Metapion

Metapion is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Brentidae.^[1] The species of this genus are distributed only in the Palearctic zone and likely originate from deserts of Central Asia.^[2] They are commonly found in Southern Europe, northern parts of the Middle East, Caucasus and in Central Asia. Some species also appear in northern zones of Africa (south to Sudan).

Metapion Temporal range: Paleogene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Metapion squamosum, Libya
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Brentidae
Genus:	Metapion Schilsky, 1906
Species
See text.

Species of this genus appear to be associated with plants in the family Rutaceae, particularly the genera Ruta and Haplophyllum. The larvae are believed to develop by mining the roots, necks, and stems of these plants.^[3]

Description

Body black, covered with oval, lance-shaped or fine, hair-like scales. The proboscis has a broadening that is either sharply pointed or bluntly angled.^[4]

Species

Currently, at least 20 species of Metapion are described^[1][5] (though not all of them are well documented):

• Metapion candidum (Wencker, 1864)
  • Metapion candidum candidum (Wencker, 1864) - Southern France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland
  • Metapion candidum rutae (Ehret, 1997d) - Southern France, Egypt, Tunisia
• Metapion causticum (Faust, 1885) - Central Asia, Afghanistan
• Metapion cylindronotum (Ter-Minasian, 1972) - Mongolia
• Metapion densesquamatum (Pic, 1908) - Egypt
• Metapion emmrichi (Bajtenov, 1981) - Kazakhstan
• Metapion ermischi (Voss, 1969) - Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey
• Metapion gaudiale (Faust, 1885) - Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Caucasus
• Metapion gelidum (Faust, 1885) - Central Asia, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iran, Syria (and possibly Russia, near Mongolia border^[2]: 59)
• Metapion hartmanni (Desbrochers, 1897) - Southern Spain
• Metapion kysilkumicum (Bajtenov, 1979) - Uzbekistan
• Metapion lepidopterum (Wagner, 1912) - Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan
• Metapion merale (Faust, 1885) - Central Asia, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iran
• Metapion nasreddinovi (Korotyaev, 1988) - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
• Metapion normandi (Desbrochers, 1899) - Libya, Tunisia, Israel, Turkey
• Metapion obtectum (Schilsky, 1902) - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
• Metapion oculare (Gyllenhal, 1833) - Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey (and possibly Austria, based on records of Apion breiti before it was synonimised with M. oculare^[6])
• Metapion sojunovii (Bajtenov & Sojunov, 1990) - Turkmenistan
• Metapion squamosum (Faust, 1884) - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Libya,^[7] Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
• Metapion squarrosum (Normand, 1937) - Tunisia
• Metapion subcandidum (Schilsky, 1906) - Spain

History

In 1906, Schilsky separated a subgenus Metapion from previously heterogenous genus Apion. Metapion was then elevated to a genus by Korotyaev (1988) and fully established in 1991.^[2]

References

1. "Metapion Schilsky, 1906". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
2. Wanat, Marek (1992). The review of Metapion gaudiale- and oculare species groups (Coleoptera: Apionidae). – Genus 3(1): 39-61 (PDF). Poland, Wrocław: Muzeum Przyrodnicze Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2024.
3. Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel (1990). "Revision of the supraspecific taxa in the Palaearctic Apionidae Schoenherr, 1823 (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). 2. Subfamily Apioninae Schoenherr, 1823: Introduction, keys and descriptions". Graellsia. 46: 19–156.
4. Baytenov, M. S. (1981). "A review of the weevils of the genus Apion Herbst, subgenus Metapion Schilsky (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)". Entomological Review. 60 (3): 115–123.
5. Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Barrios, Hector; Borovec, Roman; Bouchard, Patrice; et al. (2023). Cooperative Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera Curculionoidea (2nd ed.). Spain: Monografías electrónicas S.E.A. ISBN 978-84-126135-0-6.
6. "Apion breiti Wagner, 1910". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
7. Ringenbach, J.C. (2024). "Metapion squamosum (Faust, 1884)". Beetles & Rock Art in Libya. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.