Erirrhinites bognorensis
Erirrhinites bognorensis
Summary
Erirrhinites bognorensis was a tiny early Eocene weevil, about 3.5 mm long excluding its slender snout. Like other weevils it was almost certainly associated with plants and probably fed on plant tissues at some stage of its life, although no host plant or feeding trace is preserved.
Comparison with living relatives suggests a possible wetland association, because Erirrhinus species occur around marsh vegetation including reeds and sphagnum. This remains an ecological hypothesis rather than direct evidence. The species is known from a single pyritised adult, so its anatomy is much better understood than its behaviour or precise habitat.
Quick Identification
Look for: a small weevil about 3.5 mm long with a slender rostrum, front coxae almost touching, no developed ocular lobes, and a pronotum constricted towards the front. Strong circular punctures form regular elytral rows, while a short curved groove runs forwards from the outer side of each front coxal cavity.
Diagnostic Features
- Rostrum is slender, with the posterior ends of the antennal scrobes shallow where they approach its base.
- Pronotum lacks developed ocular lobes and lacks a strong anteroventral emargination.
- Anterior coxae are globular and almost contiguous; from the outer edge of each coxal cavity a short deep curved groove runs forwards for about half the distance to the anterior thoracic margin.
- Pronotum is constricted anteriorly, widest about one third of its length from the base, densely punctured and without sharply defined lateral margins.
- Elytral striae contain strong regular circular punctures, with about twenty-six punctures along the third stria; the intervals are slightly convex with sparse fine punctures.
Fossil Details
Recorded Fossil Sites
No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.
References
- Britton, E. B. (1960). Beetles from the London clay (Eocene) of Bognor Regis, Sussex. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 4(2), 27–50 View reference
- Legalov, A. A. (2020). Fossil History of Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) from the Paleogene. Geosciences, 10(9), 358 View reference