The fauna of weevils Curculionoidea of Ukraine numbers 1453 species equivalent to 25.3% of European fauna. They belong to 10 families and 364 genera. A total of 51 species are recorded from Ukraine for the first time. Assessment of inventory completeness indicates that 62% of the area of Ukraine are covered by samples. Spatial join analysis has reveals strong collecting biases and shows maximal richness in cells which fall into well-sampled provinces. A total of 22 out of 33 studied model sites are well-sampled (C>0.5). In total, we estimate ca.1470 species of Curculionoidea living in Ukraine. Curculionidae comprise the majority (82%) of the fauna, with 1202 species and 266 genera, and with remarkably high proportion of the three largest subfamilies: Entiminae (26%), Curculioninae (19%), and Ceutorhynchinae (18%). Consolidated data analysis shows highest richness (678-822 spp.) in provinces which fall into the mountain areas. Aggregated species richness for each of five ecoregions uncovers highest values in Pontic steppe (665 species) and East European forest-steppe (593 species). Habitat distribution of weevils is strongly uneven. Most of the richness (565 spp.) is harboured in lowland broadleaf forests. Salt marshes, salt steppes and sands are extreme habitats with low richness but high proportion of habitat specialists. Only 141 dominant species representing 18% of the total fauna but make up to 63% of the total population of weevils in Ukraine. Endemic species comprise a small proportion of the fauna but are remarkably concentrated in the mountains of Crimea (24 species) and the Carpathians (25 species). Along with 'true' endemics, 210 species are narrowly-ranged non-endemics and also have higher concentration in Crimea and the Carpathians (105 and 38 spp.). A total of 82 species are qualified as widely-ranged with high concentration in Central European Mixed Forests and East European Forest Steppe (71 spp. on average per province).        The high diversity and evenness of weevil assemblages is shown by species sequence curve analysis in the Crimean Mountains, the Carpathians, steppes and lowland broad leaf forests, which contrasts with assemblages in lowland mixed forests. Shannon-Wiener and Simpson indices both show an extremely broad range of evenness in the Pontic Steppes which have both assemblages with low evenness in Stipa-Festuca-Koeleria steppes and high evenness in Stipa-Bromopsis steppes (H' =1.87-4.22). East European Forest Steppe and Central European Mixed Forests harbour similarly even communities (H' =3.60-4.48 vs. 3.18-4.57). The Crimean Mountains and the Carpathians are defined as a hotspot of biodiversity combining the highest scores of endemics, R1 species, and highest alpha diversity. Host plants are documented for 1259 species. Some 83% of weevils feed on live tissues of angiosperm plants belonging to 64 families. A total of 258 species are confirmed as polyphagous, 8 as monophagous, thus the majority of the rest are more or less narrowly oligophagous. A total of 33.68% of the species...

Arostropsis groehni gen. et sp. n. is described from Baltic amber and temporarily placed in the tribe Naupactini. It differs from all recent Naupactini genera with open corbels by very short and flattened scape, distinct lateral carina of the pronotum and elytra, and the rostrum distinctly narrower than the head capsule. The shape of head in the extinct genus is somewhat similar to that of the extant Naupactini genera with enclosed corbels (Platyomus Sahlberg, 1823 and Aptolemus Schoenherr, 1842), but differs in the slender body, open corbels, very short antennal scape and epifrons without a median sulcus (only a longitudinal depression is slightly visible). It is also similar to the Tanymecine genus Pandeleteius Schoenherr, 1834 in general appearance, but distinct by the straight anterior edge of the pronotum, lack of postocular spurs, lobes, and vibrissae, a slightly sloping elytral declivity, lateral ridges on the pronotum, subflattened antennal scape, elongate rostrum, and sparsely setose epistome. A new synonymy of the generic names Protonaupactus Zherikhin, 1971 and Sucinophyllobius Wanat & Borowiec, 1986, syn. n., is established. The Madagascan genus Corecaulus Fairmaire, 1903 is transferred from the tribe Naupactini to the Brachyderini because of its connate claws and the similarity in chaetotaxy of the epistomal area with African and Madagascar Brachyderini genera. A key to the identification of known Baltic amber genera of Entiminae is proposed. A checklist of the prepleistocene fossil Entiminae, based on V.V. Zherikhin’s data, with remarks and corrections, is presented.

Our knowledge of Ukrainian bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) is summarized as a baseline for future studies of the fauna, with a checklist including information on distribution, host trees, biology and taxonomy. One hundred twenty-two species are recorded from Ukraine, of which seven are recorded for the first time. One species is recorded for the first time from Europe. Previous records of 24 species are considered dubious and requiring confirmation. In contrast to the Palaearctic Catalogue (Knížek 2011b), we consider Anisandrus maiche to be first described by Kurentsov (1941) rather than by Eggers (1942); A. maiche (Eggers, 1942) is a junior synonym of A. maiche (Kurentsov, 1941).

No abstract

Highly precise occurrence data for 13 poorly-known weevil species in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk Provinces of Ukraine are given: Eubrychius velutus (Beck, 1817), Pelenomus velaris (Gyllenhal, 1827), Cotaster uncipes (Boheman, 1838), Anthonomus undulatus Gyllenhal, 1836, Orthochaetes setiger (Beck, 1817), Acallocrates colonnellii Bahr, 2003, Centricnemus leucogrammus (Germar, 1823), Humeromima rufipes (Boheman, 1834), Otiorhynchus pinastri (Herbst, 1795), Paophilus afflatus (Boheman, 1833), Stomodes gyrosicollis Boheman, 1842, Adexius scrobipennis Gyllenhal, 1834, Neoplinthus tigratus porcatus (Panzer, 1798). Eubrychius velutus, Anthonomus undulatus and Acallocrates colonnellii are recorded from Ukraine for the first time. Cotaster uncipes (Boheman, 1838) firstly documented since 1941 and firstly recorded from Lviv Province and Ciscarpathian region.

The genus Brachysomus Schoenherr, 1823 is reviewed. A comparative morphological study of adults from 56 Brachysomus species is provided. Redescriptions, diagnoses and identification keys are given. Descriptions of two new species are provided: B. (s. str.) podlussanyi sp. n. from Greece and B. (s. str.) pseudosetiger sp. n. from Bulgaria, which appear to be closely related to B. (s. str.) mihoki Penecke, 1914. Females of B. (s. str.) longipterus Białooki, 2007 are described. The poorly known B. (Hippomias) moczarskii Penecke, 1924 is restored from synonymy with B. (H.) oertzeni Faust, 1889. New synonyms: B. (s. str.) echinatus (Bonsdorff, 1785) = B. (s. str.) hirsutus Iablokoff-Khnzorian, 1958 syn. n. New combinations: Brachysomus (s. str.) lituratus (Reitter, 1884) comb. n. from Foucartia Jacquelin du Val, 1854; Eurosphalmus tenuicollis (Yunakov, 2006) comb. n. from Brachysomus, Eurosphalmus cribrarius (Białooki, 2007) comb. n. from Brachysomus, Nanomias skodai (Białooki, 2007) comb. n. from Brachysomus, and Chiloneus bonnairei (Hoffmann, 1942) comb. n. from Brachysomus. Lectotypes are designated for: Strophosomus hirtus Boheman, 1845; Brachysomus ornatus Stierlin, 1892; B. bensae Stierlin, 1893; Platytarsus fasciatus Stierlin, 1899; and P. setiger Gyllenhal, 1840. For each species, all known localities are presented on a distribution map. Ecological preferences of Brachysomus species are specified. First records of Brachysomus (s. str.) fremuthi Košťál, 1991 from Romania, B. (Hippomias) carpathicus Košťál, 1992 from Serbia, and B. (H.) ponticus Apfelbeck, 1898 from Greece are given.

No abstract

The purpose of this paper is a comparative morphological study of the little known monotypic weevil genus Araxia Khnzorian, 1957 and its close allies; redescriptions and figures are provided. A new systematic position for Araxia is proposed and discussed, its affinity with Chiloneus Schoenherr, 1842 and a new genus Holcolydoprus gen. n. is demonstrated. A new genus Holcolydoprus gen. n. is described with two new species H. bimaculatus sp. n. (type species) from Turkmenistan and H. griseus sp. n. from Transcaucasia and Eastern Turkey. The genus Aomus Schoenherr, 1834 is transferred from the tribe Laparocerini to Sciaphilini, its affinity with Eusomomorphus K. Daniel, 1905 is demonstrated. A new combination Eusomomorphus ilerii (Fremuth & Lodos, 1987), comb. n. is established for Aomus ilerii. A key to genera centering around Araxia is given.