in the case of ๐. ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐น๐ช, its identification served as the first record of the ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐บ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ด genus in Luzon (Zambales), as ๐. ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ญ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด has only been recorded in Visayas (Negros). ๐. ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐น๐ช and ๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ช highlight not only the value of natural history collections in scientific research, but also the urgent need for more scientists to closely study these overlooked treasures of the Philippines.โMF
Reference:
Cabras AA, Buenavente PAC, Medina MN (2024) New species in the genera Eumacrocyrtus Schultze, 1923 and Enoplocyrtus Yoshitake, 2017 from Luzon Island, Philippines (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae, Pachyrhynchini). ZooKeys 1191: 23-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1191.110217
Author: Mikael Angelo Francisco
Bitten by the science writing bug, Mikael has years of writing and editorial experience under his belt. As the editor-in-chief of FlipScience, Mikael has sworn to help make science more fun and interesting for geeky readers and casual audiences alike.
